Fruity Couscous
Couscous, three dried fruits, and cinnamon sugar. Ten minutes without the stove running.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 125
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 2 min
- total time
- 4 min
- water
- 360 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.
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Couscous | 2/3 cup | plain instant, not the pearl kind |
|---|---|---|
| Dried pineapple | 1/4 cup | chopped small at home |
| Ground freeze-dried blueberries | 1/4 cup | crush them in the bag with a bottle |
| Ground freeze-dried bananas | 2 tbsp | |
| Brown or raw sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle or a single-serve packet |
Method
- Heat 1 1/2 cups of water to just short of a boil. It does not need a rolling boil.
- Pour the water and the oil into the bag of dry mix. Stir until nothing is dry at the bottom.
- Seal the bag and put it in a cozy, or a sock, or your jacket. Ten minutes.
- Open it and fluff with a spoon. Eat out of the bag.
Couscous is already cooked and dried, so it only needs to rehydrate. That means no simmering, no pot to scrub, and about two minutes of fuel instead of ten. The ground freeze-dried fruit does double duty: it dissolves into the water and colors the whole thing, so you get fruit flavor in every bite rather than a few chewy pieces.
The oil matters more than it looks. Couscous alone is close to fat-free and will leave you hungry an hour up the trail. A tablespoon adds roughly 120 calories and keeps the grains from clumping into a paste. Carry it apart from the dry mix; premixed oil soaks into the couscous and turns off-tasting within a few weeks.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one quart freezer bag at home. Oil rides separately, in a dropper bottle or a packet, because oil in the mix goes rancid and leaks.
Variations
- Two tablespoons of powdered coconut milk in the mix makes it richer without a cooler.
- Swap the pineapple for chopped dates if you want more calories per ounce.
https://trailcooking.com/breakfast/fruity-couscous