17 Veggie-Packed Dinner Recipes to Welcome Dutch Oven Season (2024)

FAQs

What meals do you cook in a Dutch oven? ›

You can cook family meals like beef stew, creamy goat cheese pasta, as well as good ol' chicken and dumplings. Dutch ovens are also oven-safe—which means you can toss in all of the ingredients, pop the pot in the oven, and let it cook while you take care of more important things.

Lightly oil or spray dutch oven. Place all vegetables in prepared oven, drizzle with olive oil; add garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until vegetables are tender and browned, stirring once.

Think simmering soups, steaming rice, boiling water for pasta, etc. Sear, pan-fry, sautee: A camping Dutch oven is also a great stand-in for a cast-iron skillet. Anything that can be cooked in a cast-iron skillet can be done in a Dutch oven too, like searing steaks, browning chicken thighs, sauteing vegetables, etc.

But one of the wonderful things about a Dutch oven is that because it's cast iron, you can get it smoking hot on the stovetop and brown your meat directly in it, then add your liquid (after draining off any excess fat) and other ingredients, cover it, lower the heat and continue braising at a low temperature.

Be Mindful When Cooking Acidic Foods

In an enamel-coated Dutch oven, prolonged cooking with acidic ingredients may discolor the interior coating but doesn't erode it.

Because a slow cooker cooks, well, slowly, it simply cannot achieve the same results as the dutch oven. Meats do not sear, meaning undeveloped flavors, and since starches and gelatins can not get hot enough to activate, you get thinner and less flavorful results.

The Dutch oven—or as I like to call it, the analog crock pot—is a favorite among those who love cooking. The hype around Dutch ovens exists for good reason: They are highly effective, beautiful, dynamic, and durable pieces of cookware.

Definitely. You can do just about anything in a dutch oven, from a roast chicken to soups to baked beans to desserts. One thing it's good for is baking bread in your home oven.

Yes, you can boil water in cast iron. To keep the layer of seasoning intact, don't boil water for more than 10 to 15 minutes. You can heat water to a gentle boil or simmer dishes for over 15 minutes – sometimes up to an hour. Be extra careful with acidic dishes like tomato sauce.

What's the point of a Dutch oven? ›

A Dutch oven is a heavy-duty pot with lid designed for browning meat and veggies and then simmering on the stovetop or braising in the oven. It can also be used for soup and more simple tasks like boiling pasta. It's often used to make bread as well.

Because enameled Dutch ovens are typically made out of cast iron, they can get scorching hot and retain that heat well, meaning they're great for searing all kinds of foods, including meats and veggies. A Dutch oven can stand in for a deep fryer when you need a large amount of oil.

But in real life, we make pasta in a Dutch oven, because when you're cooking a pound of pasta, it's the best option you have. If you've never used a Dutch oven to make pasta, that's totally cool. This isn't some new, scary experience you have to prepare for. All you have to do is switch one pot for another.

Try Dutch oven baking, from baking breads to making cheesy pasta casseroles. Dutch ovens are great for frying, braising, simmering and stewing, but did you know you can use them for baking? These heavy-duty pans have tight-fitting lids that trap steam inside, resulting in tender bread and juicy chicken.