Spam and Cheese Cracker Spread
Canned pork, shelf-stable cheese sauce, and pimentos mashed into a spread you carry in a jar.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned Spam | 1 can (12 oz) | drain off the gel |
|---|---|---|
| Jarred cheese spread | 1 small jar (8 oz) | the shelf-stable kind, not refrigerated |
| Diced pimentos | 1 small jar (4 oz) | drain well or the mix goes loose |
| Shelf-stable mayonnaise packets | 3 tbsp | single-serve packets keep better than a squeeze bottle |
| Crackers or tortillas | 1 sleeve or 5 tortillas | tortillas travel better than bread |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- At home: run the Spam, cheese spread, drained pimentos, and mayo through a food processor until it is a smooth paste. Pack it into a screw-top jar or a doubled freezer bag.
- In camp with no processor: drain the Spam and mash it against the side of a bowl with a fork until no chunks are left, then work in the cheese, pimentos, and mayo.
- Grind in pepper and stir.
- Spread thick on crackers or roll it into a tortilla.
This is a fat-and-salt delivery system dressed up as a sandwich filling. Everything in it is shelf-stable in the sealed package, which is the whole point: the canned meat, the jarred cheese, and the mayo packets all sit in a pack for days before you open them. Mashing them together at home means camp lunch is a jar and a spoon.
The pimentos matter more than they look. They are the only acid and moisture in a mix that is otherwise pure fat, and draining them is not optional. Wet pimentos turn the paste into something that runs off a cracker. The original called for bread and a cooler for leftovers; tortillas and a same-trip finish work better away from the car.
Packing
Carry the spread in one wide-mouth jar so a spoon fits. Crackers ride in a rigid container or they turn to dust. Once opened, keep the jar cool and finish it within a day or two; below about 60 F overnight it holds fine, in summer heat it does not.
Variations
- A spoonful of hot sauce or a shake of chipotle powder cuts the fat.
- Swap the Spam for two foil pouches of chicken to drop the salt and grease.
- Dried onion flakes rehydrate in the mix overnight and add some bite.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/party-sandwiches