Shredded Chicken and Bean Rice
Pouch chicken pulled apart with a spoon, instant rice, and bean flakes. One pot, one boil.
- calories
- 880
- weight
- 10.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 84
- protein
- 50 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.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant rice | 1 cup | the parcooked kind, not minute-adjacent imposters |
|---|---|---|
| Foil pouch chicken | 5 oz | pouch, not can, the can is dead weight |
| Dried refried bean flakes | 1/3 cup | |
| Taco seasoning | 1 tbsp | |
| Tomato powder | 1 tbsp | optional, makes it look like food |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Corn chips | 1 oz | crushed, they will crush themselves anyway |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Open the chicken pouch and mash the contents against the side with your spoon until it comes apart in threads. Twenty seconds. Do not keep going or you get paste.
- Boil 400 ml of water in the pot. Kill the heat.
- Dump in the rice, bean flakes, seasoning, tomato powder, and salt. Stir once and put the lid on.
- Wait eight minutes. Longer at altitude, since the water was never as hot as you think.
- Stir in the chicken and the oil. Crumble the chips over the top and eat straight from the pot.
Pouch chicken comes packed as one wet slab, and a slab does not distribute through rice. Breaking it into threads first is the whole difference between a bite of meat and a bite of everything. Your spoon against the pot wall does the job in seconds.
Bean flakes are the structure. They absorb the leftover water the rice does not take, so you end up with a thick pot instead of a soupy one, and they add protein for almost no weight. The oil goes in last, off heat, because the fat is what carries the seasoning and gets it onto every grain.
Adapted for the trail: no fridge, no fresh meat, no draining. This is a one-boil version of a home dish that normally starts with a whole roasted bird.
Packing
Rice, bean flakes, seasoning, tomato powder, and salt premixed in one quart bag. Chicken pouch and chips ride loose. The oil goes in a dropper bottle, taped shut.
Variations
- Pouch salmon or pulled pork swaps in one for one.
- Skip the chicken and double the bean flakes for a vegan version at about 620 calories.
- A packet of hot sauce fixes the days when the seasoning tastes like nothing.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/ways-to-use-a-kitchenaid-mixer