After two days of trekking across the Utah backcountry, the participants of the 2021 Overland Adventure had made camp beneath Factory Butte and the only things hotter than the fiery sunset were the meals they were about to create. It was time for the second-ever Camp Chef Showcase—a competition of sorts with no rules where each participant had a chance to show off their favorite camp meal, whether it was weenies on a stick or a multi-course production. Each chef was to prepare a meal as they would during any off-trail outing, document the process with their own photography, and submit the photos to the Four Wheeler judges. While the judges couldn't taste-test the dishes, each participant filled out a questionnaire with details pertaining to the meal. In the end, everyone was a winner, and the prize was indulging in their own backcountry culinary creations. Here are a few of the submissions from the second-ever Overland Adventure Camp Chef Showcase.

Ingredients: Two cans of peaches, 1/2 can of Sprite, yellow cake mix, and butter.

How to: Tim normally uses charcoal for his Dutch oven meals but had to think outside the fire ring on this one because of burn restrictions. Instead, his camp stove and weed torch were enough to heat the cast iron. He had doubts, but the method and recipe proved successful. He chose the cobbler because "it's really good, super easy, and you can fool your friends into thinking you are actually a talented chef."

Eats: E-Z Chili Mac and Beef

Ingredients: Dehydrated Chili Mac and Beef meal, hot dogs, and cheese.

How to: After a long day on the trail, and a mishap in his cooler that rendered some of his other food unusable, Jason opted for "something simplistic." All he needed were a few easy ingredients and a camp burner and dinner was ready. He boiled a cup of water to rehydrate the Chili Mac and Beef, added the hot dogs, paired with some choice camp beverages, and it was ready to enjoy. Compared to his other plans, this meal definitely had less cleanup, which was a plus in Jason's eyes.

Award: Best Comeback From a Cooler Fail

Eats: Factory Butte tube steak sandwich

Ingredients: Kielbasa, red and green peppers, onion, mayonnaise spread, and cheesy rolls.

How to: Anna and Bruce Davis picked a meal that is both easy to prepare and can be amended based on taste or availability of ingredients. The only pre-trip preparation was to slice the kielbasa into small discs the size of thick quarters. In camp it took about 35 minutes to cut up the veggies, cook up all of the ingredients and toast the rolls. The very subtle special flavors were achieved through the use of a cast-iron pan and a pre-WWII white gas camp stove with cast-iron burners. Anna and Bruce say that Mule deer hunting (another of their activities) is not a lot different from overlanding, where camp may be in a new place every night as the game is tracked across the bush.

Ingredients: Cod filets, frozen mussels, canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, finely chopped onion, garlic, white wine, fish broth, hot smoked paprika, dried thyme, freshly chopped parsley, salt, pepper, a pinch of crushed saffron threads, and garlic bread made with a French baguette.

How to: Glen explained that cioppino used to be a fish stew prepared with leftover ingredients that wasn't highly regarded. Now it's a sought-after dish at restaurants, and Glen brought it to the backcountry. He used as many local products as he could but was limited to frozen mussels by the remote location of Overland Adventure (no oceans in Utah). There was very little preparation required beforehand and Glen cooked the entire dish on his Skottle, even the garlic bread. In fact, the ease with which it all goes together and the single implement needed to cook it is why Glen says cioppino is his favorite camping meal.

Eats: Italian chicken sausage and ravioli with marinara sauce and Italian cheeses

Prep time: 30 minutes in the oven

Ingredients: Whatever was for dinner a week (or a month) ago.

How to: Barbara and David pick meals with as little prep and cleanup as possible because they don't always know where camp will be or when they'll arrive. If dinnertime strikes while they're halfway up a trail, they want to be able to enjoy a quick and hearty meal. The solution is freezing leftovers at home in foil dishes and bringing a few along in the Jeep's fridge/freezer. After a 30-minute warmup in the portable oven, everything is ready to eat.

Eats: Dutch oven pork chops with spinach dumplings and tomato mushroom sauce

Ingredients: Pork chops, tomato sauce, mushrooms, onions, garlic, seasonings (sugar, salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram, rosemary), spinach, egg, panko, parmesan cheese, butter, and a side of toasted bread and assorted beverages.

How to: To ensure that they eat better on the trail than they do at home, Monica and Mike whipped out the Dutch oven and stewed up one of their camp favorites. Aside from blending the spices ahead of traveling, everything was prepped in camp on a propane stove. This is not their ultimate camp meal, though. That award goes to fish fresh off the tip of a spear from the Sea of Cortez. It was cooked and eaten on the fire in tin foil and shared in a potluck among friends.

Award: The Red Brick Kitchen Gold Star

Ingredients: Pizza dough, sauce, shredded cheese, and your favorite pizza toppings.

How to: What better reason is there than "we love pizza?" Maria and Derrik seem to gravitate toward skillet-based pizza pies when they're off-road, and Overland Adventure was no exception. Ingredients are easy to get, simple to pack, and did they mention they love pizza? The dough is made at home and frozen for travel. Once it's thawed out in camp, it goes into a skillet until one side's brown. Then on go the toppings, and one more preheated skillet goes atop the first to create an oven for the pizza. The couple will tell you that one of their hallmark suppertime experiences didn't even revolve around food. Instead, a colossal storm brewed up just as they were hunting for a camp spot somewhere in the Utah backwoods. Their evening meal was had to the sounds and sights of thunder and lightning that night.

