Easy Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken Recipe (Campfire or Oven)
Easy Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken Recipe (Campfire or Oven)
I love it when camping season rolls around and it’s time for some good Dutch oven cooking. There is nothing like the taste—and the memories we make—when cooking over a campfire. This Sprite Chicken recipe is a family favorite that reminds me of sitting around the fire with the kids: half roasting marshmallows, the other half sneaking bites of bacon. 😉
No campfire? No problem! You can make Sprite Chicken in your Dutch oven at home too. Either way, you get fall-apart tender chicken, buttery potatoes, sweet onions, and carrots that soak up all that savory-sweet goodness.
Supplies You’ll Need
- 14-inch Dutch oven (14” or 16” for larger batches)
- 28 charcoals (for campfire cooking)
- 1-gallon sized bag
- Mixing and serving spoon
- Charcoal Lighter Basket
- Dutch Oven Lid Lifter (the lid is heavy—adults only)
Why You’ll Love Sprite Chicken
Sometimes called “Sprite Chicken Stew,” this recipe easily feeds about 10 people—perfect for camp cooking or a cozy family dinner. Double it if your Dutch oven is big enough. The chicken turns out super tender (almost melt-in-your-mouth), bacon adds smoky richness, and the veggies get perfectly soft and flavorful.
Campfire Dutch Oven Method
- Light ~28 charcoals in the charcoal lighter basket.
- Place half the coals under the Dutch oven and half on the lid for even heat.
- Layer chicken, bacon, onions, carrots, and potatoes.
- Pour in 1 can of Sprite (or use apple juice for less sweetness).
- Cover and cook 60–75 minutes, rotating the oven and lid every 15 minutes for even cooking. Check for tender chicken and soft vegetables.
Oven Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Layer chicken, bacon, onions, carrots, and potatoes in the Dutch oven.
- Pour Sprite (or apple juice) over the top.
- Cover and bake 75–90 minutes until chicken is very tender and vegetables are cooked through.
Campfire & Cooking Safety Tips
Campfire cooking is magical—but safety comes first. Here are quick, high-authority tips to keep everyone safe:
- Choose a safe fire site. Use designated fire rings when available. Keep fires small and manageable and follow local rules/restrictions. (Leave No Trace)
- Distance matters. Build campfires well away from tents, shrubs, and anything that can burn; supervise children closely around any flame. (U.S. Fire Administration)
- Kid-free zone. Keep a 3-foot “kid and pet-free zone” around hot cooking areas and let adults handle heavy, hot equipment—especially the Dutch oven lid. (NFPA)
- Never leave a fire unattended. Keep water nearby and keep fires at a reasonable size. (Leave No Trace)
- Extinguish completely. Use the drown, stir, drown, feel method. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave. (Smokey Bear; USDA Forest Service)
- Wind & weather. Extinguish immediately if winds pick up; store extra firewood a safe distance from flames. (USDA Forest Service)
Food Safety Tips for Chicken
- Cook to 165°F. Use a food thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken; safe minimum internal temperature for all poultry is 165°F. (USDA FSIS)
- Avoid cross-contamination. Keep raw chicken and its juices away from ready-to-eat foods; clean hands, boards, knives, and surfaces. (USDA FSIS)
- Don’t wash raw chicken. Washing spreads bacteria via splashes—proper cooking is what makes it safe. (USDA FSIS)
- Keep foods cold. Use plenty of ice in coolers and keep raw poultry below 40°F until cooking; return leftovers to a clean container and chill promptly. (USDA FSIS)
Final Thoughts
My favorite moment: lifting the lid with the lifter and watching the steam swirl up while everyone crowds around for a peek. The kids usually negotiate who gets first dibs on the potatoes and who finds the last crispy piece of bacon. It’s a memory-maker meal for sure. Make sure you give this one a try, it is a hit and the kids ask for it every time we camp.
Reader Reviews for Sprite Chicken
“This recipe was delicious and I will be making it again soon!”
“While camping, we followed this recipe as closely as possible using apple juice. It was a HUGE hit! There was nothing leftover! I had not tried cooking in a Dutch oven while camping, so I was a bit nervous, but the instructions were clear and dinner was delicious. We had a large group—4 adults and 7 children—so this was the perfect amount. This is a keeper!”
“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!”
More Favorite Campfire Recipes
- Dutch Oven Spaghetti Recipe
- Campfire Eclairs Recipe {Woof ‘Ems}
- Three Cheese Foil-Wrapped Potatoes
- Summer Sausage Hobo Dinner Recipe
View all our Camping recipes and Dutch oven recipes here!
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re eating this under the stars or at your kitchen table, Sprite Chicken is hearty, simple, and incredibly satisfying. Keep the safety tips in mind, let the grown-ups handle the heavy, hot gear, and enjoy the kind of dinner that turns into a family story.
Dutch Oven Sprite Chicken Recipe
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.
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I’d like to feature this recipe in a roundup on my site. May I use one photo along with a link back? Thanks.
Yep!! You may!
I don’t know how to post a question, so if this is wrong, so sorry. I am a diabetic, so I am wondering if diet sprite would work as well?
How can I make this at home over the stovetop?
How many coals when cooking bacon?
What about metric measurements?
My son made for camping trip. Pre cooked bacon and chicken. Worked out great. Everything prepped the night before. Assembled as coal were in chimney. Took a little longer to cook than we thought. Went through two sets of coals. To maintain heat.
Glad you got it to work Jeff!
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!
So glad you enjoyed it Shawnna!
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!
Oh that’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! We love it too! 😁
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?
Awesome to hear Brook! And YES… the sprite tenderizes the chicken! 🙂
We had this tonight! In the dutch oven, but with apple juice. So yummy! Bummed there are no leftovers!
Hooray! Thank you for your comment and review, Lisa!
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
I’m so glad you enjoyed it AnneMarie! Bookmark it so you can use it next summer when camping with the grands! 🙂
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!
So glad to hear that this worked out well for you, Heather! Even without the bacon and onion! 🙂
I forgot to say that we added bbq sauce at the end. 🙂
Ah, even better! 🙂
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.
While camping, we followed this recipe as closely as possible using apple juice. It was a HUGE hit! There was nothing leftover! I had not tried cooking in a dutch oven while camping, so I was a bit nervous, but the instructions were clear and dinner was delicious. We had a large group – 4 adults and 7 children, so this was the perfect amount. This is a keeper!