Condo Chicken and Rice Soup
A whole-chicken vacation soup rebuilt around a foil packet and dried vegetables.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant white rice | 1/2 cup | parboiled, not raw long grain |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken in a foil packet | 5 oz | |
| Dried carrot | 2 tbsp | |
| Freeze-dried green beans | 1/3 cup | |
| Potato flakes | 2 tbsp | thickener, not a side dish |
| Chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | |
| Dried onion and garlic | 1 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Add the carrot, green beans, onion, garlic, and bouillon and hold a simmer for five minutes.
- Stir in the rice, cover, and pull the pot off the heat. Ten minutes in a cozy or a jacket sleeve finishes it.
- Open the chicken packet and tip it in, juice included.
- Stir in the potato flakes a spoonful at a time until the broth grabs. Pour the oil over and pepper it.
This started as a slow-cooked whole chicken with the previous night’s roasted vegetables stirred in. None of that survives a pack. What survives is the shape: broth, rice, vegetables, and a lot of chicken in one pot.
The substitutions are all about water. Instant rice hydrates off residual heat instead of burning fuel, dried carrot needs a real simmer while freeze-dried beans do not, and the potato flakes replace the body a long-cooked bird would have given the broth. Foil-packet chicken carries the protein without a cooler.
Packing
Everything dry except the chicken and oil goes in one bag at home. Dried vegetables rehydrate at different speeds, so they start together and the rice goes in after.
Variations
- Swap the chicken packet for a pouch of tuna or a scoop of textured vegetable protein.
- Half a bouillon cube less and a squeeze of lemon juice powder makes it taste less like salt.
- At a car campsite, cook the rice separately and ladle the soup over it.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/easy-airbnb-meal-plan-healthy-budget-friendly