Bacon and Red Lentil Soup
Red lentils, chopped smoked bacon, and one stock cube. Thirty minutes and it turns into a pot of thick soup.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 850 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Red split lentils | 1 1/2 cups | rinse at home if you can; they cook down fast |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable smoked bacon crumbles | 1/2 cup | precooked bacon bits in a sealed pouch, no cooler needed |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Ham or chicken bouillon cube | 1 cube | check the label if you need it gluten-free |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in the pot and add the bacon crumbles and dried onion. Stir a minute until the bacon smells like bacon and the onion darkens slightly.
Red lentils are the only legume worth carrying that cooks without soaking. They break apart on their own, so the soup thickens itself and you skip the flour, the milk, and the immersion blender the home version leans on.
The source called for fresh onion and raw streaky bacon, neither of which survives a warm pack. Dried minced onion rehydrates in the broth and precooked bacon crumbles come sealed and shelf-stable, and since the bacon is already rendered you add a little oil at the start so the onion has something to fry in. Half the cook time is the lentils softening, so keep the flame low once it’s simmering or you’ll burn the bottom and scrub it later.
Packing
Lentils, dried onion, and the crumbled bouillon cube go in one bag. Bacon pouch and oil separate. Two bags total per dinner.
Variations
- Swap the bacon for a foil pouch of ham or a diced summer sausage if you want more fat.
- A spoonful of tomato paste from a tube gives it color and cuts the earthiness.
- Curry powder or smoked paprika stirred in at the end changes it completely for no extra weight.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/lentil-soup