Eats: Soft-shell tacos and burritos

Ingredients: Taco seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, tortillas, rice with bell peppers, Taco Bell hot sauce packets, and refried beans.

How to: Robert and Braylen abandoned their plans of dinnertime Dino Nuggets and decided to make this dinnertime classic: tacos and burritos. To minimize space used, time taken up, and waste generated, Robert pre-assembled the rice mixture using dehydrated peppers and white rice, mixed in a sealed container with a secret blend of spices. He also used a precooked and seasoned taco meat from Kwik Trip. Though this meal came together smoothly on the propane camp stove, Robert recalls his favorite camp meal as fresh-caught northern pike deep-fried in a hand-made batter.

Award: Best Alternative to Dino Nuggets

Eats: Truffle oil and garlic roasted baby potatoes and mushroom medley with saffron and Kobe beef boneless short rib

Prep time: Fridge to plate in 20 minutes

Ingredients: Truffle oil, saffron, rosemary, umami mushroom seasoning, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic, baby potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, Kobe beef short rib, Korean glass noodle (japchae), and seasoned bean sprouts.

How to: Kirby's plan to make quesadillas fell through so he thought he might as well make meat and potatoes instead. After washing and slicing the mushrooms and potatoes, Kirby partially boiled the potatoes in a small pot on a two burner stove while roasting the minced garlic in extra virgin olive oil on a Skottle. Next, he added all three mushrooms with salt, pepper, umami mushroom spice, and more minced garlic, and placed the Kobe beef short rib on the outer edge of the Skottle while the potatoes boiled. After six minutes, he drained the potatoes and added them to the Skottle along with rosemary and the mushrooms. Korean glass noodles and seasoned bean sprouts went on the outer edge to heat up while the beef cooked last. Extra flavor came in the end from saffron and truffle oil. As Kirby puts it, you can't go wrong with meat and potatoes.

Award: Fit for a Restaurant Presentation

Eats: Wagyu filet mignon with blue cheese cream sauce

Ingredients: Wagyu beef filets, salt, pepper, blue cheese, 1/3 stick of butter, heavy whipping cream.

How to: Anthony Coppola prepared a melt-in-your-mouth batch of Wagyu beef steaks topped with an experimental blue cheese sauce. After selecting the cuts of meat from the local market, all that was left was to break out the propane stove and cast iron grille. The filets were seasoned and cooked until medium-rare, the blue cheese sauce simmered on the stove, and the pasta was a pre-made special from the market.

Eats: Pan-roasted brussels sprouts with candied bacon and andouille sausage

Ingredients: Candied smoked bacon, avocado oil, spicy andouille sausage, brussels sprouts, balsamic glaze, and parmesan cheese.

How to: With his bacon pre-candied and pre-smoked, Brad was ready for action when it came time for the Camp Chef Showcase. About a third of the prep time involved halving the brussels sprouts which then went into the skillet to soften with some avocado oil. Next, the bacon and sausage joined the sprouts in the skillet with some water until everything cooked through. Finishing touches were parmesan cheese, balsamic glaze, and hand-crafted beverages.

Award: Completion of the Brussels Sprout Challenge

Eats: Sweet and spicy soy curl fajitas

Ingredients: Two big handfuls of soy curls, mini sweet peppers, 1/2 a sweet onion, 1/4 cup secret recipe fajita spices, one can tomato sauce, sour cream, and flour tortillas.

How to: Doug Hart's vegetarian approach to fajitas included dehydrated soy beans called soy curls, and didn't take much more than a compact propane burner to make in the woods. Doug rehydrated the soybeans in a bag using a can of tomato sauce and about a quarter-cup of his secret fajita spices. Next, he cut up and fried a bag of mini sweet peppers and about half a sweet onion. When everything was cooked to perfection, it was served on a flour tortilla with sour cream.

Eats: No Pot, No Plate, No Problem, Pie Iron Hot Pastrami

Ingredients: Pastrami, Havarti cheese, and rye bread.

How to: Lance's meal was "stupidly simple and wonderfully adjustable." His pie iron creation allowed for maximum creativity with no mess to clean up afterwards. Any source of flame will do, whether it's a campfire or a single stove burner. Lance preheated his cast iron folding pie iron as he built the sandwiches to ensure a good toasting. His sandwich loadout included some mayo, thousand island dressing, havarti cheese, and pastrami. Last step was to gently oil the iron and drop in the goods. Just watch out and make sure that melted cheesy delight is cool enough before digging in.

Ingredients: All-natural crust, cheese, and pepperoni.

How to: This dish was picked for its inclusion of all-natural ingredients, quick prep, and extremely high fiber content. The pizza crust was donated during the first night of Overland Adventure. It appeared fresh and perfectly round so it was not to be wasted. It was marinated in the back of the truck all day with the perfect amount of dust and heat to enhance the flavor of the crust. Though the smell wasn't quite appealing, the dish was memorable, especially when it was presented to friends. Nobody wanted to eat the pizza, but it was worth the fun.