Trail Chili
Freeze-dried beef, instant beans, and a heavy hand of chili powder. One pot, thirty minutes.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 2 oz | or dehydrated cooked ground beef from home |
|---|---|---|
| Instant refried bean flakes | 1/3 cup | stands in for canned kidney beans |
| Dried kidney or pinto beans, precooked and dehydrated | 1/4 cup | optional, for texture |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | replaces tomato sauce and paste |
| Sun-dried tomato bits | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 1/2 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Beef bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 3/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Cayenne | a pinch | skip if you do not want heat |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil.
- Dump in the whole bag and stir until nothing is clumped.
- Cover, drop to the lowest flame the stove will hold, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir every couple of minutes so the tomato powder does not scorch on the bottom.
- Cut the heat, stir in the oil, and let it sit covered another 5 minutes. It thickens as it rests.
- If it is still soupy, leave the lid off and give it two more minutes of heat.
Canned chili is mostly water, and water is the one ingredient already at camp. So the cans come out: tomato powder and sun-dried bits for the tomato sauce and paste, bean flakes for the drained kidney beans, dried onion for the sauté. What is left is a spice mix, some protein, and a bag you can carry for a week.
The simmer is not optional. Chili powder and cumin taste raw and dusty until they have been wet and hot for a while, and the bean flakes need a few minutes to stop being powder. The sugar is doing real work too — tomato powder is sharper than canned sauce, and a tablespoon rounds it off. Oil goes in off the heat because that is where most of the calories are hiding.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one quart freezer bag at home. Oil rides in a dropper bottle. If you are fuel-limited, use the bag as a cozy instead: boil the water, pour it in, seal, and wait 20 minutes.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a second scoop of bean flakes and vegetable bouillon to make it meatless.
- Crushed corn chips stirred in at the end add fat and body.
- A packet of hot sauce does more for it at altitude than more cayenne will.
https://mealswithmaria.site/classic-chili-recipe