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One-Pot Meals

Dutch Oven Stuffed Peppers (or Foil Packets)

One-Pot Mealseasy4 servings· Prep 15 min· Cook 40 min
Dutch Oven Stuffed Peppers (or Foil Packets)

Stuffed peppers travel well to camp because the filling is the work and you can do all of it at home. At the site you just stuff, stand them in the Dutch oven (or wrap each in foil), and let the coals do the rest. Two ways to cook them below — pick whichever fits your setup.

Ingredients

  • 4 large bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded
  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey, cooked
  • 1.5 cups cooked rice
  • 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce or diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp taco or Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil, for the pot
  • Heavy-duty foil (foil method)

Steps

  1. At home: brown the beef with the onion and seasoning, stir in the cooked rice and about half the tomato sauce, and chill it. That is the whole job done before you leave.
  2. At camp, stuff the peppers with the filling and top each with the rest of the sauce.
  3. Dutch oven method: oil the bottom, stand the peppers up inside, cover, and cook with coals on the lid and underneath (coal counts here) until the peppers are tender, about 35–45 minutes.
  4. Foil method: wrap each stuffed pepper in heavy-duty foil, set on a bed of coals, and cook about 30–35 minutes, turning once, until tender — same idea as our foil-packet dinners.
  5. Add the shredded cheese for the last 5 minutes so it melts. Open foil packets carefully — the steam is hot.

Tips & variations

Make the filling at home

Brown the beef, stir in cooked rice and sauce, and chill it before you leave. At camp you're only softening the peppers and melting cheese — the same make-ahead logic as our camp shepherd's pie.

Dutch oven or foil

Got a Dutch oven? Stand the peppers upright, cover, and let steam do the work. No Dutch oven? Each pepper becomes its own foil packet on the coals.

Common questions

Can you make stuffed peppers in a Dutch oven?
Yes, and it is one of the best camp uses for one. Stand the stuffed peppers upright in the pot, cover, and cook with coals on the lid and underneath until the peppers are tender, about 35–45 minutes. The lid traps steam so they cook evenly without drying out.
Can you do stuffed peppers in foil instead?
Yes. Wrap each stuffed pepper in heavy-duty foil and set it on a bed of coals for about 30–35 minutes, turning once. Foil is the move if you did not bring a Dutch oven — same result, one pepper per packet.
Do you cook the filling first?
Cook the beef and rice ahead at home, which is what makes this an easy camp dinner. The peppers themselves soften as they cook, so the only thing happening at camp is heating through and melting the cheese.
What peppers work best?
Big, sturdy bell peppers that stand on their own — red, yellow, or green. Cut the tops off and clear the seeds, and slice a thin sliver off the bottom if one tips over, without cutting all the way through.

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