Camp Fruit Salad from Dried Fruit
Dried fruit, citrus, and a little sugar, rehydrated in the pot while you set up camp.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 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
- Dessert
- Snack
- No cook
- Cold soak
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Dried apple slices | 1/2 cup | chopped small so they soak evenly |
|---|---|---|
| Banana chips | 1/3 cup | added late, they go soft fast |
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 1/2 cup | |
| Raisins or dried grapes | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried pineapple | 1/3 cup | chopped |
| Dried kiwi | 6 slices | optional, mostly for color |
| Freeze-dried blueberries | 1/4 cup | |
| Orange drink powder or dried orange peel | 2 tsp | |
| Honey | 1 tbsp | a squeeze packet, or sugar if you want it vegan |
| True Lime or True Lemon crystals | 1 packet | |
| Dried mint | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | a tiny pinch |
Method
- Put the dried apple, pineapple, raisins, and kiwi in a jar or freezer bag. Hold back the freeze-dried berries and banana chips.
- Pour in 300 ml of cold water. Add the citrus crystals, orange powder, honey, mint, and salt. Seal and shake.
- Let it sit 45 minutes, an hour if the apples are thick. Shake it once partway through.
- Stir in the freeze-dried strawberries and blueberries and the banana chips. Five more minutes is enough for those.
- Eat it out of the bag with the syrup that has collected at the bottom.
Fresh fruit salad is mostly water and bruises, which is a bad deal in a pack. The dried version carries the same fruit at a fifth of the weight and rebuilds itself in the bag. Cold water is enough; the apples and pineapple just need time, so start it before you set up the tent.
The citrus crystals and the pinch of salt are doing the work the fresh lime and orange used to do. Without acid, rehydrated dried fruit tastes flat and one-note sweet. The berries and banana chips go in at the end because they soften in minutes and turn to mush if they soak the whole hour.
Packing
Premix the hard dried fruit and the powders in one bag at home. Berries and banana chips go in a second bag so they do not get crushed or over-soaked. Honey rides in a packet, not a squeeze bottle.
Variations
- Skip the honey and use brown sugar to keep it vegan.
- Hot water cuts the soak to fifteen minutes if you have a stove going for coffee anyway.
- A scoop of milk powder turns the leftover syrup into something closer to a pudding.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/classic-fruit-salad-recipe-fresh-easy-dessert