Three-Bean Camp Soup
Dried beans, dried vegetables, and bouillon. A slow pot for a night you are not going anywhere.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 50 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
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried instant black beans | 1/2 cup | the flaked or powdered kind, not whole dry beans |
|---|---|---|
| Dried split peas or lentils | 1/3 cup | lentils cook faster than peas |
| Dried white bean flakes | 1/3 cup | |
| Dried mixed vegetables | 1/2 cup | carrot, celery, onion, bell pepper |
| Vegetable bouillon | 2 cubes | |
| Dried garlic and onion granules | 1 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the bouillon and stir until it dissolves.
- Add the lentils or split peas and the dried vegetables. Simmer on low heat for 25 minutes, stirring now and then so nothing catches on the bottom.
- Stir in the bean flakes, garlic and onion granules, and paprika. Simmer another 10 to 15 minutes until the lentils are soft and the soup has thickened.
- Kill the heat. Pour in the olive oil, season, and let it stand five minutes before eating. It thickens as it sits.
- If it goes past soup and into paste, add hot water a splash at a time.
Whole dried beans are a non-starter on a stove. They want an hour of hard simmer and more fuel than the meal is worth. Instant bean flakes rehydrate in minutes, so the only thing here that actually needs time is the lentils, and even those give up after 25 minutes.
The dried vegetables go in early on purpose. They need the full simmer to stop being crunchy, and the sugars they leach out are most of what makes the broth taste like something other than salt. The oil at the end is not optional either. Beans and vegetables are almost all carbohydrate and protein, and without added fat this lands well short of a dinner’s worth of calories.
Packing
Everything dry except the oil goes in one bag, crumbled bouillon included. Oil rides in a leakproof bottle. Two bags feed four.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken or a handful of dried salami stirred in at the end adds 20 g of protein and drops the vegan tag.
- Corn tortillas or crackers on the side turn it into a full dinner rather than a first course.
- Instant potato flakes, a tablespoon at a time, thicken it fast if the lentils refuse to break down.
https://motherearthproducts.com/collections/soups