Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken Recipe

4.60 / 5 ( 82 Reviews )
33 Comments Jump to Recipe

Easy sprite chicken recipe

I love it when camping season rolls around and it is time for some good dutch oven cooking. There is nothing like the taste of campfire cooking. This is another fabulous campfire cooking recipe using dutch ovens from my friend Ryan. Of course, it can also be made in a dutch oven in your home oven too!

Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken recipe

This recipe is commonly known as Sprite Chicken or Chicken Stew and it feeds about 10 people. You can modify this recipe to feed more if you double the recipe and be sure to cook it in a big enough Dutch oven – 14-inch or 16-inch dutch oven should do it.

sprite chicken recipe

The chicken and bacon were the favorite parts for most of my family. The chicken ends up so tender and has a great flavor – nearly melts in your mouth. And bacon is bacon, which is almost always delicious.

dutch oven chicken

The onion actually turned out to be pretty tasty in this Sprite chicken recipe too though!

cooking chicken in dutch oven

Red potatoes cut into about 2-inch cubes are cooked to perfection in this dutch oven recipe. Yum! The carrots can be a little more tricky to get to your preferred texture, so if you like the carrots to be soft, make sure the carrot pieces are small enough to cook through well. Baby carrots work pretty well, but the petite baby carrots may even be better for softer preference or cutting the baby carrots in half. Figure out what works for you and how you like it best!

dutch oven chicken with potatoes

Sprite soda is the liquid added to this Sprite chicken, hence the name. But you can use apple juice instead if that is a better option for you.

sprite chicken marinade

Supplies you will need for Campfire Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken:

sprite chicken dutch oven recipe

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Dutch oven Sprite chicken

Easy sprite chicken recipe

Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken Recipe

A family favorite dutch oven camping chicken recipe!
4.60 / 5 ( 82 Reviews )
Print Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves: 10
Adjust Servings: 10

Equipment

  • Dutch oven

Ingredients

  • ½ pound uncooked bacon, chopped 8 ounces
  • 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken cut into chunks
  • 2 ½ pounds red potatoes cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 pound petite baby carrots or peeled carrots cut into small pieces
  • 2 onions cut in fourths
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • ½ tablespoon seasoning salt like Lawry's
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 cup Sprite or apple juice

Instructions

Oven instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
  • In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon pieces until crisp. Remove bacon, leaving grease behind.
  • Combine flour and seasoning salt in a gallon bag. Add chunked chicken to the bag and shake to coat. Then brown the chicken in the bacon grease in the dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove chicken.
  • Add the ingredients into the now-empty dutch oven in this order - onions, then potatoes, carrots, chicken, and bacon. Then pour Sprite over all.
  • Cover dutch oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender. Top with shredded cheese and serve.

Camping Dutch Oven Instructions:

  • Prep the ingredients as instructed above. Then place dutch oven onto 11 hot coals in a checkerboard pattern. Cover oven and place 17 hot coals on top. This will give you 320 degrees. Cook 45 minutes. Remove lid. Add cheese. Replace lid. Cook for 10 more minutes. Serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 342kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 14g | Sodium: 707mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g
Ingredients: Bacon, Carrots, Cheese, Chicken, Flour, Onion, Pork, Red Potatoes, Salt
Meal Type: Main Dish, Summer, Egg Free
Categories: Meat and Poultry, Camping/Dutch Oven, Oven

Comments & Reviews

  • I’d like to feature this recipe in a roundup on my site. May I use one photo along with a link back? Thanks.

  • How can I make this at home over the stovetop?

  • How many coals when cooking bacon?

  • What about metric measurements?

  • have you ever tried to pre-cook the meats at home and then the main dish at the site? Would grilled chicken work too?

    • I have never tried pre-cooking the meat, but I am pretty sure it would work! I also have no idea about the grilled chicken. I would say your best bet would be to give it a try one day and see how it works out. Hey, it could be the next best thing! Let us know how it goes.

  • One of our new family favs when we are camping! So good!

