camp meals

Chicken Noodle Soup From The Pack

Freeze-dried chicken, dried vegetables, and egg noodles in one pot of broth.

calories
520
weight
4.5 oz
cal / oz
116
protein
30 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
  • Canister stove
  • Liquid fuel
  • Campfire coals
  • Backpacking
  • Car camping
  • Basecamp
  • Winter / snow
  • Dairy free
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Freeze-dried or canned chicken 2.5 oz pouched chicken works, it just weighs more
Egg noodles 3/4 cup dry thin ones, they cook faster
Dried carrot 3 tbsp
Dried onion 1 tbsp
Dried celery flakes 1 tbsp
Chicken bouillon 2 tsp or 2 cubes
Garlic powder 1/2 tsp
Rubbed sage, rosemary, and thyme 1/2 tsp each
Black pepper 1/2 tsp
Olive oil 1 tbsp stands in for the sauté

Method

  1. Put the dried carrot, onion, celery, bouillon, and herbs in the pot with 600 ml of water. Bring it to a boil.
  2. Hold the boil for four minutes. The vegetables need that time before the noodles go in or they stay hard.
  3. Add the noodles and the chicken. Simmer six to eight minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
  4. Pull it off the heat, stir in the oil, and let it sit two minutes. The noodles keep absorbing while it cools.

The original is a home soup built on a leftover rotisserie chicken, two hours of stock, and a cutting board of fresh vegetables. None of that travels. Dried carrot, onion, and celery rehydrate in the same water that becomes the broth, and bouillon replaces the six cups of stock you would otherwise carry as liquid.

Order matters more than technique here. Dried vegetables need a few minutes of hard boil before the noodles join them, or you end up with soft noodles and gravel. The oil goes in at the end because there is no sauté step to carry it, and soup without fat leaves you hungry an hour later.

Packing

Vegetables, bouillon, and herbs premixed in one bag. Noodles in a second bag so you can time them separately. Oil in a leakproof bottle.

Variations

  • Swap the noodles for instant rice or small pasta if you want it gluten-free; check the bouillon too.
  • A spoon of instant potato flakes at the end turns the broth into a thicker stew.

https://morefood.org/one-chicken-several-meals-part-2