Camp Chicken and Rice Casserole
A pantry casserole rebuilt for a lidded pot over coals, with no fridge involved.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 86
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned chicken | 3 cans, 10 oz total drained | canned turkey works the same |
|---|---|---|
| Instant white rice | 2 cups dry | |
| Freeze-dried mixed vegetables | 1 1/2 cups | broccoli, carrot, and peas rehydrate fastest |
| Condensed cream of chicken soup | 1 can, 10.75 oz | any cream-of-something can |
| Evaporated milk | 1 can, 12 oz | |
| Ghee or shelf-stable butter | 3 tbsp | |
| Dried onion, garlic powder, thyme, paprika | 1 tsp each | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| French-fried onions | 1 cup | the topping, added late |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set 8 or 10 aside for the lid. A campfire with a lidded pot works the same as a dutch oven.
- Melt the ghee in the pot. Swirl it up the sides so nothing welds itself on.
- Pour in the evaporated milk, the soup, and 700 ml of water. Stir until the soup breaks up, then bring it to a simmer.
- Add the freeze-dried vegetables and the spices. Simmer five minutes so the vegetables take on water before the rice does.
- Stir in the rice and the drained chicken. Put the lid on, pull the pot off direct heat, and set coals on top. Twenty minutes.
- Check it. The rice should be soft and the liquid mostly gone. If it is still wet, leave the lid off over low coals for a few minutes.
- Scatter the fried onions over the top, lid it again for two minutes, and serve.
The original is a baked casserole made from leftovers, which is two things camp cannot supply: an oven and a fridge. Canned chicken replaces the leftover roast, instant rice replaces cooked rice, and freeze-dried vegetables replace the steamed mix. Evaporated milk and condensed soup were already shelf-stable, so those stay as they are. Ghee stands in for butter because it does not care how warm the bin gets.
Everything cooks in one pot instead of a baking dish. The rice absorbs the soup and milk directly, which is why the water is measured rather than eyeballed: too much and it goes to porridge, too little and the grains stay chalky. Coals on the lid brown the top the way an oven would, but the pot has to come off direct heat first or the bottom scorches before the rice is done.
Packing
Cans and the milk ride in the food bin. Rice, vegetables, and spices go in one bag together so the pot gets loaded in two moves. Keep the fried onions in something rigid or they turn to dust.
Variations
- Instant potato flakes instead of rice: stir them in off the heat at the end and use half the water.
- A handful of shelf-stable parmesan in place of the fried onions.
- Crushed crackers on top if the onions got crushed anyway.
https://theprepared.com/blog/pantry-recipes-leftover-chicken-and-rice-casserole