Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Instant potatoes, shelf-stable bacon, and cheese. A resupply dinner you can buy in a gas station.
- calories
- 515
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 114
- protein
- 20 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 1 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 6 min
- water
- 480 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Winter / snow
- Bikepacking
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 4 oz package | any flavor, seasoned or plain |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable bacon | 2-3 oz | fully cooked bacon, bacon jerky, or real bacon bits |
| Hard cheese | 2-3 oz | three 1 oz snack cheeses, cheddar or colby jack |
Method
- Boil 480 ml of water. Pull the pot off the heat.
- Pour in the potato flakes and stir until they take up the water.
- Tear the bacon into small pieces and drop them in.
- Break the cheese in and stir. Lid on for a minute so it melts, then stir again.
This is a resupply recipe, not a planned one. Every piece of it sits on a shelf in a small-town grocery or a decent gas station, which is why it shows up so often on long trails. Nothing here needs a cooler or a second pot.
Potato flakes rehydrate off the heat, so the stove work is one boil. The bacon and cheese are the calories: the potatoes alone are mostly starch and water weight, and the fat is what turns them into a meal that holds until morning. Cheese melts better if you kill the heat first and let the lid do the work, since direct flame on a pot of potatoes scorches the bottom fast.
The whole package is around a thousand calories. Listed here as two servings, but on a big mileage day it is one.
Packing
All three items ride in their own packaging straight from the store. If you want less trash, decant the flakes into a freezer bag and leave the box behind. Cheese goes near the top of the pack, not against a warm back panel.
Variations
- Split it into two dinners if a thousand calories in one sitting is more than you want.
- A pouch of chicken instead of bacon if you want less salt.
- Stir in a spoonful of powdered milk with the flakes for a heavier, richer base.
https://thehikingtreeblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/favorite-easy-trail-recipes-loaded-potatoes