Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup, Stove Version
Chicken tortilla soup rebuilt from powders and a bag of crushed chips. Eight hours becomes eight minutes.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 127
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 550 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
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Foil-pouch chicken | 5 oz | drain nothing, the packing liquid is broth |
|---|---|---|
| Instant black bean flakes | 1/3 cup | whole canned beans are water you already carried |
| Freeze-dried sweet corn | 1/4 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | replaces the can of diced tomatoes |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Lime juice powder | 1 tsp | or half a real lime if it is night one |
| Corn tortilla chips | 1 cup, crushed |
Method
- Boil 550 ml of water. Stir in the bouillon, tomato powder, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.
- Add the corn and let it sit at a low boil for three minutes so it rehydrates before anything thickens.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the bean flakes a spoonful at a time and wait a minute between additions; they keep swelling after they look done.
- Fork the chicken in, liquid and all. Add the lime powder last, off heat, or it goes flat.
- Crush half the chips into the pot to thicken it. Eat the rest off the top so they stay crisp.
The original runs six to eight hours in a slow cooker, which is a stove you leave at home. Nothing in it actually needs that time: the chicken is already cooked in the pouch, and the long hold was only ever there to soften beans and pull the tortillas apart. Bean flakes and crushed chips do both jobs in the time it takes water to boil.
Tomato powder is the substitution that matters. A can of diced tomatoes is mostly water and steel, and it hits the same note at a fraction of the weight. Add the lime off heat and stir the bean flakes in slowly, or you get a pot that is thin on top and paste at the bottom.
Packing
Everything dry except the chicken and chips goes in one bag at home. The chips ride in a rigid container or in the top lid of the pack, otherwise you are carrying corn dust.
Variations
- A packet of instant refried beans in place of the black bean flakes makes it thicker and cheaper.
- Powdered coconut milk, one tablespoon, stands in for the sour cream.
- Skip the chicken and use a second scoop of bean flakes for a lighter, cheaper pot.
https://mealswithmaria.site/frugal-meals