Fajita Chicken and Peppers
Freeze-dried chicken, dried peppers and onion, and a seasoning you mix at home. Rehydrates into a filling for tortillas.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 400 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried cooked chicken | 2 oz | thigh meat if you can find it, it rehydrates less stringy |
|---|---|---|
| Dried bell peppers | 1/3 cup | red and green, sliced not diced |
| Dried onion slices | 2 tbsp | |
| Fajita seasoning | 1 tbsp | chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion powder, paprika, oregano, salt |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Flour tortillas | 2 small | |
| Lime juice powder or a wedge | 1 tsp | |
| Salsa or hot sauce packets | 2 |
Method
- Put the chicken, peppers, onion, and seasoning in the pot with 400 ml of water. Let it sit cold for ten minutes if you have the time. It cuts the boil time and the fuel.
- Bring it to a boil, then drop to the lowest flame that keeps it moving. Simmer eight to ten minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
- When the peppers bend instead of snapping, kill the heat. Stir in the oil and the lime.
- If it is still soupy, leave the lid off for two minutes. You want a filling, not a stew.
- Spoon into the tortillas with the salsa. Eat the leftovers straight from the pot.
The original is a slow cooker recipe: raw chicken and fresh peppers layered up and left alone for four hours, then drained because the vegetables give up a lot of water. On trail you run that backwards. Everything comes dried, and you add back a measured amount of water rather than pouring off whatever the peppers released.
That is why the volume matters. 400 ml is enough to rehydrate the chicken and still leave the peppers with some structure. Go heavier and you get soup that soaks through a tortilla before you can fold it. The oil goes in off the heat because dried peppers absorb water first and fat second, and fat added early just coats everything and slows the whole thing down.
Packing
Chicken, vegetables, and seasoning go in one bag together so camp is a single pour. Oil in a dropper bottle, tortillas flat against the back panel of the pack where they will not fold.
Variations
- Swap the chicken for a foil pouch of chicken breast. Cheaper, heavier, and it goes in at the end instead of the start.
- Instant refried bean flakes stirred in at the end make it vegan and stretch it to two people.
- Crushed corn chips instead of tortillas if you are past caring about crumbs.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-chicken-fajitas