Pantry Raid Beans and Rice
Whatever the food bag still holds, boiled into one pot of beans and rice.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 21 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 500 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
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Thru-hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant rice | 3/4 cup | parboiled, the kind that rehydrates in five minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated refried bean flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried sweet corn | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder | 2 tsp total | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried chiles or hot sauce packets | to taste |
Method
- Boil 500 ml of water. Take it off the flame.
- Dump in the rice, corn, and onion. Lid on, five minutes, no stirring.
- Stir in the bean flakes a spoonful at a time. They thicken fast and clump if you rush.
- Add the spices, salt, and oil. Stir until it looks like refried beans with rice in it, not soup.
- Lid on again for two minutes off heat, then eat.
This started as a pantry-clearing dinner at home, the kind you build from whatever cans are left. The trail version keeps the logic and drops the cans: bean flakes instead of a can of refried beans, dried corn instead of frozen, minced onion instead of a fresh one. Same dish, a fifth of the weight, no fridge involved.
The bean flakes are what makes it work. They rehydrate in under a minute and thicken the pot, so the rice does not sit in loose water. Add them last and slowly, or you get dry pockets. The oil matters too. Beans and rice are cheap calories but lean ones, and a tablespoon of fat is a hundred of them for almost no weight.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one freezer bag at home, spices included. Oil and hot sauce ride separately.
Variations
- A foil pouch of tuna or chicken stirred in at the end adds about 20 g of protein and drops the vegan tag.
- Two tortillas on the side turn it into burritos and add 300 calories.
https://mealswithmaria.site/pantry-challenge