Thermos Jug Couscous
Boil once in the morning, eat a hot lunch six hours later out of an insulated jug.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 1
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 400 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.
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Day hike
- Backpacking
- Winter / snow
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant couscous | 3/4 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Dried lentils, precooked and dehydrated | 1/3 cup | the quick-rehydrating kind, not raw |
| Dried vegetable flakes | 1/4 cup | tomato, carrot, bell pepper |
| Vegetable bouillon | 1 cube | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Cumin and black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried lemon peel | 1/2 tsp | optional, cuts the starch |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water on the stove. Drop in the bouillon cube and stir until it dissolves.
- Preheat the jug: pour in a splash of the boiling water, cap it, shake, dump it out. Skip this and you lose an hour of heat to cold steel.
- Dump the dry bag into the jug, pour the rest of the boiling water over it, and add the oil.
- Stir with a long spoon, seal, and put it in your pack upright.
- Open it at lunch. Stir once before eating; the couscous settles.
A wide-mouth vacuum jug is a slow cooker that runs on one boil. Couscous and precooked lentils need heat and time, not sustained heat, so 400 ml of boiling water sealed into insulated steel does the whole job while you walk. Six hours later it is still hot enough to steam.
The preheat step matters more than the recipe. Cold stainless steals a real share of your boil before the food ever gets it, and a jug that starts cold is a jug that serves lunch lukewarm. Oil goes in at the top so the fat sits on the surface and slows evaporative cooling on top of adding the calories.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag at home. The jug is the pot, the bowl, and the insulation, so the only other thing you carry is a spoon that reaches the bottom.
Variations
- Swap the couscous for instant polenta or potato flakes to make it gluten-free.
- A foil packet of tuna or chicken stirred in at lunch adds 20 g of protein without cooking anything.
- In hot weather, use cold water and pack it in the morning; it turns into a cold grain salad by noon.
https://primusequipment.com/products/flinta-insulated-lunch-jug-0-55-l