Golden Turmeric Chicken Noodle Soup
Turmeric, freeze-dried chicken, and noodles in one pot. A hot dinner that tastes like it came from a kitchen.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shredded chicken | 1.5 oz | stands in for the rotisserie bird |
|---|---|---|
| Egg noodles | 1 cup | thin ones, they rehydrate in the same time as the chicken |
| Chicken bouillon powder | 2 tsp | |
| Ground turmeric | 1 tsp | |
| Dried onion and carrot flakes | 3 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Honey | 1 tsp | optional, cuts the turmeric |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the chicken, the vegetable flakes, and the bouillon.
- Simmer three minutes so the chicken and carrots start to soften before the noodles go in.
- Add the noodles. Cook until they give, five to seven minutes depending on the noodle.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the turmeric, garlic powder, oil, and honey if you brought it.
- Let it sit two minutes with the lid on. The noodles keep drinking and the broth thickens.
The original is a stovetop soup built on a rotisserie chicken and hours of simmering. Neither survives a pack. Freeze-dried chicken carries the protein at a fraction of the weight, bouillon replaces the broth, and dried onion and carrot do the aromatic work that fresh vegetables did at home.
Turmeric goes in off the heat. Boiled hard it turns bitter and chalky; stirred in at the end it stays bright and colors the broth the way it is supposed to. The oil matters more than it looks — soup is thin food, and a tablespoon of fat is what makes this a dinner instead of a hot drink.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one quart freezer bag except the chicken, which stays in its own bag until it hits the pot. Oil and honey ride in small bottles.
Variations
- Swap the noodles for instant rice if you need it gluten-free.
- A foil packet of chicken works if freeze-dried is out of budget, but add it at the end so it does not shred to nothing.
- Instant potato flakes, a spoonful at a time, turn the leftovers into a stew.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/the-perfect-meal-to-take-to-another-family