camp meals

Camp Breakfast Quesadilla

Bacon, egg, and cheese folded into a tortilla and browned in a skillet over the stove.

calories
620
weight
6 oz
cal / oz
103
protein
26 g
serves
2, scales
prep
5 min
cook
10 min
total time
15 min
water
60 ml cold
cost
$

Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.

  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Canister stove
  • Campfire coals
  • Grill grate
  • Car camping
  • Basecamp
  • Backpacking
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Grab and go
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Flour tortillas 4 (8-inch) they pack flat and do not crumble
Precooked bacon crumbles 1/2 cup shelf-stable pouch, no frying needed
Whole egg powder 6 tbsp equals about 4 eggs
Water 6 tbsp for the egg powder
Hard cheese 3 oz cheddar or a dry jack, grated at home
Oil or bacon fat 1 tbsp
Salt and black pepper to taste
Salsa packets 2 the shelf-stable taqueria kind

Method

  1. Stir the egg powder into 6 tbsp of cold water in your mug and let it sit two minutes so the lumps dissolve.
  2. Warm half the oil in the skillet. Add the bacon crumbles and let them crisp for a minute.
  3. Pour in the egg, season, and scramble over low heat until just set. Scrape it into the mug and wipe the pan.
  4. Lay a tortilla in the dry pan, scatter half the cheese, then half the egg and bacon, then a second tortilla on top.
  5. Cook over low heat until the bottom browns and the cheese slumps, about two minutes. Flip with a plate or your hand and give it another minute.
  6. Repeat with the second one. Cut in half and eat with salsa.

The home version fries raw bacon and cracks fresh eggs, neither of which belongs in a pack. Precooked bacon crumbles and whole egg powder do the same job at a fraction of the weight and with no cold chain. Hard cheese grated at home is the last piece: it keeps for days unrefrigerated and melts well enough to glue the tortillas together.

Low heat matters more than anything else here. A camp stove concentrates its flame in a small circle, so a hot pan scorches the tortilla before the cheese has softened. Keep the flame low, expect the middle to brown first, and move the quesadilla around the pan if you have no diffuser.

Packing

Bacon, cheese, and egg powder each ride in their own bag; the cheese sweats and will grease everything else. Tortillas stay in their sleeve, flat against the back panel so they do not fold into a wad.

Variations

  • Swap the bacon for a foil pouch of ham or a summer sausage diced small.
  • Add a spoon of instant refried bean powder to the filling to stretch it further.
  • Corn tortillas work if you want a smaller, crisper quesadilla, but they tear when flipped.

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/breakfast-quesadillas