Skillet Mac and Cheese with Bacon Crumbles
Boxed-out camp version of baked mac: one pot, powdered milk, and a lid instead of an oven.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 18 min
- total time
- 23 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Elbow macaroni | 8 oz | |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/3 cup | stands in for the milk and half and half |
| Cornstarch | 2 tsp | does the thickening the roux used to |
| All purpose flour | 2 tbsp | |
| Butter or ghee | 2 tbsp | ghee keeps without a cooler |
| Shelf-stable bacon crumbles | 1/2 cup | precooked, sold near the salad toppings |
| Sharp cheddar | 4 oz | waxed block, keeps a few days out |
| Grated parmesan | 2 tbsp | the shaker kind is shelf-stable |
| Panko breadcrumbs | 1/3 cup | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 1 tsp | a packet or two from a deli |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in the dry pot and toast the panko, stirring, until it browns. Two or three minutes. Tip it into a mug and set it aside.
- Boil about 700 ml of water and cook the macaroni until it still has bite. Drain off all but a splash, saving a little of the starchy water if you can.
- Off heat, melt the butter into the pasta. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over it and stir hard so nothing clumps.
- Whisk the milk powder with 250 ml of water in a bottle and pour it in. Add the mustard, bouillon, and the powdered seasonings.
- Back on low heat, stir until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles. Do not walk away; milk powder scorches fast.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the cheddar and most of the bacon until it goes smooth.
- Top with parmesan, the toasted panko, and the rest of the bacon. Lid on for two minutes, then eat.
The oven is the part that does not travel, so the crisp topping moves to the front of the recipe. Toasting the panko in a dry pot before anything wet goes in gets you the same texture without baking, and you scatter it on at the end instead of underneath a broiler.
Everything fresh got swapped. Milk and half and half become powdered whole milk mixed at camp, the roux is mostly cornstarch so it thickens without long whisking, and raw bacon becomes precooked crumbles that need no pan and no cooler. Cheddar in a wax block will ride a couple of days in a pack in cool weather; in heat, carry it in a cooler or leave it out and lean on the parmesan.
Packing
Flour, cornstarch, milk powder, bouillon, and the seasonings go in one bag as a sauce mix. Panko rides in its own bag or it turns to dust. Cheese wrapped in paper, not plastic.
Variations
- Skip the panko and the flour and use instant potato flakes to thicken instead; that version is gluten-free apart from the pasta.
- Swap the bacon for a foil packet of tuna or a chunk of hard salami.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/gourmet-baked-mac-cheese-bacon