Campfire Creamed Potato and Cheese
Dehydrated vegetables layered with cheese and creamed soup, reimagined for one pot and a camp stove.
- calories
- 850
- weight
- 6.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 4 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 400 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
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Condensed cream of chicken soup | 1 can (10.5 oz) | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 200 ml | |
| Instant potato flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Dehydrated onions | 2 tbsp | |
| Hard cheddar cheese | 2 oz | cubed |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water.
- Pour in the full can of condensed soup and stir until smooth.
- Stir in potato flakes and dehydrated onions. Simmer for 6 minutes until the vegetables soften.
- Add the cheese and stir until melted.
- Season with salt and pepper. Eat straight from the pot.
The original is a casserole: onions, potato chips, and cheese layered in a baking dish and baked under cream soup. This camp version keeps the same bones—vegetables, cheese, creamed soup—but ditches the oven and baking time. Dehydrated potatoes soften in the soup without fussing, and you stir everything together in one pot.
Cream of chicken soup is doing the heavy lifting as broth and thickener both. The cheese melts into the sauce and makes it rich enough for a full dinner. This recipe doesn’t scale down well (a full can is your minimum), so it’s car-camping food where weight matters less than ease.
Packing
Buy the soup in a can and bring it to camp, or decant to a lightweight pouch beforehand. Premix the potato flakes and dehydrated onions into a quart freezer bag at home. Wrap the cheese separately so it doesn't grease the bag.
Variations
- Add a pouch of canned chicken or dehydrated chicken for more protein.
- Use cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup for a vegetarian version.
- Scatter a tablespoon of bacon bits into the pot before serving.
https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/need-new-ideas-for-dinner.794