Tortilla Pie Skillet
Black beans, corn, and zucchini layered with tortillas and cheese, cooked in one pot instead of an oven.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 21 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 600 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
- Vegetarian
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flour tortillas | 4, 10-inch | trimmed to the width of your pot |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried onion flakes | 1/4 cup | stands in for one large fresh onion |
| Pickled jalapeños | 2 tbsp | a shelf-stable jar or foil pouch |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1/2 tsp | |
| Chili powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried zucchini slices | 1 cup | dehydrated at home, or swap dried bell pepper |
| Instant refried black beans | 1 1/2 cups dry | or one drained 15 oz can if weight is not an issue |
| Freeze-dried corn | 1 cup | |
| Sliced black olives | 1/3 cup | pouch, not can |
| Bouillon | 1 cube | vegetable |
| Shredded or grated hard cheese | 8 oz | a firm cheddar or jack keeps a day or two out of a cooler |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Dried cilantro | 1 tsp | optional, for the top |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water in the pot. Drop in the dried zucchini, corn, and onion flakes with the bouillon cube. Let them sit off the heat for ten minutes to rehydrate.
- Bring it back to a simmer, stir in the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and jalapeños, and cook until most of the liquid is gone. It should be thick, not soupy.
- Stir in the bean flakes and olives. Add water a splash at a time only if it seizes up. Season, then scrape the filling into a bowl or lid.
- Wipe the pot, add the oil, and lay in one tortilla. Spoon on a quarter of the filling and a quarter of the cheese, then another tortilla. Repeat until you run out.
- Cover and cook on the lowest flame you can hold for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pot every few minutes so one spot does not scorch. Done when the cheese has melted through.
- Slide it out, cilantro over the top, and cut it in wedges.
The original is a springform casserole in a 400°F oven, which is not a thing you have. A covered pot on a low flame gets to the same place: the tortillas soften from the moisture in the filling, the cheese melts, and the whole stack fuses. The reason it works is that the filling goes in already cooked and already thick. Wet filling steams the tortillas into paste.
Almost everything here is dried at home or bought dry. Bean flakes rehydrate instantly and thicken the pan, which does the job the simmered-down beer did in the original. Cheese is the one item still on cooler time, so this is a first- or second-night meal.
Packing
Dry filling ingredients go in one bag, spices in a second small one. Tortillas travel flat against the back panel of the pack or in the top of a bin. Cheese stays in the cooler until the moment you build the stack.
Variations
- A splash of beer in place of some of the water, if you brought it. Simmer it off the same way.
- Skip the cheese and use nutritional yeast plus an extra tablespoon of oil for a vegan version.
- Corn tortillas instead of flour makes it gluten-free, though the layers hold together less.
https://ohmyveggies.com/recipe-tortilla-pie-black-beans-zucchini