Wolf at the Door Recipe

One of my family’s camping traditions is making a dish called “Wolf at the Door.” It’s basically a stew that contains beef, sausage, onion, tomatoes, corn, and kidney beans, all cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven.  I don’t know where the name came from, or where the recipe came from. But it was one of my dad’s favorite dishes to cook.

One time, when I was younger, my brother and I joined a Boy Scout trip, and my dad volunteered as an adult leader. We joined right as the troop was planning their camping trip.  The scouts all met with their patrols to plan menus... But the adults were faced with a minor crisis: the guy who usually cooked for them wasn’t able to go on this trip. The adults were concerned: How were they going to plan meals without him?

Fortunately, my dad volunteered, saying, “If you don’t mind stew, I’ll cook.” The rest of the adults were fine with stew, since it meant they wouldn’t have to cook, so they happily agreed for my dad to take over cooking for the trip.  Dad made them Wolf at the Door, and it must have been a hit, because he became the de facto cook for the adults for all future camping trips.

A Family Tradition

Wolf at the Door became a family tradition. Dad enjoyed making it each time we camped. And he passed the recipe on to us, and now my family makes it on every trip.

We went camping this March, which gave me a chance to make Wolf at the Door. I took pictures along the way to show you how to make it - a tradition from my family shared with yours. 

My younger son and I left Friday night. My older son had plans for Friday night, so Saturday he drove the 2 ½ hours to meet us. And he requested that we save Wolf at the Door for Saturday night so he could partake in our family tradition. It just so happened that Saturday would have been my Dad’s birthday, so making Wolf at the Door was a great way to honor his memory.

(We also enjoy Dad’s Dutch Oven blueberry cobbler recipe. But since we only have one Dutch oven, if we don’t have time to make two Dutch oven meals, Wolf at the Door wins out for my family.)

Wolf at the Door, written instructions

Making Wolf at the Door is fairly simple. I’ve provided the recipe below with instructions. If there is confusion, I’ve provided photos for each step! 

Note: if you have a smaller Dutch Oven, you can easily halve this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground sausage (I typically use Jimmy Dean’s Sage flavored sausage)

2 cans chopped tomatoes

2 cans whole corn kernels

2 cans kidney beans

1. Build a charcoal fire. We prefer using a charcoal chimney to start ours. 

2. When the coals are hot, divide them into two piles. Place about ⅓ of the coals close together and set the cast iron Dutch Oven over them. Save the other ⅔ for use later.

3. Add a small amount of oil, then add chopped onions. Sautée the onions until they are translucent and fragrant.

4. Add the ground beef and sausage, cook until browned.

5. Add the tomatoes, corn, and kidney beans. Don’t drain them because the stew isn’t stew without the juices.

6. Give the stew a stir, then cover with the Dutch oven lid. Add the remaining ⅔ of coals to the top of the lid.

7. Let sit for 30 minutes or longer - dealer’s choice. The longer it sits, the more the flavors meld together.

8. Serve. It's even better with salad and cornbread!

9. Enjoy!

Warning note: be careful when removing the lid after putting the coals on - you DO NOT want coal ash to fall in! Quite unfortunately, I’m speaking from experience here.

Wolf at the Door, visual instructions

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground sausage (I typically use Jimmy Dean’s Sage flavored sausage)

2 cans chopped tomatoes

2 cans whole corn kernels

2 cans kidney beans

First, you’ll need to build a charcoal fire. We like to use a charcoal chimney rather than using lighter fluid or other self-starting charcoal.

When the coals are hot, dump them out and divide them. Place about ⅓ of the coals close together and set the cast iron Dutch Oven over them. Save the other ⅔ to use later.

Add a small amount of oil, then add chopped onions. Sautée the onions until they are translucent. (On this particular trip, I forgot to bring an onion. My son brought it up, but he arrived after we’d started cooking, so we skipped this step).

Then add the ground beef and sausage,

and cook until browned.

Then add the tomatoes, corn, and kidney beans. I don’t drain them because the stew is rather “Meaty” if you don’t add the extra juices.

By now, my son had arrived, so we cheated and sautéed the onion on the stove, then added them to the rest of the stew.

Stir everything up, then cover with the Dutch oven lid. Add the remaining ⅔ of coals to the top of the lid.

Let cook for 30 minutes or so, until hot. You can cook longer to let the flavors meld together more if you’d like.

Then serve it up! It's really good with a salad and cornbread.

Be careful when you remove the lid. I once almost dropped the lid and let pieces of charcoal ash fall into the stew. That was not a pleasant taste!

Enjoy! (And be careful offering to cook this for camping groups—you may become the new designated cook!)