One-Pot Chorizo Chili
Beans, cured chorizo, and sun-dried tomatoes in one pot on an alcohol stove.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 600 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried red beans, instant or precooked | 1 1/2 cups | instant refried or flaked beans rehydrate in minutes; whole dried beans will not cook on trail |
|---|---|---|
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/2 cup | chopped, replaces two fresh tomatoes |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | optional, thickens the sauce |
| Chili seasoning blend | 2 tsp | a 4-serving packet is far too much; measure it out at home |
| Dry cured chorizo | 3 oz | the hard Spanish kind, sliced thin; dry salami also works |
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 1/2 cup | skip it and add another ounce of chorizo |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | to taste |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the sun-dried tomatoes and freeze-dried beef and let them sit off the heat for five minutes to soften.
- Return the pot to the flame. Stir in the beans, tomato powder, and chili seasoning.
- Add the chorizo slices and the oil. Stir often. An alcohol stove has one setting, so the bottom scorches if you walk away.
- Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, adding water in splashes as it thickens. The longer it runs, the less the beans taste like powder.
- Salt at the end, after the chorizo has given up its own.
The original is a car-camping dish: fresh tomatoes, a canned steak, a tin of beans in their liquid. All of that is water you would be carrying. Sun-dried tomatoes plus tomato powder rebuild the sauce from about two ounces, and instant beans skip the hour of boiling that whole dried beans demand.
Cured chorizo is the ingredient doing the most work. It is shelf-stable for weeks, it renders fat into the pot, and it seasons everything without a fridge. The chili packet is the trap: those are portioned for four and will strip the enamel off your teeth if you dump the whole thing in. Measure two teaspoons at home and leave the rest behind.
Packing
Beans, tomato powder, and seasoning in one bag. Sun-dried tomatoes and freeze-dried beef in a second, since they get the soak. Chorizo in its own bag; it weeps oil.
Variations
- No chili blend? More chorizo and whatever paprika or cumin is left in your spice tube.
- A handful of instant rice added in the last ten minutes stretches it to three people.
- Corn tortillas on the side, if weight is not the problem.
https://blog.monrechaud.com/chili-mexicain