Enchilada Bean Soup
Two kinds of beans, enchilada sauce powder, and enough cumin to know what it is. One pot, one boil.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 111
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant refried black beans | 1/2 cup | the flaked kind, not canned |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated white beans | 1/4 cup | great northern, cooked and dried at home |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for the cans of sauce |
| Red enchilada sauce mix | 1 packet | dry, about 1.5 oz |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped small, for the fire-roasted bite |
| Freeze-dried corn | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Freeze-dried cheddar or shelf-stable cheese powder | 1/3 cup | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Dump in everything except the cheese and the oil.
- Stir, cover, and hold it at a bare simmer for five minutes. Stir once more so the bean flakes don't weld to the bottom.
- Kill the heat and let it sit five minutes off the stove. The white beans and sun-dried tomatoes need that time more than the rest.
- Stir in the cheese powder and the oil. Add water a splash at a time if it went past soup into paste.
The original is a stovetop pot of canned sauce, canned beans, and shredded cheese, which is most of a pound of water per serving. Tomato powder and enchilada sauce mix carry the same flavor at a fraction of the weight, and instant refried beans do double duty: protein plus the thickener that keeps this from being red water with things floating in it.
The fat-free dairy in the source was there to cut calories. On trail that logic runs backwards, so the cheese powder and the oil stay. Dehydrated white beans need the full off-heat soak — pull them early and they stay chalky in the middle.
Packing
Everything dry except the cheese goes in one quart bag at home. Cheese in its own small bag so it doesn't clump against the tomato powder. Oil in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken adds about 20 g of protein and turns it into a heavier dinner.
- Crushed corn chips on top give it texture the pot cannot.
- Skip the cheese and add another tablespoon of tomato powder to keep it vegan and dairy-free.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/skinny-cheesy-enchilada-soup