Freeze-Dried Beef Stew, Pouch Method
Beef, potatoes, peas, and carrots that come back to life with a pot of hot water.
- calories
- 260
- weight
- 2.3 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 1 min
- cook
- 3 min
- total time
- 4 min
- water
- 240 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
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried beef stew pouch | 1 two-serving pouch | diced beef, potatoes, peas, carrots |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | optional, and the cheapest way to raise the calorie count |
| Black pepper and hot sauce | to taste | the pouch is salted already |
Method
- Boil about 480 ml of water for the full pouch. Half that if you are splitting it and only rehydrating one serving in a separate container.
- Open the pouch, pull out the oxygen absorber, and pour the water in to the fill line.
- Stir the bottom corners. Dry pockets hide there and stay crunchy if you skip this.
- Seal the top and let it sit nine minutes. Longer in cold weather.
- Stir again, pour in the oil, and season. Eat from the pouch.
Freeze-dried stew is one of the few commercial meals worth its price on a cold night, because the potatoes and carrots rehydrate into something with actual texture instead of mush. The beef is the reason: freeze-drying keeps diced meat intact in a way home dehydrating rarely does.
The honest problem is calories. A two-serving pouch runs light for a full dinner after a long day, so the oil is not optional if this is your only hot meal. Potato flakes do the same job and thicken the broth, which matters when you are eating out of a bag with a long spoon.
Water goes in boiling, not warm. Below freezing the pouch loses heat fast, and lukewarm water leaves you chewing dry carrot.
Packing
The pouch is the cookware, so nothing to repack. If you want to save weight, cut the pouch down or move the contents to a freezer bag and carry the fill line as a mark on the bag.
Variations
- Stir in a half cup of instant potato flakes to thicken it and add 200 calories.
- A handful of crushed corn chips on top adds fat and crunch.
- In deep cold, put the sealed pouch in an insulated sleeve or inside your jacket while it rehydrates.
https://www.battlbox.com/products/mountain-house-beef-stew