Dutch Oven Potato Cheese Soup
Potato flakes, powdered milk, and a brick of cheddar. Thick enough to stand a spoon in.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 700 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 3 cups | stands in for twelve peeled potatoes |
|---|---|---|
| Dried diced potatoes | 1 cup | optional, gives it texture |
| Powdered whole milk | 1 1/2 cups | replaces the half-and-half |
| Dried minced onion | 1/4 cup | |
| Celery flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 2 tsp | |
| Butter | 6 tbsp | ghee if it will be warm out |
| Shredded cheddar | 1 cup | a block grated in camp keeps better |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil in the dutch oven. Pull it off the coals.
- Stir in the dried onion, celery, salt, and diced potatoes if you brought them. Cover and let them rehydrate for ten minutes over low heat.
- Whisk in the milk powder while the water is moving. Lumps form if you dump it in still.
- Add the potato flakes in handfuls, stirring between each, until it thickens to what you want.
- Drop in the butter and the cheddar. Stir over low heat until both are gone.
- Do not let it boil after the cheese goes in. It will break and go grainy.
The original calls for twelve potatoes, two onions, celery, and a quart of half-and-half. None of that survives a night in a pack. Dried potatoes and milk powder do the same job at a fraction of the weight, and they rehydrate faster than raw cubes simmer.
Heat control is the whole recipe after the cheese goes in. Cheddar breaks above a simmer and separates into oil and rubber, so move the pot off the coals before it goes in and keep stirring. The butter is not optional either — it is most of the calories and it keeps the flakes from setting into paste.
Packing
Potato flakes, milk powder, onion, celery, and salt premix into one bag at home. Butter and cheese travel separately.
Variations
- A spoonful of bouillon powder in the water gives it a base the plain version lacks.
- Crumbled bacon bits or a foil pouch of ham turns it into a full dinner.
- Thin it with more water and it becomes a chowder instead of a mash.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/potato_cheese_soup-2229.asp