Taco Mac and Corn
Boxed mac and cheese, beef crumbles, and taco seasoning in one pot. Feeds a patrol.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 2000 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
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Boxed macaroni and cheese | 3 boxes | the kind with a powdered cheese packet, not the liquid pouch |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 4 oz dry | rehydrates to about 1 lb; canned beef works for car camping |
| Dry taco seasoning | 1 packet | |
| Freeze-dried sweet corn | 1 cup dry | stands in for two cans |
| Olive oil or ghee | 3 tbsp | replaces the butter and milk the box asks for |
Method
- Cover the beef and corn with hot water in a mug or spare bag. Leave them 10 minutes while you get the pasta going.
- Boil about 1.5 L of water and cook the macaroni until it bites soft, 7 to 8 minutes. Do not walk away, it foams over.
- Drain off most of the water. Leave roughly half a cup in the pot.
- Stir in the drained beef and corn, the taco seasoning, the cheese powder, and the oil.
- Stir hard until the powder is gone and no yellow streaks are left. Off heat, lid on, two minutes to thicken.
The original is a two-burner scout recipe: skillet for the beef, pot for the pasta, cans of corn drained into the dirt. On the trail that becomes one pot and no cans. Freeze-dried beef and corn rehydrate in the time the water takes to boil, and they weigh a fraction of what they replace.
The box wants butter and milk. Neither travels, so oil does the job instead. Keeping a splash of pasta water in the pot matters more than the fat does, because the cheese powder and taco seasoning need something to dissolve into. Too dry and you get gritty orange dust in the corners.
Packing
Dump the three cheese packets and the taco seasoning into one small bag. The pasta from all three boxes goes into a second bag, and the boxes stay home. Beef and corn share a third bag.
Variations
- A packet of hot sauce or a handful of dried jalapeno flakes gives it somewhere to go.
- Instant refried bean flakes stirred in at the end thicken it and add another 8 g of protein per serving.
- Cooking over a fire? Nest the pot on a grate and pull it to the edge once the water is in.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/mexican_macaroni-545.asp