Quick Grits with Chicken and Tomato
Freeze-dried tomato and cheese stirred into instant grits with canned chicken. Ready in ten minutes.
- calories
- 410
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 75
- protein
- 35 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 300 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
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant grits | 2 packets | quick-cooking, not stone-ground |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried tomatoes | 2 Tbsp | chopped or whole |
| Freeze-dried mozzarella | 2 Tbsp | or Kraft Parmesan powder |
| Dried milk powder | 2 Tbsp | adds richness |
| Dried onion | 1 Tbsp | minced |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | ¼ tsp | |
| Canned chicken | 1 can (5 oz) | pop-top cans are easiest |
Method
- Bring 300 ml of water and the chicken with its broth to a boil in a small pot.
- Remove from heat and stir in all the dry ingredients.
- Cover tightly and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Stir again and eat.
Instant grits expand almost instantly, so you boil the water and chicken first, then kill the heat before adding the dry goods. This avoids the mess of stirring scorched grits. Freeze-dried tomato and cheese rehydrate in minutes from residual heat, while the chicken broth counts toward your liquid total.
The whole meal is five minutes of waiting and one minute of stirring. Boil water and chicken together, remove from heat, dump in the dry mix, cover and walk away. In cold weather or high altitude, wrap the pot in a cozy to keep it warm while it sits. If you can’t find freeze-dried mozzarella, use Kraft Parmesan powder instead—it travels well and keeps longer anyway.
Packing
Mix all dry ingredients into a single quart freezer bag at home. The canned chicken rides separately. Seal tightly to keep freeze-dried items from absorbing odors.
Variations
- Use freeze-dried spinach or red bell pepper instead of tomato.
- Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for heat.
- Substitute any powdered Parmesan if you can't find freeze-dried mozzarella.
https://trailcooking.com/2023/06/21/chicken-and-tomato-grits-recipe