Chicken Noodle Soup, Trail Version
Freeze-dried chicken, broth powder, and thin noodles in one pot. The mirepoix rides along dried.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 700 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
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried or canned shredded chicken | 2 oz | freeze-dried rehydrates in the pot; a foil pouch works too |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken bouillon or broth powder | 2 tsp | enough for 700 ml |
| Dried carrot | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery | 1 tbsp | a little goes far, it dominates |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Italian seasoning | 1/2 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 small | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | bouillon is already salty, taste first |
| Thin noodles | 1.5 oz | angel hair or fine egg noodles, snapped short |
| Olive oil | 1 tsp | optional, adds calories |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Add the carrot, celery, onion, bouillon, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf.
- Simmer 5 minutes with the lid on. The vegetables need the head start; the noodles do not.
- Add the freeze-dried chicken and the snapped noodles. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Pull the pot off the heat, fish out the bay leaf, and let it sit 2 minutes. The noodles keep softening.
- Taste, then add salt, pepper, and the oil.
The original is a pressure-cooker recipe built around raw chicken, fresh mirepoix, and homemade stock. None of that travels. Bouillon replaces the stock, dried vegetables replace the mirepoix, and freeze-dried chicken replaces the breast. The flavors survive the swap because they were mostly coming from the aromatics and seasoning anyway.
Timing is the only thing to get right. Dried carrot and celery need five minutes of simmering before they stop being crunchy; thin noodles need four. Start them together and you get hard vegetables in mush. Use fine noodles rather than anything thick, since fuel spent boiling pasta is fuel you carried up the hill.
Packing
Everything dry except the noodles goes into one bag. Noodles in their own bag so they do not powder against the vegetables. If you carry a foil chicken pouch instead of freeze-dried, it rides outside the bag.
Variations
- Swap the noodles for instant ramen and drop the bouillon to 1 tsp.
- A tablespoon of instant potato flakes at the end turns it into a thicker stew for cold nights.
- Skip the chicken and use vegetable bouillon for a vegetarian version.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/instant-pot-chicken-noodle-soup