Mug Omelet in Camp
Two eggs, cheese, and a titanium mug. Breakfast in under three minutes of burn time.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 123
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 120 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
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Powdered whole egg | 1/4 cup | equals about 2 eggs |
|---|---|---|
| Hard cheese | 1 oz | aged cheddar or parmesan, keeps unrefrigerated for days |
| Butter or olive oil | 1 tsp | ghee in hot weather |
| Freeze-dried bell pepper and onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Salami or shelf-stable bacon bits | 1 oz | optional, skip for meatless |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Put the freeze-dried vegetables in your mug or pot with 2 tbsp of water and let them sit while the stove warms up.
- Whisk the egg powder into 100 ml of cool water in the pot until no dry lumps remain. Lumps do not cook out later.
- Add the butter, salt, and pepper. Set the pot on the stove at the lowest flame you can hold.
- Stir constantly for two to three minutes. The eggs will go from liquid to thick to set. Pull it off while it still looks slightly wet.
- Off the heat, stir in half the cheese and the meat. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top and cover for thirty seconds.
The original is a mug in a microwave, which no one has at 6 a.m. in a tent. A pot over a low flame does the same job if you accept the one rule that matters: keep stirring and pull it early. Eggs carry heat after the burner is off, so a pot that looks done on the stove is dry by the time you eat it.
Powdered whole egg replaces the shells. It rehydrates into something close to scrambled eggs as long as you mix it into cool water first and let the lumps break down before any heat touches it. Hard aged cheese and cured meat are the two dairy-case items that survive a few days out of a fridge, and they carry most of the fat here.
Packing
Egg powder, vegetables, and seasoning premeasured into one small zip bag. Cheese and salami ride separately so the bag stays dry.
Variations
- A tortilla turns it into a breakfast burrito, though that ends the gluten-free claim.
- Hot sauce packets from a gas station are worth the weight.
https://morefood.org/microwave-recipes