Creamy Chicken and Alphabet Noodle Soup
A thick chicken noodle soup built from powdered milk, bouillon, and a foil pouch of chicken.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 15 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
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Alphabet noodles or small pasta | 1/2 cup | ditalini and orzo cook just as fast |
|---|---|---|
| Whole milk powder | 1/4 cup | whole, not nonfat, for the fat |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 2 tbsp | thickener, replaces the flour roux |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 heaping tsp | |
| Dried onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried celery flakes | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/4 tsp | |
| Ground sage | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | 1/4 tsp each | |
| Foil pouch chicken | 5 oz | |
| Olive oil or ghee | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the onion and celery flakes and let them sit in the heat for a minute to soften.
- Add the noodles. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Pull the pot off the flame. Stir the milk powder into the hot liquid off heat so it dissolves instead of scorching.
- Sprinkle in the potato flakes a little at a time until the soup coats the spoon.
- Stir in the chicken, the oil, and the rest of the seasonings. Cover for two minutes, then eat.
The original starts with a butter and flour roux and four cups of fresh milk, neither of which survives a night in a pack. Whole milk powder and instant potato flakes do the same two jobs: fat and body. Potato flakes thicken cold or hot, they never lump the way flour does, and they cost nothing in fuel.
Add the milk powder off the boil. Powdered milk dropped into a rolling pot will catch on the bottom of a thin titanium pot and turn the whole thing scorched. Dried onion and celery need the water hot first, so they go in ahead of everything else and rehydrate while the noodles cook.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the noodles, which can ride loose in their own bag so you can pull them out for a lighter meal. Chicken pouch and oil bottle pack separately.
Variations
- Freeze-dried chicken instead of the pouch drops about four ounces of carried weight.
- A crumbled bouillon cube plus a spoon of powdered cheese pushes it toward chowder.
- Swap the noodles for instant rice if you want it gluten-free.
https://www.thisisnotdietfood.com/creamy-chicken-noodle-soup