Trail Chicken and Rice, Citrus Pepper
Freeze-dried chicken rebuilt into a hot bowl with instant rice and a dried citrus lift.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 13 min
- water
- 450 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shredded chicken | 1/2 cup | about 1.5 oz dry, stands in for the slow cooker breast |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rice | 3/4 cup | the parboiled kind that rehydrates in five minutes |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Dried lemon or orange peel | 1 tsp | or half a packet of powdered lemonade mix |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
Method
- Boil 450 ml of water. Take it off the heat.
- Dump in the chicken, rice, and the seasoning mix. Stir once.
- Lid on, ten minutes. Wrap the pot in a jacket if it is cold out.
- Stir in the oil and the citrus peel last, off the heat, and eat straight from the pot.
The original is a slow cooker doing one job: hold chicken at a low enough temperature that it stays wet. There is no slow cooker on trail, so the rehydration does that work instead. Freeze-dried chicken pulls water back in over ten minutes off the heat, which is gentler than boiling it and gives you shreds rather than rubber.
Seasonings go in dry and premixed because garlic and onion powder need liquid and time to stop tasting like dust. Citrus peel and oil go in at the end. Heat kills the peel’s aroma, and oil stirred in cold coats the rice instead of cooking off.
Packing
Chicken, rice, and all four seasonings go in one freezer bag at home. Citrus peel rides in its own tiny bag so it does not go stale against the salt. Oil stays in the bottle.
Variations
- Swap in a foil pouch of chicken if you would rather carry water weight than pay for freeze-dried.
- A bouillon cube in place of the salt gives it more body.
- Dried bell pepper or a handful of dried peas rehydrates in the same ten minutes.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-chicken-breast