Chicken and Corn Cup Soup
Homemade instant soup powder that beats the sachet, built for a cold lunch stop.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 3 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 3 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 350 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.
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Winter / snow
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Chicken bouillon powder | 2 tsp | or crushed cubes; vegetable stock works the same |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried sweet corn | 1/4 cup | |
| Freeze-dried peas | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried leek or onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried carrot | 1 tbsp | cut small, or it stays crunchy |
| Full cream milk powder | 3 tbsp | |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 2 tbsp | the thickener |
| Freeze-dried shredded chicken | 1/3 cup | rehydrates in about a minute |
| Dried thyme and parsley | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper and salt | to taste |
Method
- Boil 350 ml of water and take the pot off the heat.
- Pour in the whole bag and stir hard. Lumps form if you dump it into rolling water, so kill the flame first.
- Cover and wait three minutes. The corn and carrot need the full time.
- Stir again and check the salt. Bouillon brands vary a lot.
The source version simmers a real stock from roasted carcasses and dehydrates it. That is a fine winter project, but the trail-relevant part is the assembly: dried vegetables, a stock base, and dairy added dry at packing time rather than cooked in. Home dehydrators handle fat and milk badly, so the cream comes from milk powder stirred into the finished mix. Bouillon powder from the store does the same job as the homemade stock with none of the oven time.
Potato flakes are the addition that makes this a lunch instead of a hot drink. Two tablespoons give it enough body to stay warm in the pot and enough starch to sit with you through the afternoon. Off-heat water matters more than it sounds: milk powder and potato flakes both clump in boiling water, and there is no fixing that with a spoon.
Packing
One bag per serving, mixed at home. Add the milk powder and potato flakes to the bag last so they sit on top and you remember they are in there.
Variations
- Double the chicken and add a handful of instant rice for a dinner instead of a lunch.
- Crackers or a tortilla on the side turns it into an actual meal.
- Swap the bouillon for vegetable stock and drop the chicken for a vegetarian version.
https://slowerhiking.com/recipes/home-made-cream-of-chicken-cup-a-soup