Cow Sludge on Rice
Ground beef, mushroom gravy, and vegetables poured over instant rice. Ugly, filling, cheap.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 89
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 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
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | cooler for day one, or use freeze-dried ground beef on a longer trip |
|---|---|---|
| Cream of mushroom soup | 1 can (10.5 oz) | condensed, undiluted |
| Mixed vegetables | 1 can (15 oz) | drained |
| Instant rice | 2 cups dry | instant noodles work the same way |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Get 600 ml of water heating in the pot for the rice. Lid on so it boils faster.
- Brown the beef in the skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as it goes. Drain the fat into a can or a bag, not onto the ground.
- Kill the heat under the rice once the water boils, dump in the instant rice, cover, and leave it alone for five minutes.
- Stir the condensed soup and the drained vegetables into the beef. Warm it through, two or three minutes. Salt and pepper.
- Fluff the rice and spoon the beef over it.
Condensed soup is the entire mechanism here. It is a shelf-stable roux with mushrooms in it, so you get gravy without flour, butter, or a whisk, and it thins itself out on the fat the beef leaves behind. Do not add water to the can.
The original calls for two burners. One works if you cook the rice first, set it aside covered, then use the same pot for the beef. Rice holds heat fine for the ten minutes that takes, and you wash one thing instead of two.
Packing
Beef rides in the cooler, frozen flat in a bag so it thaws slowly and doubles as an ice block. Cans, rice, and seasoning live in the dry bin.
Variations
- No cooler: swap the beef for 4 oz of freeze-dried ground beef and rehydrate it in hot water first, then use a packet of instant gravy plus dried mixed vegetables in place of the cans. Whole thing goes shelf-stable and drops to one pot.
- Stir in a handful of shredded cheese at the end, or hot sauce if the gravy tastes flat.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/cow_sludge_on_rice-546.asp