Trail Meatball Skillet
Freeze-dried beef, crushed crackers, and a hot pan. Meatballs without the fridge or the falling apart.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 300 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 4 oz dry | rehydrates to about 1 lb |
|---|---|---|
| Crushed crackers or dry breadcrumbs | 1 cup | |
| Powdered whole egg | 2 tbsp | plus 2 tbsp water, equals 1 egg |
| Powdered milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Grated parmesan | 1/4 cup | the shelf-stable green-can kind travels fine |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Italian seasoning | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Tomato paste | 1 tube or 3 oz | optional, for a sauce |
Method
- Boil 300 ml of water. Pour about half of it over the freeze-dried beef and the dried onion in your pot and let them sit ten minutes, covered.
- Stir in the crackers, parmesan, powdered milk, egg powder, and all the seasoning. Add the rest of the water a splash at a time until the mix holds together when squeezed. Do not make it wet.
- Roll heaping tablespoons into balls. Aim for about sixteen. Smaller cooks through faster.
- Wipe the pot, set it back on a low flame, and add the oil. Brown the meatballs in batches, turning them every couple of minutes, eight to ten minutes total.
- If you want sauce, squeeze the tomato paste into the pot with a few tablespoons of water and roll the meatballs around in it off the heat.
The home version binds raw beef with milk-soaked bread and egg. On the trail there is no raw beef, no milk, and no egg, so the binder has to be rebuilt from powder. Rehydrated freeze-dried beef, crushed crackers, powdered egg, and powdered milk do the same job: the starch holds water, the egg sets when it hits heat, and the whole thing stops crumbling in the pan.
The mistake is too much water. A wet mix will not hold a shape and will fall apart the moment you turn it, which is exactly how most first attempts at meatballs go. Add water slowly and stop as soon as a squeezed handful stays together. Fat matters too. Freeze-dried beef is lean, so the three tablespoons of oil are not optional if you want browning instead of steaming.
Packing
Crackers, parmesan, milk powder, egg powder, onion, and spices go into one bag at home, already mixed. The beef stays in its own bag until it is rehydrated. Oil rides in a leakproof bottle.
Variations
- Skip the rolling entirely and brown the mix loose as a crumble over instant polenta. Same food, half the fuss.
- Freeze-dried chicken or a pouch of canned chicken works if beef is not around.
- A packet of instant mashed potatoes on the side turns two servings into three.
https://mealswithmaria.site/homemade-meatballs-recipe