Stuffed Pepper Skillet
Chicken, rice, and tomato sauce cooked loose in a pot, with the peppers cut up instead of stuffed.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 36 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant white rice | 1 1/2 cups dry | parboiled, not regular rice |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried bell peppers | 1 cup | red or yellow, they rehydrate sweeter than green |
| Canned or pouched chicken | 10 oz | drain the pouch kind, no can to pack out |
| Tomato powder | 1/3 cup | or a 3 oz tube of tomato paste |
| Cauliflower powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for the creamy cauliflower sauce |
| Powdered milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Italian seasoning | 1 tsp | |
| Dried sage | 1/4 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | 1/2 tsp salt, several grinds | |
| Parmesan | 3 tbsp grated | the shelf-stable green can |
| Hard cheddar or jack | 2 oz | leave out in hot weather |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the freeze-dried peppers and let them sit for two minutes off the flame.
- Stir in the rice, chicken, and the premixed powders. Return to a low boil for one minute, stirring so the tomato powder does not clump on the bottom.
- Cover, kill the heat, and wait ten minutes. The rice is doing the work now, not the stove.
- Uncover and stir. If it is soupy, leave the lid off another few minutes; if it is stiff, splash in water.
- Grate the cheese in, pour the oil over, and stir until it melts. Top with the parmesan.
Stuffed peppers do not survive the trip to a campsite. The peppers are a fresh vegetable, the filling wants an oven, and the whole thing takes an hour. So the pepper stops being a container here and becomes an ingredient: freeze-dried, rehydrated in the first two minutes of boil, chopped small enough that it never had to hold together.
Everything else is a swap for something refrigerated. Tomato powder replaces jarred sauce and weighs almost nothing. The creamy cauliflower sauce becomes cauliflower powder plus powdered milk, which does the same job of softening the acid in the tomato without cream. Instant rice matters more than it sounds: regular rice needs twenty minutes of active fuel, and this needs none once the water is hot.
Packing
Rice and peppers in one bag, all the powders and spices premixed in a second. Chicken pouch and cheese go loose. Tomato powder cakes if it gets damp, so double-bag it.
Variations
- Swap the chicken for a pouch of tuna or a cup of TVP if you want it lighter.
- A packet of instant refried beans thickens it fast and adds protein.
- Cook it in foil over a fire grate if you would rather not scrub a pot.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/recipe-stuffed-peppers