Squeeze Filter Camp Chili Mac
A filtered-water one-pot for days when the only water source is a questionable stream.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small pasta shells or elbows | 6 oz | quick-cook, under 8 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 3 oz | or a 5 oz foil pouch of chicken |
| Dried pinto or black beans, instant | 1/2 cup | the flaked instant kind, not whole dry beans |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | |
| Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder | 1 tbsp total | |
| Bouillon | 1 cube | |
| Powdered cheese sauce mix | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | to taste |
Method
- Filter 700 ml of water from the source into your pot. Squeeze it through the filter directly, or fill the soft bottle and press it out.
- Bring the water to a boil. Add the pasta and the freeze-dried beef.
- Boil 6 minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the instant beans, tomato powder, spices, and bouillon. Lid on for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese powder and oil last, off heat. Cheese powder clumps if it hits a rolling boil.
- Salt at the end. The bouillon and cheese are already salty.
This one exists because the water is the constraint, not the food. A squeeze filter with a soft reservoir lets you draw from a cattle pond or a silty creek and put clean water straight into the pot, which means you can cook a pasta dish somewhere you would otherwise ration what you carried. Filter first, then boil. The boil handles what the filter misses.
The rest is built for one pot and one boil. Instant beans and tomato powder rehydrate off residual heat, so they go in after the flame is out and do not extend cook time. Cheese powder and oil go last for the same reason: heat makes the cheese seize, and the oil is where a third of the calories live.
Packing
Pasta, beef, and beans in one bag. Tomato powder, spices, bouillon, and cheese powder in a second small bag so the powders do not cake into the pasta. Oil in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- Swap the cheese powder for an extra tablespoon of oil to make it dairy-free.
- A packet of hot sauce carried flat in the lid adds nothing to pack weight.
- Drop the pasta for instant potato flakes and it becomes gluten-free.
https://casambu.com/products/gourde-filtrante-souple-squeeze-1l-lifestraw