Marsala Mushroom Chicken and Noodles
Freeze-dried chicken, dried mushrooms, and a mustard cream sauce over egg noodles.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 650 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
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried chicken | 3 oz | the diced kind, not shredded |
|---|---|---|
| Dried sliced mushrooms | 1/2 oz | baby bella or a mixed forest blend |
| Wide egg noodles | 4 oz | the thin ones cook in eight minutes |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tbsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 2 tsp | a squeeze packet or a small tube |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1 tsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | in a dropper bottle |
Method
- Pour 250 ml of just-boiled water over the chicken and mushrooms in a mug or spare bag. Leave them twenty minutes while you set up camp.
- Boil 400 ml in the pot. Add the noodles and the bouillon. Simmer eight minutes, stirring so they do not weld to the bottom.
- Tip the chicken, mushrooms, and their soaking water into the pot. Bring it back to a simmer.
- Stir the milk powder and cornstarch together dry, then rain the mix in while stirring. It thickens in about a minute.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the mustard, olive oil, and the herb blend. Let it sit two minutes before eating.
The original is a skillet dish built on wine reduction and heavy cream, neither of which travels. Cornstarch and powdered whole milk do the same structural job: the starch gives the sauce body once it hits a simmer, and the milk powder carries fat and rounds off the salt. Dijon survives fine in a packet and provides most of the acidity the wine used to.
Soak the chicken and mushrooms first and reuse that water. It is dark, it smells like mushrooms, and dumping it wastes the only real depth in the pot. Add the mustard and oil off the heat, since boiling mustard turns it flat and bitter.
The dish is not vegetarian or gluten-free, so those tags are off. Everything here is nut-free.
Packing
Chicken and mushrooms in one bag, noodles in another, milk powder and cornstarch premixed in a third. The herbs, bouillon, salt, and pepper go in one small bag together. Mustard rides in a packet.
Variations
- A splash of dry sherry or Marsala from a 2 oz bottle at the end gets close to the original sauce.
- Swap the noodles for instant mashed potato flakes and you save five minutes of fuel.
- Freeze-dried mushrooms rehydrate faster than air-dried and taste about the same here.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/chicken-marsala