Crispy. Cheesy. Stupid easy.
User submitted recipe. There are nights at camp when cooking dinner sounds great. Then there are nights when you’ve been on the trail all day, camp is finally set up, and anything involving twelve ingredients and a cutting board can go straight back into the gear box.
Enter the quesadilla.
This version uses cooked chicken, cheese, peppers and onions, needs just one skillet, and can be demolished with your hands. Civilization peaked here.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10–15 minutes
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy
What You’ll Need
- 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
- 1½ cups shredded cheese, cheddar, Monterey Jack or a blend
- 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
- 4 large flour tortillas
- 1–2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- Salsa, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce or cilantro, optional
How to Make Them
Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over your camp stove or campfire grate. Add a little butter or oil.
Toss in the pepper and onion and cook for about 3–4 minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the cooked chicken and taco seasoning. Stir everything together and let the chicken warm through.
Move the mixture to a plate, then lay one tortilla in the skillet. Cover half with cheese, chicken and veggies, then add a little more cheese because we’re camping and nobody is keeping score.
Fold the tortilla over.
Cook for about 2–3 minutes per side until it’s golden and crispy and the cheese is thoroughly melted.
Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Slice them into wedges and serve with salsa, avocado, sour cream or whatever survived the cooler.
Trail Tip
Buy a rotisserie chicken before you leave home.
Pull the meat off, toss it into a sealed container and put it in the cooler. Pre-slice the pepper and onion while you’re at it.
At camp, your entire culinary contribution becomes: heat stuff, add cheese, fold tortilla.
You’ll look considerably more competent than the amount of effort involved.
Switch It Up
Swap the chicken for leftover steak, pulled pork or black beans. Add jalapeños for some heat. Use pepper jack instead of cheddar. For breakfast, replace the chicken with scrambled eggs and bacon.
You can also skip the vegetables entirely and make chicken-and-cheese quesadillas for kids or adults who still negotiate with bell peppers.
Gorilla Dirt Camp Kitchen Rule
If dinner requires more cleanup than eating, we’ve made a tactical error.
One skillet. A handful of ingredients. Crispy tortillas. Melted cheese. Mountains in the background.
That’s plenty.
Get dirty. Eat well. Have A Dirty Day.
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