camp meals

Dried Beef and Broccoli Mash

Home-dehydrated ground beef and greens rebuilt in a pot of potato flakes.

calories
720
weight
4.6 oz
cal / oz
157
protein
38 g
serves
1, scales
prep
2 min
cook
20 min
total time
22 min
water
375 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
  • Thru-hike
  • Winter / snow
  • Basecamp
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Dehydrate ahead
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Dried mashed potato flakes 50 g
Dried lean ground beef 37 g 5% fat or leaner, or it goes rancid
Dried broccoli 15 g
Dried cauliflower 15 g
Milk powder 2 tbsp
Butter powder 1 tbsp
Vegetable bouillon 1/2 tsp
Black pepper 1/8 tsp

Method

  1. Boil 375 ml of water. Off the heat, stir in the beef, broccoli, cauliflower, bouillon, and pepper.
  2. Cover the pot and put it inside your sleeping bag or a jacket. Fifteen to twenty minutes.
  3. Open it up and stir in the potato flakes, milk powder, and butter powder. Add a splash more hot water if it seizes.
  4. Stir again before the first bite. The bottom is always drier than the top.

Meat and vegetables need a long soak. Potato flakes need about ten seconds. Doing them together gives you either raw broccoli or potato glue, so the beef and vegetables get the full rehydration window first and the flakes go in at the end to thicken whatever water is left.

Dehydrate the ground beef lean: 5% fat, cooked with onion and garlic, dried at 63°C for seven to eleven hours. Fat is what turns dried meat rancid in storage, and there is no fixing it in the field. The butter powder puts the fat back at camp, where it cannot spoil first.

Packing

Beef, vegetables, bouillon, and pepper go in one bag. Milk and butter powder go in a second bag, added at the end so they do not clump into the soak.

Variations

  • Swap the vegetables for dried peas and carrots if that is what came off the trays.
  • A packet of instant gravy in place of the bouillon makes it richer for about 60 calories.

https://wolgast.no/en/recipes/dinner/mashed-potatoes-with-broccoli-and-ground-beef