NOLS Ration Bowl
Oatmeal as a base, not a breakfast. A carb, a protein, a fat, and one pot.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 11 min
- water
- 450 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
- Basecamp
- Thru-hike
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Rolled oats | 1/2 cup | quick oats work, steel cut do not |
|---|---|---|
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 1/3 cup | the second carb, and the thickener |
| Foil-packet chicken or tuna | 1 packet, about 5 oz | or 1/2 cup textured soy protein, hydrated |
| Powdered milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Olive oil or ghee | 1 tbsp | |
| Bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Dried onion and garlic | 1 tbsp total | |
| Black pepper and hot sauce | to taste |
Method
- Bring 450 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the bouillon, dried onion, and garlic and stir until the cube dissolves.
- Add the oats. Simmer two minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Cut the heat. Stir in the potato flakes a spoonful at a time until the pot holds a spoon upright.
- Fold in the drained meat, the powdered milk, and the oil. Stir until the milk powder has no lumps left.
- Pepper and hot sauce at the end, off the heat, where they still taste like something.
NOLS teaches a formula, not a recipe: a carb, a protein, a fat, and something to make it taste like food. This is that formula run through one pot. Oats are the carb because they cook in two minutes and cost nothing; the potato flakes are the second carb, and they turn a loose porridge into something you can eat with a spoon in wind.
Savory oatmeal reads wrong until you try it. The bouillon and dried alliums go in before the oats so they have time to bloom in the water, and the fat goes in last, off the heat, where it stays fat instead of cooking off. Skip the oil and you lose about a fifth of the calories in the bowl. The trail change from home cooking is the dairy: powdered milk instead of a splash from the fridge, and drained packet meat instead of anything that needs cold.
Packing
Oats, potato flakes, milk powder, bouillon, and dried aromatics ride together in one quart freezer bag. Meat packet and oil bottle go separate, because both leak.
Variations
- Swap the meat for hydrated soy protein and use coconut milk powder to make it vegan.
- A packet of instant cheese sauce in place of the milk powder buys another 150 calories.
- Add a crushed handful of corn chips at the end for salt and crunch.
https://wyofile.com/backcountry-cuisine-nols-food-expert-offers-tips-for-cooking-on-the-trail