Balsamic Beef and Potatoes
Freeze-dried beef, balsamic powder, and potato flakes. A pot roast that fits in a sandwich bag.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 144
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 500 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shredded beef | 2 oz | stands in for the chuck roast |
|---|---|---|
| Balsamic vinegar powder | 1 tbsp | sold as a dry seasoning; the whole point of the dish |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Granulated garlic | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/4 tsp | optional, but the heat needs the vinegar to land |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water. Drop in the beef, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Cover, kill the heat, and wait eight minutes. The beef needs the full soak or it stays stringy.
- Stir in the balsamic powder off the heat. Heat dulls it.
- Add potato flakes a spoonful at a time until the broth turns into gravy. Add hot water back if you overshoot.
- Pour the oil over and stir it in.
The original is a slow cooker recipe: a chuck roast, vinegar, and four seasonings, left alone for eight hours while the meat makes its own liquid. None of that survives a pack. So the roast becomes freeze-dried shredded beef, the eight hours become an eight-minute soak, and the balsamic arrives as powder instead of a bottle you would rather not carry.
The potato flakes replace the braising liquid the roast would have made on its own. Without them you have salty vinegar broth with meat in it. Add the balsamic powder after the pot is off the stove — the sharpness is the only thing distinguishing this from generic beef and potatoes, and boiling flattens it.
Packing
Beef, potato flakes, and spices go in separate corners of one freezer bag, or two bags if you care about tidy soaking. Balsamic powder clumps in humidity, so keep it in its own small bag with the seal pressed flat.
Variations
- Swap in a foil pouch of roast beef or shredded chicken if you cannot find freeze-dried beef; skip the eight-minute soak.
- A spoonful of powdered beef bouillon deepens it if your beef is lean and bland.
- Cut the potato flakes to 1/4 cup and eat it as a stew instead.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-balsamic-beef-pot-roast