Chicken and Vegetable Soup, Trail Version
A pile of dried vegetables, freeze-dried chicken, and tomato powder that comes back as soup in one pot.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 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
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried chicken | 1.5 oz | or a foil pouch of chicken, added at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Dried mixed vegetables | 1/2 cup | carrot, celery, onion, bell pepper |
| Dried zucchini and cauliflower | 1/3 cup | sliced thin before drying or they never rehydrate |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | crushed sun-dried tomatoes work too |
| Chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | |
| Dried garlic | 1 tsp | |
| Dried spinach or kale flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Put everything except the spinach and oil into the pot with 600 ml of water.
- Bring it to a boil, then hold a low simmer for eight minutes. Stir now and then so the tomato powder does not scorch on the bottom.
- Kill the heat, stir in the spinach flakes, and put the lid on for three minutes.
- Pour the oil over the top. Salt and pepper hard: dried vegetables need more than you think.
The original is a fridge-clearing pot of fresh vegetables poached with whole chicken breasts. None of that travels. Dried vegetables and freeze-dried chicken carry the same soup at a fraction of the weight, and the bouillon does the work the poaching liquid used to do.
Tomato powder is what keeps this from tasting like hot salt water. It thickens the broth slightly and adds the acid that dried vegetables lose. The oil goes in off the heat because this is a lean meal otherwise, and a bowl of vegetables with no fat will not hold you until morning.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the oil. If you are using a foil chicken pouch instead of freeze-dried, hold it out and stir it in after the simmer so it does not shred.
Variations
- A handful of instant rice or small pasta in the pot turns it into a full dinner. Pasta drops the gluten-free tag.
- Rehydrate with less water and eat it as a stew rather than a soup.
- Chili flakes and a squeeze of lime powder if the vegetable flavor reads flat.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/detox-chicken-and-vegetable-soup