​​12 Things You Can Roast On An Open Fire This Holiday Season

The winter holidays are a great time to light up your indoor fireplace in order to warm up the home and create a festive ambience. A fireplaces has all sorts of benefits, from creating a mood to warming your home and creating light. Wood fires are even a good place to cook all sorts of delicious foods throughout the holiday season.

You can safely roast all sorts of food on an open fire during the holidays, including marshmallows, chestnuts, hotdogs, and sausages. Use skewers to roast vegetables, bacon, strips of beef, and fruits like pineapples. In foil, you can cook bananas and make them extra sweet by adding additional ingredients. You can cook potatoes and sweet potatoes as a side dish, and you can even roast apples with brown sugar on a fire.

If you love lighting up your fireplace in the winter, then you might as well use the heat to get some cooking done, too. It will save you some kitchen cleanup and fuel costs, and it can add a lovely nuanced smokey flavor to anything you prepare. If you can’t think of what you should cook on flames this winter, then look at our list below for some cooking inspiration with the top things to roast on an open fire this holiday season.

12 Foods You Can Roast On A Fire During The Holidays

1. Marshmallows 

Of all the foods you can roast on an open fire, marshmallows are by far the most popular. These sugary treats are a quintessential part of camping and are a great dessert treat to enjoy during the holidays.

Roasted marshmallows can be enjoyed any time of year, and pair nicely with hot cocoa in the holiday season.

2. Vegetable Skewers

If you are vegan or want a healthy roasting option this holiday season, opt for vegetable skewers. You can cook all sorts of veggies, from zucchini to winter and fall squash. 

Use long skewers, so your fingers aren’t too close to the fire. Opt for vegetables that only take a few minutes to cook, or partially bake them in the oven to reduce roasting time.

3. Hotdogs And Sausages

Hotdogs and sausages are another popular and easy food to roast on a fire. You can skewer them and place them near a hot spot on an open fire and let them sizzle as you turn them. 

If you opt for sausages, choose already-cooked sausages that only need to be heated and crisped. Raw pork and beef sausages may be difficult to cook through, and the fat content can drip and make a mess.

4. Potatoes

You can roast all sorts of potatoes on an open fire. You can skewer baby potatoes, or roast larger potatoes and sweet potatoes by wrapping them in foil and placing them near a hot part of the fire. 

Potatoes will cook quickly next to an open fire, and sweet potatoes are especially great when paired with nearly any holiday meal.

5. Apples

Apples are tasty and plentiful in the fall and winter months. While many people choose to eat apples raw, they are also tasty when cooked. You can even cook apples on an open fire this holiday season to mix things up.

The best way to cook apples on a fire is to first core them, and then fill the core with a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon. Wrap the filled apples in foil and place them on an open fire for 5 minutes or until they are soft.

6. Bacon

Bacon is delicious no matter how you cook it, and roasting some on an open fire during the holidays is no exception. Bacon cooks fairly quickly, and you can easily add it to a skewer. Just make sure you secure the bacon to the skewer, as it will shrink and move as it cooks.

7. Chestnuts

Chestnuts are harder to come by in North America, since the trees were mostly wiped out nearly a century ago, but it is possible to find them, especially during the holiday season. These nuts are so delicious when roasted on an open fire that there is even a Christmas song about it.

8. Beef Skewers

If you love grilled meat but don’t have an outdoor grill, then opt to roast beef skewers on an open fire. The key is using thin and tender strips of marinated beef. This will ensure the meat is crisp on the outside and bursting with juicy flavor on the inside.

9. Bananas

Bananas might seem like the last thing you’d want to put near a fire, but this sweet fruit can be delicious when wrapped in foil and placed on a fire. You can cut bananas in half long ways, then place sweet items like marshmallows and chocolate chips inside. Let the bananas heat up and the other ingredients melt, and you have a tasty banana boat dessert everyone will enjoy. 

10. Pineapple

Pineapple is another fruit that can not only hold up to the heat of an open fire but can taste even better with a bit of hot char on the outside. You can skewer chunks of pineapple and place them on hot flames. Once you notice a bit of char, they are ready to enjoy on their own or in a cocktail like sangria.

11. Shrimp

If you’re a seafood lover, then you’ll be happy to know you can cook shrimp quickly and easily on an open fire. You can roast shrimp with the shell on or off. Small and large shrimp roast in just minutes, as these shellfish are known to cook fast. Skewer them to get plenty of wood-fire flavor.

12. Mushrooms

There are more than 14,000 kinds of mushrooms on the planet, so it should come as no surprise that you can roast mushrooms in several different ways on an open fire. Larger mushrooms can be marinated in oil or butter and roasted on skewers. Smaller mushrooms are best roasted in butter and herbs and wrapped foil.

Five Tips To Safely Roast Foods On A Fire In Your Home

1. Avoid Food That Drips

When you are choosing what food to roast on an open fire, try to avoid oned that can drip, leak, or crumble into the flames. Foods that leak can cause a mess, and they will be quickly sacrificed to the fire. 

2. Secure Ingredients In Foil Or On A Skewer

You can cook most items on an open flame as long as they are properly secured and protected. Anything gooey or prone to melting (like cheese) should be cooked in foil. Items on skewers must be secured and speared well, so they don’t slip off. This ensures you don’t lose any food in the cooking process.

3. Make Sure Fire Is Hot And Settled

It might be tempting to roast food as soon as your fire gets going, but it’s important to let it settle before you do any cooking. If you use any fire-starting fuel, you want to make sure it burns off before cooking, so none of the chemicals seep into the food. 

Furthermore, a fire gets much hotter with sustained temperatures once it settles and hot coals develop.

4. Have Fireproof Tongs And Gloves

Even if you use skewers to roast your food, you must have fireproof tongs or gloves to retrieve your food. This will protect your skin and make it much easier to get your food away from the hot coals when it's ready or needs to be rotated or repositioned.

5. Be Prepared For Extra Smoke Near The Fire

You can expect more smoke than usual when you cook food on an open fire. As the food cooks and juices drip into the flames, expect the room to get a bit smokey. Prepare for this by opening windows, or bringing an oscillating fan into the room.

Summing Up Foods You Can Roast On A Fire

If you love having fires during the holidays, then consider roasting some tasty food on it. There are many food items you can cook on an open fire, including classics like marshmallows, sausages, and hotdogs. You can roast vegetables like squash, potatoes, and mushrooms, and fruits like apples, bananas, and pineapples. You can even cook meat dishes like beef, bacon, and shrimp on skewers.

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