One Pot Trail Spaghetti
Broken spaghetti, freeze-dried beef, and tomato powder cooked down in a single pot.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 125
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 23 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
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Spaghetti | 6 oz | snapped into thirds so it fits the pot |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 3 oz | or a shelf-stable pouch of cooked ground beef |
| Tomato powder | 1/3 cup | stands in for the can of paste |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Beef or vegetable bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Dried basil | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Grated parmesan | 1/4 cup | the shelf-stable green-can kind |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Stir in the freeze-dried beef, onion, and bouillon and let it sit off the heat for five minutes so the beef and onion rehydrate.
- Return the pot to a low flame. Whisk in the tomato powder, garlic, oregano, basil, and pepper until no dry lumps remain.
- Add the broken spaghetti and push it under the liquid. Simmer, stirring every minute or two, until the pasta is soft and the sauce has pulled tight around it. Twelve to fifteen minutes.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the oil and the parmesan.
- If it goes stiff before the pasta is done, add hot water two tablespoons at a time. Better slightly loose than scorched.
The home version browns beef in the pot and drains the fat. On trail there is no fat to drain and nowhere to put it, so freeze-dried beef rehydrates in the water first and the oil goes in at the end where it stays in the food. Tomato powder replaces the six-ounce can of paste — same sauce, four ounces lighter, and no lid to pack out.
The pasta cooks in its own sauce, which means no straining and no wasted water. That also means it scorches easily. Keep the flame low and the spoon moving; the starch coming off the spaghetti is what thickens the whole thing, and it will grab the bottom of a titanium pot the second you stop stirring.
Packing
Everything dry except the parmesan and oil goes in one bag: pasta, beef, tomato powder, onion, bouillon, spices. Parmesan in its own small bag, oil in a leakproof bottle. Snap the spaghetti at home, inside the bag, or you will find it in your sleeping quilt.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a foil packet of chicken stirred in at the end.
- Leave out the beef and bouillon, use vegetable bouillon, and it is a straight marinara.
- A spoonful of powdered milk with the parmesan turns it pink and creamy.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/one-pot-spaghetti-with-meat-sauce