Pantry Bean and Cornmeal Pot
Instant beans, instant rice, and a spoon of cornmeal, built from the same buckets you already repack for storage.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 550 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
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant refried bean flakes | 1/2 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rice | 1/2 cup | the parcooked kind, not minute-plus |
| Cornmeal | 2 tbsp | fine grind rehydrates faster |
| Chili powder | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried fruit or raisins | 2 tbsp | optional, stirred in at the end |
Method
- Boil 550 ml of water. Dump in the rice, kill the heat, and cover for five minutes.
- Stir in the bean flakes and cornmeal a spoonful at a time so nothing clumps.
- Cover again for three minutes. The cornmeal is the slow part; give it the time.
- Pour the oil over the top, stir, and scatter the fruit on if you carried it.
This is a bucket dinner. Every dry item in it is something people already move out of grocery packaging and into sealed containers for the long haul, which means it keeps for years and you can build the bag months before the trip. Nothing here needs a fridge or a second pot.
The cornmeal is what makes it a meal instead of soup. Bean flakes rehydrate thin and rice alone stays loose, but two tablespoons of cornmeal pull the whole pot together and hold the oil in suspension. Add it slowly off the heat or you get lumps that never soften.
Packing
Rice, beans, cornmeal, and every spice go in one quart freezer bag at home. Oil rides separately. Fruit in its own small bag so it stays chewy.
Variations
- A foil packet of tuna or chicken adds roughly 20 g of protein and drops the vegan tag.
- Powdered milk instead of the oil makes it creamier and heavier on calories.
- Swap the chili powder for curry powder and the fruit for dried mango.
https://thesurvivalmom.com/20-foods-that-must-be-re-packaged-for-long-term-storage-and-how-to-repackage-them