Maple Rosemary Chicken and Fall Vegetables
A sheet pan dinner rebuilt for a fire ring and a foil packet. Freeze-dried chicken, dried squash, real maple.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried chicken | 3 oz | replaces bone-in thighs; bones and skin are dead weight |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated potato slices | 1 cup | quarter-inch thick, dried hard |
| Dehydrated butternut squash | 3/4 cup | |
| Dried brussels sprouts | 1/2 cup | halved before drying |
| Pure maple syrup | 2 tbsp | in a leakproof bottle, double-bagged |
| Dijon mustard | 2 tbsp | single-serve packets travel best |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried rosemary | 1 tsp | crushed between your fingers as it goes in |
| Kosher salt and black pepper | 1 tsp total | |
| Heavy-duty foil | 2 large sheets |
Method
- Put the chicken and all three vegetables in the pot with 400 ml of water. Bring it to a boil, then pull it off the heat and cover it. Fifteen minutes. The potatoes decide when it is done, so bite one.
- While it soaks, shake the syrup, mustard, oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper together in a bottle or small bag until it stops separating.
- Drain off any water still standing in the pot. Split the solids between two doubled sheets of foil and spoon the glaze over both.
- Fold the foil into sealed packets and set them on a grate over coals, or on embers raked to the side. Ten minutes, then flip.
- Open one packet. If the glaze has gone sticky and the edges have browned, eat. If not, reseal and give it five more.
The original cooks raw thighs and raw vegetables together in a hot oven for the better part of an hour, basting three times. None of that survives a camp kitchen. What survives is the glaze: maple, dijon, oil, rosemary. Mustard is the part doing the work — it emulsifies the oil and syrup so the mixture clings instead of running off into the foil.
So the cooking is split. Water and heat rehydrate everything first, which is the slow part and needs no precision. Then the foil packet over coals does the fast part: drives off the last moisture and lets the sugar in the syrup catch. Drain hard before the glaze goes on. Leftover water dilutes it and you get a soup instead of a coating.
Packing
Chicken and vegetables go into one bag together since they rehydrate at the same time. Glaze ingredients ride separately in a bottle: mustard and syrup will wick into a dry bag and ruin it. Foil folded flat against the inside of the pot.
Variations
- No fire? Skip the foil entirely and finish it in the pot over a stove. You lose the caramelized edges and keep everything else.
- Chicken jerky, torn small, works instead of freeze-dried and soaks in the same fifteen minutes.
- Leave the chicken out and add a half cup of dried chickpeas that were cooked and dried at home. Vegan, same glaze.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/maple-and-rosemary-glazed-chicken-and-fall-veggies-sheet-pan-dinner