Chili Bread Bowl Recipe

In the Deluxe and Master Grubstick kits you’ll find a magical and handy device called a Grubpocket. This short cylinder is perfect for wrapping biscuit dough (or any dough) to create a bowl or muffin. Using the Grubpocket requires fastening a Grubstick (handle) before extending it over your campfire or back yard fire pit. Whatever you’ve wrapped around the Grubpocket will cook evenly as you slowly turn it in the fire.

The premier camping dish for the Grubpocket is this Chili Bread Bowl recipe (aka The Chili Grubcup). It has the virtue of simplicity and uses one of the time-tested favorites of campers and travelers everywhere: canned chili.

Once you’ve cooked your first biscuit bowl or cup, you’ll realize that a cornucopia of traditional camp foods beyond chili could be stuffed, poured or spooned into these bowls. The potential fillings are endless, but this recipe calls for nothing more than canned chili and a few fixins.

Ingredients:

• Canned biscuit dough
• Canned chili
• Chopped red onion
• Cheddar cheese
• Sour cream

Do a bit of easy prep before heading out on your backpacking or camping trip. We recommend chopping the onion and grating the cheese in your kitchen, then storing both in a cooler or insulated bag.

Tools needed for the chili bread bowl are the Grubstick and Grubpocket. The raw biscuit dough will be shaped or sculpted around your Grubpocket. 

Directions:

Begin by wrapping raw biscuit dough around the grub pocket. Be sure to keep one side open so the dough can cook better inside. As you hold the Grubstick and Grubpocket over the flames, the biscuit dough will expand as it cooks, and your bowl (or cup) will open up slightly. The entire cooking time will only take a few minutes. And remember to keep turning it while it cooks to ensure an evenly browned top layer. 

Be sure to keep a close eye on the browning biscuit dough. For fully baked dough, inside and out, look for a dark brown color to the chili bread bowl. Be careful not to burn your bread bowl, as the biscuit dough cooks rather quickly. Your final product will have expanded quite a bit from the original raw version.

Once the perfect color is achieved, remove the Grubstick from the fire, and detach the Grubpocket from the Grubstick by unscrewing it. Your empty chili bread bowl can now be gently nudged off the cylinder.

Its bowl/cup shape is obvious and it is ready for fillings: hot chili, topped with grated cheddar cheese and chopped onions. Add a dollop of sour cream on top to balance out the fiery spiciness of the chili. 

At this size, the chili bread bowl is really more of a chili bread cup. Either way, it is a quick and delicious meal, snack or appetizer. Despite its small size, this is seriously filling for an easy camp meal. It requires no utensils, is fun to eat, and can take on endless variations.

A breakfast bowl, for example, might include scrambled eggs and grated cheese. An Italian pocket could be created from pepperoni, marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. The desert possibilities are limited only by the imagination of campers and chefs.