Chicken Pasta Salad, Cold Soak Version
Fusilli soaked cold in a jar, then stirred with pouch chicken and a powdered creamy dressing.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 111
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 400 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Bikepacking
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Fusilli pasta | 2 oz dry | thin spirals soak faster than thick ones |
|---|---|---|
| Foil pouch chicken | 5 oz | |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp chopped | the dry-packed kind, not oil-packed |
| Dried bell pepper and onion flakes | 2 tbsp total | |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | stands in for the mayo and yogurt |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Lemon powder or a lemon juice packet | 1 tsp | |
| Grated parmesan | 2 tbsp | the shelf-stable green-can kind |
| Dried parsley, basil, and garlic powder | 1 tsp each | |
| Smoked paprika | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1/2 tsp | replaces the honey in the dressing |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Two to three hours before you want to eat, put the pasta, tomatoes, and vegetable flakes in the jar and add 400 ml of cold water. Seal and shake.
- Carry it upright in a side pocket. Shake it again whenever you think of it.
- When the pasta bends without snapping, pour off any standing water. There should be very little left.
- Add the milk powder, parmesan, herbs, paprika, sugar, lemon, salt, and pepper. Stir until the dressing coats everything instead of pooling.
- Fold in the chicken and the oil. Eat straight from the jar.
Home versions of this lean on a fridge: fresh mozzarella, cucumber, mayonnaise, yogurt. None of that travels. The dressing here is milk powder, parmesan, and oil rehydrated by the water clinging to the pasta, which lands close to the same place — thick, tangy, and sticking to the spirals rather than sliding off.
Cold soaking pasta is slower than people expect. Two hours is the floor for fusilli, three is safer, and spirals thicker than a pencil lead may never get there. Start it at your morning break and it is lunch. The sun-dried tomatoes and pepper flakes rehydrate on the same schedule, so nothing needs separate attention.
Packing
Pasta and dried vegetables in one bag, the dressing powders premixed in a second small bag. Chicken pouch and oil bottle ride separately. A screw-top peanut butter jar is the container.
Variations
- Salami or pepperoni instead of the chicken pouch, sliced thin so it does not need chewing through.
- Skip the parmesan and milk powder and lean on oil and lemon for a dressing that survives hot weather better.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/chicken-pasta-salad-recipe-for-family-meals