Camp Turkey and Stuffing Skillet
Pouched turkey, boxed stuffing, and a gravy packet. Holiday dinner without a thermometer.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 93
- protein
- 40 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 500 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Foil-pouch cooked turkey | 5 oz | already cooked and sealed, so no thawing and no danger zone |
|---|---|---|
| Boxed stuffing mix | 1 1/2 cups | the cubed kind holds shape better than crumbs |
| Brown gravy mix | 1 packet | |
| Dried cranberries | 3 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | stands in for the butter the box asks for |
| Poultry seasoning | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Bring 400 ml of water to a boil. Stir in the oil, the cranberries, and the poultry seasoning.
- Dump in the stuffing mix, stir once, and pull the pot off the heat. Lid on for five minutes.
- While it sits, shake the gravy packet into 100 ml of hot water in your mug and stir until it stops being lumpy.
- Fork the stuffing loose, tear open the turkey pouch, and fold the meat in cold. It warms through in the residual heat.
- Pour the gravy over the top. Eat out of the pot.
The source here was a holiday food-safety warning, not a recipe: thaw the bird properly, never cook poultry below 325 F, check three spots for 165 F, do not stuff it the night before. None of that translates to a camp kitchen, so this takes the meal and drops the hazard. Shelf-stable pouched turkey is retort-cooked and sealed. There is nothing to thaw, nothing to hold at temperature, and no raw juices to keep off your cutting board, which you do not have anyway.
The stuffing is the structure. Boxed mix is engineered for exactly this — boiling water, a fat, five minutes covered — so it rehydrates without a stove running underneath it. Oil replaces the butter the box wants. Mix the gravy in your mug rather than the pot, or the starch seizes against the hot metal and you get lumps you cannot stir out.
Packing
Stuffing mix, gravy packet, cranberries, and seasoning go into one quart bag at home. The turkey pouch and the oil bottle ride separately.
Variations
- A handful of instant potato flakes thickens it if you overshot the water.
- Swap the turkey pouch for chicken or a can of Spam cut into cubes and crisped first.
https://morefood.org/avoiding-risky-habits-in-the-kitchen-during-the-holidays