Three Bean Chili Mac
Small pasta, three kinds of dried bean, and enough chili powder to keep it honest. One pot, no draining.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 6.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 108
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small pasta | 2 cups dry | macaroni or small shells; anything larger cooks unevenly |
|---|---|---|
| Instant refried bean flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Freeze-dried black beans | 1/4 cup | |
| Freeze-dried pinto or kidney beans | 1/4 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Chili powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Cumin, garlic powder, onion powder | 1 tsp each | |
| Brown sugar | 2 tsp | stands in for the sweet chili sauce |
| Dried bell pepper and corn | 1/2 cup | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Red pepper flakes | to taste |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Add the pasta, the whole beans, and the dried vegetables. They all need the same head start.
- Boil hard for about 8 minutes, stirring often so the pasta does not weld to the bottom. On a campfire, pull the pot to the edge of the coals if it wants to scorch.
- Cut the heat. Stir in the tomato powder, bean flakes, and the spice mix. It will thicken fast.
- Cover and wait 3 minutes. The bean flakes finish absorbing and the whole thing turns from soup into chili.
- Pour the oil over the top, stir, and add pepper flakes if you want it hotter.
Freeze-dried chili mac in a pouch is a fine thing, but it costs a lot per calorie and you are paying for the packaging. This builds the same dinner out of grocery store parts. The three beans are not decoration: whole freeze-dried beans give you something to chew, and the refried flakes dissolve into the sauce and do the thickening.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Tomato powder and bean flakes added during the boil will glue themselves to the pot bottom and burn. Added off heat, they thicken the water the pasta cooked in, so nothing gets drained and no calories go on the ground. The brown sugar is there to round off the tomato acid, not to make it sweet.
Wheat pasta means this is not gluten-free. Corn or rice pasta works but goes to mush faster, so cut the boil to five minutes.
Packing
Pasta and whole beans in one bag. Tomato powder, bean flakes, spices, sugar, and salt premixed in a second bag, because those go in after the boil, not during. Oil rides in a bottle in a side pocket.
Variations
- A foil packet of tuna or chicken makes it a non-vegan dinner with another 20 g of protein.
- Swap the tomato powder for a crushed bouillon cube and a spoon of tomato paste from a tube.
- Instant potato flakes instead of bean flakes thicken it faster if you are short on fuel.
https://www.battlbox.com/products/copy-of-peak-refuel-three-bean-chili-mac-v