Ham and Potato Chowder
Freeze-dried potatoes, diced ham, and powdered milk rebuilt into a thick camp chowder.
- calories
- 640
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 128
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated hash brown or diced potatoes | 3/4 cup | the shelf-stable carton kind, not frozen |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable diced ham | 3 oz | a foil pouch or canned ham drained at home and dried is fine |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 2 tbsp | this is the thickener, standing in for flour and butter |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Dried onion, celery, and carrot | 3 tbsp total | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/4 tsp | |
| Olive oil or ghee | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Add the dried vegetables, potatoes, bouillon, garlic, and thyme.
- Simmer 10 minutes on a low flame, stirring now and then so the potatoes do not weld to the bottom.
- Add the ham and cook another two minutes, just to heat it.
- Pull the pot off the heat. Wait a minute, then stir in the powdered milk. Milk powder in a rolling boil goes grainy.
- Sprinkle in the potato flakes and stir until it thickens. Add the oil, salt, and pepper.
The original is a roux soup: butter, flour, broth, then milk and cream at the end. None of that travels. Potato flakes do the same job as flour without needing fat and heat to cook out the raw taste, and powdered whole milk covers both the milk and the cream. Russets in the original break down to thicken the pot, which is exactly what dehydrated potatoes do anyway.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Milk powder added to boiling water separates and turns chalky, so it goes in off the heat. The flakes go in last because once they hydrate you cannot judge how much more water the potatoes still want.
Packing
Everything dry except the ham and oil goes in one bag. Ham pouch and oil bottle ride separately.
Variations
- Swap the ham for a foil pouch of chicken and it still works.
- A handful of dried corn added with the potatoes makes it closer to a chowder.
- Cold weather: add a second spoon of oil. It disappears into the soup.
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/ham-and-potato-soup