camp meals

Protein Porridge

Oats, egg powder, and collagen. A breakfast that holds through a long morning.

calories
620
weight
4.5 oz
cal / oz
138
protein
36 g
serves
1, scales
prep
2 min
cook
10 min
total time
12 min
water
400 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.

  • Breakfast
  • Canister stove
  • Alcohol / Esbit
  • Liquid fuel
  • Backpacking
  • Basecamp
  • Car camping
  • Bikepacking
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten free
  • Dairy free
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Steel cut oats 1/3 cup quick-cook steel cut, or they run 25 minutes of fuel
Collagen peptides 2 tbsp unflavored, dissolves in anything
Powdered whole egg 3 tbsp replaces the fresh egg stirred in at home
Ground flaxseed 1 tbsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Banana chips 1/4 cup freeze-dried banana slices if you can get them
Freeze-dried berries 1/4 cup
Maple syrup 1 tbsp or 2 tsp maple sugar to skip the liquid weight

Method

  1. Boil 400 ml of water with the salt. Stir in the oats and drop the flame to a simmer.
  2. Cook until the oats soften, about eight minutes for quick-cook. Stir now and then so the bottom does not scorch.
  3. Pull the pot off the stove and wait a minute. Water hot enough to boil will scramble the egg powder.
  4. Whisk in the egg powder, collagen, and flax. Keep whisking until there are no dry pockets.
  5. Put the pot back on low heat for one minute to set the egg, stirring the whole time.
  6. Stir in the fruit and syrup. Let it sit two minutes so the banana chips soften.

The original is a home breakfast with a fresh egg beaten into the pot and a sliced banana on top. Neither travels, so the egg becomes powder and the banana becomes chips. Everything else was already shelf-stable.

The protein comes from three places on purpose. Collagen dissolves without changing the texture, egg powder adds structure, and the oats carry the rest. The heat step matters: egg powder hitting boiling water goes grainy, so the pot comes off the flame first and goes back on low only long enough to set. Flax thickens it and keeps the whole bowl from going soupy as it cools.

Packing

Oats, collagen, egg powder, flax, and salt go in one bag per breakfast. Fruit rides in its own bag so it does not steam soft in the pot bag. Maple syrup travels in a small squeeze bottle, or carry maple sugar in the dry mix instead.

Variations

  • Swap the egg powder for another 2 tbsp of collagen if the texture bothers you. You lose about 8 g of protein.
  • Rolled oats cut the cook time to three minutes and save fuel, at the cost of body.
  • A spoon of peanut butter powder adds fat and thickens it further.

https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/marathon-training-high-protein-oatmeal