Chicken Stew and Dumplings
Freeze-dried chicken and vegetables simmer into a hearty stew with homemade drop dumplings.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 15 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Biscuit mix | 1/2 cup | such as Bisquick |
|---|---|---|
| Dry milk | 1/2 tbsp | |
| Freeze-dried chicken | 1/3 cup | |
| Dried vegetable mix | 2 tbsp | |
| Freeze-dried onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried potatoes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried garlic | 1/4 tsp | |
| Chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | or 2 packets of low-sodium |
| Dried thyme | 1 pinch |
Method
- Open the vegetable bag and add 1/2 cup cold water. Seal and let soak for 10–15 minutes.
- Pour the soaked vegetables with their water into a pot. Add 2 cups cold water and bring to a boil.
- While the broth heats, add 1/2 cup cold water to the biscuit mix bag. Seal it, press out air, and knead until the dough is uniform.
- Once the broth is simmering, snip a small corner from the dough bag and squeeze out dumplings into the hot stew.
- Cover and simmer for 5 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and float.
Freeze-dried chicken and vegetables rehydrate in the simmering broth, so you never touch raw meat or chop anything at camp. The dumplings are made in their freezer bag: add water, seal, knead until uniform, snip the corner, squeeze into hot broth. It is faster and cleaner than pulling out a mixing bowl.
Soak the vegetables for 15 minutes before boiling. This breaks them down enough that they taste like something, not crunchy sawdust. The starch from the dumplings thickens the broth naturally, and bouillon carries all the flavor without fresh stock. One pot simmers for five minutes after the dumplings go in, then you eat.
Packing
In one quart freezer bag, combine the biscuit mix and dry milk. Seal and mark '1/2 cup water at camp'. In a second freezer bag, combine the freeze-dried chicken, vegetable mix, onion, potatoes, parsley, garlic, bouillon, and thyme. Seal both well. They keep indefinitely at room temperature.
Variations
- Use two 3-ounce pouches of shelf-stable cooked chicken instead of freeze-dried. Skip the soaking step and add them directly to the simmering broth.
- A pinch of red pepper flakes wakes up the flavor if your bouillon is mild.
- Smash any large chunks of vegetable in the bag before soaking to speed up rehydration.
https://trailcooking.com/2022/11/02/boondocking-recipes-chicken-stew-and-dumplings