Beef and Shells with Sour Cream Sauce
A casserole flattened into one pot: pasta, beef, tomato, and a powdered sour cream layer stirred in at the end.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 700 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
- Backpacking
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small pasta shells | 6 oz | small shapes cook faster and need less water |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated ground beef | 1 cup | 1 lb browned and dried at home, or freeze-dried |
| Tomato powder | 1/3 cup | stands in for 24 oz of jarred sauce |
| Powdered sour cream or whole milk powder | 1/3 cup | |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Hard cheddar | 2 oz | waxed or vacuum-sealed, grated at home |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Put the dried beef and minced onion in the pot with 250 ml of water and let them sit ten minutes off the stove. They rehydrate slower than the pasta cooks.
- Add another 450 ml of water, bring it to a boil, and drop in the shells.
- Boil about eight minutes, stirring often so nothing welds to the bottom. There is no draining step, so keep an eye on the water level and add a splash if it goes dry early.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the tomato powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Let it cool a minute, then stir in the sour cream powder. Boiling liquid makes it grainy.
- Top with the cheddar and the oil, put the lid on for two minutes, then stir it through.
The original is a baked casserole with three separate cooking steps and a fridge full of dairy. None of that survives a trail. What actually matters is the structure: starch, seasoned beef, tomato, and something creamy over the top. All four keep in powder or dried form, so the whole thing collapses into one pot and one boil.
The order is the only fussy part. Beef rehydrates slower than pasta cooks, so it goes in first with a soak. Tomato powder and sour cream powder go in after the heat is off, because tomato scorches on a hot pot bottom and cultured dairy powder curdles in boiling water. Cook the pasta in exactly the water you plan to eat, since draining a starchy pot in camp wastes both fuel and calories.
Packing
Everything dry except the cheese goes in one bag, with the sour cream powder in a small separate bag inside it so it does not go in early. Cheese travels on its own. Dehydrated beef is the one item worth doing at home: brown it lean, rinse the fat off with hot water, and dry it at 145°F until it rattles.
Variations
- Freeze-dried beef crumbles skip the home dehydrating and the ten-minute soak.
- Gluten-free shells work but need closer watching, and they thicken the pot water more.
- No cheese and no sour cream powder still eats fine with an extra tablespoon of oil.
https://mealswithmaria.site/ground-beef-and-pasta-bake