  • My daughter (12 ) wanted to try making this on our camping trip and it turned out AWESOME. Now it’s a regular on our camping menu!

  • Just made this for our sunday mountain get away. I prepped all the veggies cut up the raw chicken, got a shaker bag ready, I pre cooked my bacon before we went up and saved the grease to cook chicken and onions s in and it turned out divine. Quick question what is the main purpose of the Sprite. Tenderize, moisten?

  • We had this tonight! In the dutch oven, but with apple juice. So yummy! Bummed there are no leftovers!

  • This was delicious! Used a large leg & thigh. Removed skin. Used precooked bacon, so not too much bacon grease, so added a tiny bit of eevo to the pan. Used 1/2 bag Potatoes Obrien. Carrots. Sprite Cooked in oven. 350⁰ about 45 minutes. Sprite gives it a bit o ffc sweetness. Wish I had this when I was camping with kids and grand kids. Now, just me, but having a great time.
    Thanks

  • what size dutch oven do you use?

    • The red dutch oven I use in the photos is a 6.5 quart size. If your dutch oven goes by inches, you’d want at least a 14-inch, I believe.

    • This was so great! I forgot my bacon and onion in the fridge at home but I know that would take it next level. We added cheese at the end and the chicken was perfectly tender. So tasty! For sure a camping staple. Thank you!

  • I forgot to say that we added bbq sauce at the end. 🙂

  • In the words of my husband “This is a winner!” I did a trial run in the oven of this recipe for an upcoming camping trip to see if it was too much work for a mediocre meal; and it was delicious! Gonna have to cut back on the ingredients to make it a meal for two, hopefully that will cut some of the prep time for making when I’m not in my kitchen. I would suggest salt and peppering the potatoes and carrots prior to assembling. That was the only thing I felt was lacking. I used Pepper Jack cheese to top it ; good choice! Thanks for a great recipe!

    • Hooray! Seasoning the potatoes and carrots is a wonderful idea. Thank you for your comment and review of this Dutch oven Sprite chicken recipe, Leola. 🙂

  • This recipe was delicious and I will be making in again soon!

    Have you heard of the wonderbag? It is an insulated bag used to retain heat rather than a fire or crockpot. I just got one because we are camping soon and I don’t want to be stuck cooking all day or after a long day of hiking and swimming. I am trying out dutch oven style recipes and this one was fabulous! I am still learning how to use the wonderbag but this recipe is definitely a keeper.

    Increased to 3 pounds chicken breast, used 2 cups apple juice instead of soda and russet potatoes instead of red , also left out the carrots because I didn’t have any. I added the extra cup of juice because I wanted to make sure when I simmered there was enough liquid to prevent burning. Followed your instructions and then simmered for 15 minutes and then to the wonderbag added the cheese about 15 minutes before eating. Had it in the bag about 10 hours. It was probably finished by 6 or 8 but my husband and I went paddle boarding that evening. The food temperature was at about 150’F. It was great to come home and have a hardy meal and glass of wine at the end of the day. I served mine with a drizzle of ketchup and sriracha sauce.

    • Oh, interesting about the wonderbag. It sounds like it ended up being a perfect meal to end a great day! Yum! Thank you for sharing your adaptations and review with us, Christina. 🙂

  • This sounds so good! I am curious, could this be made in a can cooker? If so, would alterations would you make? Double the liquid? We go camping, I can make this as written. But we go ocean fishing too for 9 days at a time, can’t have a fire in the boat lol I would like to feed 8 people on the boat , fingers crossed that I can make it in the can cooker! Yum!

    • Hi Michelle,

      We really have no idea, none of us can. I would imagine you can do it. Maybe look up some canned chicken recipes and see how much liquid they use?
      Ocean fishing for that extended time sounds like quite an adventure and lots of fun. If you do make this and it turns out, we would LOVE to know.

  • We first made this recipe in Dutch oven while camping with boy scouts. Even our pickiest scouts ate some. Now it is a staple for camping with my family.

4.60 from 82 votes (72 ratings without comment)

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