Frugal Tuna Salad Wrap
Canned tuna stretched with dried vegetables and powdered yogurt, rolled into a tortilla at the trailhead.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 95
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 60 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Canned or pouched albacore tuna | 1 can (5 oz) | pouch weighs less and skips the drain step |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole-milk yogurt | 2 tbsp | stands in for the fridge yogurt; sour cream powder also works |
| Dried vegetable flakes | 1/4 cup | celery, carrot, cabbage, onion |
| Lemon powder or a squeeze packet | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper and salt | to taste | |
| Flour tortillas | 2 | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | optional, adds the calories the yogurt doesn't |
Method
- Put the vegetable flakes, yogurt powder, and lemon powder in a quart freezer bag with 60 ml of cold water. Squeeze the air out and knead it.
- Wait five minutes. The flakes need that time or they rehydrate in your mouth instead.
- Drain the tuna if it came in a can, then add it to the bag along with the oil. Knead again until it looks like tuna salad.
- Cut a corner off the bag and squeeze the filling down the middle of each tortilla. Roll and eat.
This started as a desk lunch built to be cheap: one can of tuna stretched across two servings with whatever vegetables were in the drawer, and yogurt in place of mayonnaise. The stretching part carries over well. Vegetable flakes weigh almost nothing and give the filling enough bulk that one small can feeds a real lunch.
The fridge parts are the ones that had to change. Yogurt powder rehydrates into something tangy and thick enough to bind, and dried celery, carrot, and cabbage come back close enough to raw after five minutes in cold water. Add the oil if you are walking all afternoon. Yogurt powder is protein, not fuel, and the tortillas alone will not cover the gap.
Packing
Vegetable flakes, yogurt powder, and lemon powder go in the same freezer bag at home, and that bag becomes the mixing bowl. Tuna and tortillas ride separately. Tortillas last longest flat against the back panel of the pack.
Variations
- Swap the tuna for a chicken pouch if you are tired of fish.
- Skip the tortillas and eat it on crackers for a gluten-free version, but check the cracker box.
- A packet of hot sauce covers up a lot on day four.
https://positivelyfrugal.com/frugal-lunch-ideas