Green Bean Casserole, Backpack Version
Dehydrated green beans, a sour cream powder gravy, and crushed cornflakes on top. No oven, no can of soup.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 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
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried cut green beans | 1 cup | freeze-dried rehydrates faster than dehydrated |
|---|---|---|
| Butter powder | 2 tbsp | or 1 tbsp ghee, which does not need refrigeration |
| All-purpose flour | 2 tbsp | |
| Sour cream powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Freeze-dried shredded cheddar | 1/2 cup | a 1 oz hunk of hard cheddar also works, crumbled |
| Cornflake crumbs | 1/3 cup | crush them at home, in the bag |
| Olive oil | 1 tsp | for the crumbs |
Method
- Pour 400 ml of water over the green beans in the pot. Bring to a boil, then hold at a simmer five minutes until they are soft.
- Sprinkle the flour and butter powder mix in slowly while stirring. Keep it moving or you get lumps.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the sour cream powder, salt, pepper, and sugar until the sauce pulls together.
- Add the cheese and stir. Lid on for two minutes to let it melt through.
- Toss the cornflake crumbs with the oil in their bag, then pour them over the top and eat before they go soft.
This started as an oven casserole with a roux, sour cream, and thirty minutes at 350. The trail version keeps the same three layers and drops the oven. The roux still matters: flour cooked into fat is what makes the sauce cling to the beans instead of pooling at the bottom of the pot, so butter powder and flour go in together and get stirred hard.
Sour cream powder is the piece that makes this work without a fridge. It rehydrates into something tangy enough to stand in for the real thing, and it goes in off the heat because it will break if you boil it. The cornflakes are stirred with oil in the bag, not in the pot, so they stay crisp for the first few bites.
Packing
Three bags: beans, the sauce powders premixed, and crumbs with the oil bottle. Crushing the cornflakes at home saves the bag from doing it in your pack.
Variations
- Skip the flour and thicken with a spoonful of potato flakes instead. Gluten-free, and harder to lump.
- A packet of fried onions in place of the cornflakes gets you closer to the original.
- Add a foil packet of chicken to make it a full dinner rather than a side.
https://mealswithmaria.site/green-bean-casserole-no-mushroom-soup