Ham and Hash Brown Skillet
Dried hash browns, ham, and cheese rehydrated in one pot. Camp breakfast that does not need a cooler.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 500 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
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated hash brown potatoes | 1 1/2 cups | the shelf-stable carton kind, not frozen |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried or shelf-stable diced ham | 3 oz | a foil pouch works if you cannot find freeze-dried |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | |
| Instant potato soup mix | 1 packet | stands in for the can of cream of potato |
| Freeze-dried broccoli | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Shredded cheddar or a hunk of hard cheddar | 2 oz | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Oil or ghee | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Pour 500 ml of water into the pot with the hash browns, ham, broccoli, and onion flakes. Bring it to a boil.
- Cut the heat to a simmer and hold it for eight minutes. Stir now and then so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Stir in the soup mix, milk powder, and garlic powder. It will thicken fast.
- Kill the heat, add the oil and cheese, cover for two minutes, then stir until the cheese is gone.
- Salt and pepper at the end. The soup mix and ham are already salty.
The Dutch oven original leans on frozen potatoes, a can of soup, and half-and-half, none of which survive a day in a pack. Dehydrated hash browns and an instant potato soup packet do the same two jobs: starch and a thick, creamy base. Milk powder plus oil replaces the cream without a cooler.
The eight-minute simmer is not optional. Dried potato shreds need real time in hot water or they stay gritty in the middle, and adding the soup mix early would thicken the pot before they finish. Cheese goes in off the heat so it melts instead of splitting.
Packing
Hash browns, ham, broccoli, onion, milk powder, and soup mix ride in one bag. Cheese and oil go separately.
Variations
- A packet of powdered eggs stirred in during the last two minutes makes it closer to a scramble.
- Swap the broccoli for freeze-dried mixed vegetables.
- Bacon crumbles instead of ham, same weight.
https://troop204cary.org/troop-cookbooks/troop-cookbooks-one-pot-cooking