Chicken Parm Skillet Mash
Marinara, freeze-dried chicken, and toasted crumbs over potatoes. Chicken parm without an oven.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 500 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried cooked chicken | 2 oz | or a foil pouch of chicken, heavier but cheaper |
|---|---|---|
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for the cup of marinara |
| Italian herbs and garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Seasoned breadcrumbs | 3 tbsp | |
| Grated parmesan | 2 tbsp | the hard dry kind in the green can travels fine |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Dry-toast the breadcrumbs in the empty pot over low flame, stirring, until they smell like toast. Two minutes. Tip them into a lid or cup.
- Add the chicken and 200 ml of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, kill the heat, and let it sit covered for five minutes to rehydrate.
- Stir in the tomato powder, herbs, and another 200 ml of hot water. It should look like thin sauce.
- Add potato flakes a spoonful at a time until it thickens. Stop before it gets stiff.
- Pour the oil over, then scatter the parmesan and toasted crumbs on top. Eat straight from the pot.
Baked chicken parm needs an oven, a sheet pan, and three bowls. None of that fits in a pack, so the structure moves instead of the flavor: potato flakes carry the sauce, the crumbs get toasted dry in the pot before anything wet goes in, and the cheese goes on at the end where it still tastes like cheese.
Toasting the crumbs first is the part that matters. Untoasted crumbs stirred into sauce turn to paste and you lose the only crunch in the meal. Tomato powder replaces the cup of marinara because a jar of sauce is mostly water you are already carrying.
Packing
Breadcrumbs and parmesan in one small bag, everything else dry in a second. Keep the crumbs separate or they go soft in the sauce powder.
Variations
- A pouch of chicken instead of freeze-dried skips the rehydrate step entirely.
- Swap the breadcrumbs for crushed crackers if that is what you already carry.
- Add a spoon of milk powder with the flakes for a richer mash.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/skinny-baked-chicken-parmesan-all-the-flavor-none-of-the-guilt