This yogurt campfire chicken has so many spices and really gives you a culinary experience out on the range! Not your typical campfire fare.
Cooking over a fire is so tasty. I love it, I love bringing our food along with us when we go out hunting or just regular camping. This meal is elevated for sure - not your usual camp food! The combination of spices will sing in the yogurt marinade.
Prefer only dark meat? Dutch Oven Chicken Thighs also travel well. If you want a classic grilling meal, Buttermilk Barbecue Chicken fits the bill. And yes, you could just buy chicken pieces at the store here (bone-in, please) but I promise it's so much more cost-effective to Cut Up a Whole Chicken.
Key Ingredients
Chicken - I highly recommend purchasing a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself. This way you can also make a pot of stock when you return from camping.
Yogurt - Just regular plain, whether from the store or homemade yogurt.
Seasoning - A great combo of dried herbs and spices along with fresh garlic will make your tastebuds happy.
How to Make Yogurt Marinated Chicken
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Cut up chicken parts and pinch on some seasoning.
Step 2: Add all marinade ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Step 3: Whisk the marinade super well.
Step 4: Pour marinade over chicken and chill.
Step 5: After prepping a bed of hot coals, add chicken to preheated dutch oven.
Step 6: Cover the lid with hot coals or rocks as well and roast for an hour.
FAQs
I recommend a few things to help keep yourself safe. A lid lifter is very handy, as are actual campfire tongs. You'll be moving around hot wood, coals, and rocks. Even with oven mitts, you'll want a lid lifter because the Dutch oven conducts heat so well. This isn't a place for your littles to practice cooking.
Feel free to use any sort of chicken in this marinade recipe. I do prefer bone-in, and that's what our cooking times work for. You really do save a bunch of money by cutting up your chicken! And serving it at camp means plenty of excuses if it doesn't look as pretty as you'd like. Not only do you get both white and dark meat, you get a backbone and other bits to make a most delicious chicken stock.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
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Campfire Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 large whole chicken
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 1 ½ lemons juiced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 5 - 7 cloves garlic minced/pressed
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Cut chicken into pieces on cutting board with a very sharp knife. Place pieces in marinating bowl. Sprinkle pieces with salt evenly.
- Combine all spices/herbs and yogurt, oil, and juice in large mixing bowl. Whisk well.
- Pour mix over chicken pieces making sure they are thoroughly coated with the marinade.
- Cover and place in fridge or cooler overnight or at least a few hours. You could place in a ziplock bag for storage in a small cooler or fridge.
- Start fire or keep one going that is already started with the intention of creating enough hot coals which will be your heat source. If possible use harder woods that produce hotter coals. You will need to cook your chicken for an hour at least so make sure you have a fire tender or that you will be able to do it yourself.
- You can also cook with charcoal, in which case you will need 20-25 briquettes, but this is no longer a “campfire chicken” so try to cook with the fire if you can do it!
- Heat lid of cast iron close to or over the fire and make sure you’ve got a good bed of coals.
- Drain the marinade from the chicken pieces.
- Using tongs, place your chicken pieces in the Dutch oven. Cover with pre-heated lid and place oven over your bed of coals carefully with oven mitts. Arrange coals with tongs if needed. Make sure there is enough heat underneath. Keep a fire going on the side to produce more coals if needed. Place some coals on top of the lid as well as hot rocks if you have any.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, rotating the oven a few times if necessary and being as careful as you can be as these suckers are hot!! With lid lifter, check on chicken once or twice until it is thoroughly cooked but not overdone. Rearrange with tongs if necessary and place back on coals if needed.
- One nice trick I like to use is heating basalt rocks (we have plenty around here). You can use these for extra heat or to sear your chicken pieces for extra crisp!
Notes
- If you don't have fresh lemons, use ¼ cup of bottled lemon juice.
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