Camp Stroganoff with Beef and Mushrooms
Freeze-dried beef, dried mushrooms, and sour cream powder over noodles. One pot, no roux.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 33 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried beef | 3 oz | or a shelf-stable pouch of cooked beef tips |
|---|---|---|
| Dried mushrooms | 1/2 cup | sliced cremini or a mixed bag; porcini adds the most |
| Egg noodles | 5 oz | quick-cooking, the flat kind |
| Sour cream powder | 1/3 cup | |
| Beef bouillon | 2 cubes or 2 tsp paste | |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Tomato paste | 1 tbsp | the tube kind, not a can |
| Dijon mustard | 2 tsp | single-serve packets |
| Olive oil or ghee | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Put the beef, mushrooms, and dried onion in the pot with 250 ml of water. Bring it to a boil, then pull it off the heat and let it sit ten minutes. This is the rehydration step and it is not optional.
- Add another 350 ml of water, the bouillon, garlic powder, paprika, and tomato paste. Bring it back to a boil.
- Stir in the noodles. Simmer, stirring often, until they are soft and most of the liquid is gone. Six to eight minutes.
- Kill the heat and wait a minute. Sprinkle the sour cream powder over the top a bit at a time, stirring as you go, or it clumps.
- Stir in the mustard, oil, and parsley. Salt and pepper to finish.
The home version leans on searing fresh steak and finishing with full-fat sour cream, neither of which survives a pack. Freeze-dried beef and dried mushrooms carry the same savory weight at a fraction of the load, and sour cream powder rebuilds the tang and the fat once the heat is off. There is no flour here, same as the original — the noodle starch and the dairy powder do the thickening on their own.
Two details decide whether this works. Rehydrate the beef and mushrooms first, in their own water, or they stay leathery while the noodles turn to paste. And add the sour cream powder off the heat: boiled, it splits and goes grainy. The tomato paste and mustard are small amounts doing large work, giving the sauce a floor of acid that dried ingredients otherwise lack.
Packing
Beef and mushrooms go in one bag, noodles in another, and every powder plus the bouillon in a third. Tomato paste tube and mustard packets ride in the lid pocket.
Variations
- Instant mashed potatoes in place of the noodles, using half the second pour of water.
- A shelf-stable pouch of roast beef skips the rehydration wait entirely.
- Powdered whole milk plus a squeeze of lemon crystals subs for the sour cream powder if that is what you have.
https://www.baldhiker.com/keto-beef-stroganoff-recipe