Pumpkin Chili Mac
Freeze-dried beef, pumpkin powder, and macaroni cooked down into one thick pot.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 700 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
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 1.5 oz | cooked crumbles, not raw |
|---|---|---|
| Elbow macaroni | 3/4 cup | small shapes cook fastest |
| Pumpkin powder | 3 tbsp | sold as pumpkin flour or dehydrated puree |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | stands in for diced tomatoes and paste |
| Dried onion and bell pepper flakes | 3 tbsp total | |
| Chili powder | 2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | |
| Beef bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Freeze-dried cheddar or shelf-stable cheese powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Add the beef, onion and pepper flakes, and bouillon. Let it sit off heat for five minutes so the vegetables start drinking.
- Return to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook at a low simmer until the pasta is soft. Eight to ten minutes. Stir often or the bottom scorches.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the pumpkin powder, tomato powder, chili powder, garlic powder, and cinnamon a little at a time so nothing clumps.
- Cover and wait three minutes. The pumpkin keeps thickening as it cools.
- Stir in the cheese and the oil. Salt and pepper at the end, after the bouillon has had its say.
The original is a slow cooker recipe with a pound of raw beef, canned pumpkin, and sour cream on top. None of that travels. Freeze-dried beef crumbles, pumpkin powder, and tomato powder do the same jobs at a fraction of the weight, and the pasta cooks in the same pot that rehydrates everything else.
Pumpkin powder is the thickener here, not just a flavor. Add it at the end and off heat, because it grabs water fast and will turn the pot to paste if it goes in early. Cinnamon in a chili sounds wrong and is not. A quarter teaspoon rounds off the chili powder without reading as sweet.
Packing
Two bags. Bag one: pasta, beef, and vegetable flakes. Bag two: all the powders and spices, which go in late and would otherwise glue themselves to the pasta. Oil in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a cup of dried refried bean flakes to make it vegetarian. Use vegetable bouillon.
- A pinch of cayenne if the chili powder is mild.
- Skip the pasta and add another tablespoon of pumpkin powder for a thinner soup that packs lighter.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-pumpkin-chili