camp meals

Sausage and Mash, Camp Version

Shelf-stable sausage in a tomato gravy, poured over instant potatoes.

calories
720
weight
7 oz
cal / oz
103
protein
28 g
serves
3, scales
prep
5 min
cook
20 min
total time
25 min
water
600 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
  • Car camping
  • Basecamp
  • Backpacking
  • Winter / snow
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Shelf-stable smoked sausage 12 oz summer sausage or vacuum-packed kielbasa, cut in coins
Tomato paste 3 tbsp tube, not a can
Dried onion flakes 3 tbsp
Garlic 1 clove or 1/2 tsp granulated
Gravy powder 1 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp small dropper bottle
Dried mixed vegetables 1 cup
Instant mashed potato flakes 2 cups
Powdered whole milk 1/4 cup
Butter powder or olive oil 2 tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Pour 400 ml of water into the pot with the dried vegetables and onion flakes. Bring it to a boil and let it sit off heat for ten minutes so the vegetables rehydrate.
  2. Push the vegetables to one side, or drain the water into a mug and keep it. Fry the sausage coins in the empty pot until the edges brown. It has enough fat to do this without oil.
  3. Add the garlic, tomato paste, gravy powder, Worcestershire, the vegetables, and the reserved water. Simmer five minutes until it thickens into gravy. Scrape it into a mug or bowl.
  4. Boil 200 ml of fresh water in the pot. Kill the heat, stir in the milk powder and butter powder, then add the potato flakes a bit at a time until it stops moving.
  5. Spoon the gravy over the mash. Salt and pepper at the end, since the sausage and gravy powder both carry salt.

The original wanted a pot of boiling potatoes, a frypan, fresh milk, and butter. That is two burners and a cooler. The swap is instant potato flakes with milk powder and butter powder, which get you the same mash off one pot and one boil.

The rest holds up as written. Tomato paste from a tube replaces the tin, dried vegetables replace frozen mixed veg, and a shelf-stable smoked sausage stands in for fresh links. The sausage renders enough fat to brown itself, and that fat is what carries the gravy. Cook the gravy first and the mash second, so the mash goes on the plate hot.

Packing

Onion, garlic, gravy powder, and dried vegetables go in one bag. Potato flakes, milk powder, and butter powder in another. Sausage and the tomato paste tube ride separately.

Variations

  • Skip the second boil and stir the flakes straight into the gravy for a one-bowl version. Less pretty, same calories.
  • A packet of instant beef broth in place of the gravy powder works and weighs less.

https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/sausage-and-mash