Cold Soak Couscous
No stove, no fuel, no waiting. Start it at your lunch break and eat it at camp.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 3 min
- water
- 300 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
- Thru-hike
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Couscous | 3/4 cup | the fine kind, not pearl |
|---|---|---|
| Sun dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | chopped small at home |
| Freeze dried chickpeas or crispy lentils | 1/3 cup | |
| Olive oil | 1.5 tbsp | |
| Lemon pepper and salt | to taste |
Method
- At the last water source before camp, pour 300 ml of cold water into the jar.
- Add everything except the oil. Seal it and shake.
- Walk for an hour. The jar does the cooking.
- Stir in the oil right before eating so it does not just coat the jar.
Fine couscous is the one starch that genuinely rehydrates in cold water, which is why it anchors nearly every cold soak kit. Pearl couscous does not. Neither does rice, and people keep trying.
The whole point is fuel: on a long trail, skipping the stove for lunch and dinner saves more weight in canisters than most gear swaps ever will.
Packing
A wide-mouth peanut butter jar with a screw lid is the standard cold soak vessel. Free, light, and it doubles as your bowl.
Variations
- Swap the tomatoes for a spoonful of pesto powder.
- Crushed ramen, cold soaked, works the same way if couscous gets old.