Thirty Minute Trail Stew
Ground beef, potatoes, tomatoes, and a bouillon cube. One pot, one lid, half an hour.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 86
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 350 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
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 4 oz | stands in for 1 lb fresh |
|---|---|---|
| Dried potato dices | 1 1/2 cups | or dehydrate two potatoes yourself, skin on |
| Minced dried onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/4 tsp | |
| Instant beef bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Worcestershire powder | 2 tsp | the liquid works too, in a leakproof bottle |
| Tomato powder | 1/3 cup | replaces a 16 oz can of diced tomatoes |
| Dried green beans | 1/2 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp |
Method
- Pour everything except the oil into the pot with 350 ml of water. Stir once so the tomato powder does not clump on the bottom.
- Bring it to a boil, then drop the flame as low as it goes and put the lid on.
- Simmer 25 to 30 minutes. Stir every five minutes and scrape the bottom; dried potato likes to stick and scorch.
- If it tightens up before the potatoes are soft, add water 50 ml at a time.
- Off the heat, stir in the oil and let it sit five minutes with the lid on.
The original is a Scout recipe: brown a pound of hamburger, open two cans, simmer. None of that travels. Cans are heavy and their liquid is the part you are paying to carry. So the beef is freeze-dried, the tomatoes become tomato powder, and the canned green beans and their juice become dried beans and plain water.
The half hour is not padding. Dried potato dices need that long in liquid to go from gravel to something you can chew, and the tomato and bouillon need the time to reduce into a broth with any body. Low heat and a lid, or the bottom burns while the top is still crunchy. The oil at the end is there because freeze-dried beef arrives with the fat stripped out, and stew without fat tastes like salt water.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag at home. Oil rides in a dropper bottle. If you use liquid Worcestershire, double-bag it.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a pouch of chicken, added in the last five minutes.
- Freeze-dried carrots and celery turn it into something closer to a proper stew.
- A crushed bay leaf and a pinch of black pepper cost nothing and fill the gap the canned tomatoes left.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/30_minute_stew-228.asp