Camp Slaw with Shelf-Stable Dressing
Dried cabbage and carrot, a vinegar-sugar-mustard dressing, and an hour in the pot while you set up camp.
- calories
- 220
- weight
- 2.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 100
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 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.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Snack
- No cook
- Cold soak
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated shredded cabbage and carrot | 1 1/2 cups | about 4 cups fresh, dried at home |
|---|---|---|
| White vinegar | 2 tbsp | in a small leakproof bottle |
| White granulated sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Dry mustard powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Mayonnaise | 1/3 cup | single-serve packets, no refrigeration until opened |
Method
- Put the dried cabbage mix in a quart freezer bag with 300 ml of cold water. Seal and let it sit 45 minutes.
- Press the air out and squeeze the bag over a rock or into a cathole until the shreds are damp, not dripping. Wet cabbage makes soup.
- In the same bag or a mug, whisk the vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, and pepper until the sugar dissolves. Tear in the mayo packets and stir smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the cabbage, seal the bag, and work it with your hands until every shred is coated.
- Give it another 30 minutes if you can. It is better once the vinegar has done its work.
Coleslaw is a fridge dish made portable by removing the two things that need cold: fresh cabbage and a jar of mayonnaise. Home-dried cabbage and carrot rehydrate in under an hour in cold water and come back with most of their crunch, and single-serve mayo packets are shelf-stable until you tear them.
The dressing is mostly a sugar-and-acid solution, which is why it wants to be whisked before the mayo goes in. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar first or you will be chewing grit. The rest time is not optional. Freshly rehydrated cabbage tastes like wet paper until the vinegar and salt pull water out of it.
Packing
Dry cabbage in one bag, sugar and spices premixed in a snack bag, vinegar in a dropper bottle, mayo packets loose. Nothing here needs a cooler until a mayo packet is open.
Variations
- Swap the mayo for the same volume of olive oil and an extra splash of vinegar. Lighter, vegan, and it does not care about heat.
- A pinch of celery seed leans it toward deli slaw.
- No dehydrator? Buy dried cabbage flakes from a bulk supplier; they rehydrate the same way.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/web-stories/top-secret-chick-fil-a-coleslaw-recipe