Camp Chili Mac
Macaroni, freeze-dried beef, and chili powder cooked down in one pot until the water disappears.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 142
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Elbow macaroni | 1 1/4 cups dry | small shapes rehydrate faster than spirals |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 1.5 oz | crumbles, not chunks |
| Instant refried bean flakes | 1/3 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Cumin, garlic powder, onion powder | 1 tsp each | |
| Powdered cheddar | 3 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
Method
- Put the beef crumbles in the pot with 700 ml of water and bring it to a boil. The meat needs the head start.
- Add the macaroni. Boil eight to ten minutes, stirring often so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Cut the heat when the pasta is nearly soft and most of the water is gone. Do not drain it.
- Stir in the bean flakes, tomato powder, and spices. It will thicken fast.
- Add the cheese powder and oil last, off the heat. Lid on for two minutes, then eat.
Scout camps have been making chili mac over fire for decades, and the reason is arithmetic: pasta, meat, and beans in one pot is the cheapest way to move a lot of calories into tired people. The trail version changes almost nothing except the shopping. Canned chili and ground beef become freeze-dried crumbles and bean flakes, and the tomato base becomes powder.
The important part is not draining the pasta. That starchy water is the sauce, and the bean flakes are what turn it from soup into chili. Add them off the heat and a little at a time, because they thicken more than you expect and a scorched pot bottom is a long cleanup with a scrap of grass.
Packing
Pasta and beef in one bag. Bean flakes, tomato powder, spices, cheese powder, and salt premixed in a second, small bag so the sauce goes in as a single pour.
Variations
- Swap the beef for another 1/3 cup of bean flakes to make it meatless.
- A crushed handful of corn chips on top adds fat and a texture the pot cannot produce.
- Dehydrated bell pepper and onion, added with the pasta, rehydrate in the same window.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/boy-scouts/boy-scout-recipes.asp