Budget Christmas Dinner in One Pot
Shelf-stable ham, potato flakes, and gravy. The classic holiday plate, carried in a freezer bag.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 29 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 13 min
- water
- 600 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
- Backpacking
- Winter / snow
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Shelf-stable diced ham | 1 pouch, about 3 oz | the foil pouch, not the can, unless you want to pack out metal |
|---|---|---|
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 3/4 cup | |
| Brown gravy mix | 1 packet | about 2 tbsp of powder |
| Dried green beans or mixed vegetables | 1/3 cup | |
| Dried cranberries | 2 tbsp | |
| Olive oil or butter powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Bring 350 ml of water to a boil and drop in the dried vegetables. Simmer five minutes so they actually rehydrate. Half-cooked dried green beans are gravel.
- Add the ham pouch contents and the cranberries. Heat another minute.
- Pull the pot off the flame. Stir in the potato flakes a few spoonfuls at a time until it thickens to mashed potato.
- In your mug or a second cup, whisk the gravy mix into 250 ml of hot water until it stops being lumpy.
- Pour the gravy over the potatoes, add the oil, grind pepper over it, and eat.
Holiday dinner is cheap because the parts are cheap: cured pork, potatoes, whatever vegetable was in season. All three have shelf-stable versions that weigh almost nothing, so the whole plate collapses into one bag and one pot. The ham pouch does the protein and most of the salt. The gravy packet does the work a pan drippings would have done at home.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Vegetables need real simmering time, potato flakes need none, and flakes dumped in early turn the pot into paste before the beans are soft. Cook the slow thing first, kill the heat, then thicken. Gravy mixed separately keeps it from seizing into lumps you cannot stir out.
Packing
Potato flakes, dried vegetables, and cranberries share one quart freezer bag. Gravy packet and ham pouch stay sealed until camp. Scale by multiplying every line and cooking in the biggest pot you have.
Variations
- Swap the ham for a foil pouch of turkey if you want the other traditional bird.
- A handful of crushed stuffing mix stirred in with the flakes adds bulk and the sage flavor people are actually after.
- Skip the gravy and stir a spoonful of mustard into the potatoes instead. Lighter pack, sharper plate.
https://positivelyfrugal.com/frugal-christmas-dinner-on-a-budget