Root Vegetable Chili, Dried
A car-camping chili built on dehydrated roots, beans, and hominy. Long simmer, one pot, no cooler.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 95
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 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
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated diced sweet potato or winter squash | 1/2 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated diced carrot and parsnip | 1/2 cup | parsnip dries fast and rehydrates faster than carrot |
| Dried bell pepper flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Instant refried black beans | 1/2 cup | rehydrates in minutes and thickens the pot |
| Dehydrated hominy | 1/3 cup | canned hominy, rinsed and dried at 135F |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for the canned tomatoes and the vegetable juice |
| Ancho or chipotle chile powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground coriander | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Dump in the roots, peppers, onion, and hominy. Nothing else yet.
- Simmer 20 minutes over low flame, lid on, stirring when you walk past. Add water if the pot goes dry before the carrots give.
- Stir in the spices, salt, and oil. Simmer five more minutes so the cumin and paprika lose their raw edge.
- Add the refried beans a spoonful at a time, then the tomato powder. Stir until it thickens.
- Off the heat, lid on, ten minutes. It tastes noticeably better than it did at minute one.
The original is a Dutch oven recipe with fresh roots, a can of beer, and a bottle of vegetable juice. None of that travels. Dried root vegetables carry the same body at a fraction of the weight, tomato powder replaces both the canned tomatoes and the juice, and the beer goes away entirely. What survives is the spice profile, which is where the recipe was actually doing its work: chile, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and enough cinnamon to round the edges without announcing itself.
Order matters more than usual here. Carrots and parsnips need real simmer time, and dumping the beans in early gives you a thick pot that scorches before the roots soften. Spices go in late for the same reason: twenty minutes of boiling flattens paprika. The rest period at the end is not optional — the source says to make it a day ahead, and ten minutes under a lid is the closest you get on a trail.
Packing
Two bags: one for the dried vegetables and hominy, one for the spice and bean mix. Keeping them apart means you can dump the vegetables early and hold the spices until they matter. Oil in a leakproof bottle.
Variations
- A squeeze of lime or a wedge of orange at the end cuts the cinnamon.
- Freeze-dried corn in place of the hominy if you cannot find hominy worth drying.
- A handful of instant potato flakes thickens it fast if you overshot on water.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/winter-root-vegetable-chili