Trail Nettle Broth
Backpacking soup built on dehydrated nettles and a butter-rich broth. Fills the stomach and doesn't taste like freeze-dried food.
- calories
- 310
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 400 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
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated nettles | 2 tbsp | foraged and dried, or purchased from foraging suppliers |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable broth powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Dehydrated celery | 1 tbsp | |
| Dehydrated leeks | 1 tbsp | |
| Dehydrated onion | 1 tsp | |
| Instant potato flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Unsalted butter | 0.5 oz | wrapped in foil |
| Powdered coconut milk | 1.5 tbsp | |
| Dried dill or mint | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and white pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water in your pot.
- Add broth powder, dehydrated vegetables, and nettles. Simmer for 8 minutes until the nettles soften.
- Stir in potato flakes a little at a time until the broth thickens into soup.
- Remove from heat. Stir in butter and coconut milk powder until both disappear.
- Add dill, salt, and white pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Nettles are foraged greens with more body than spinach, and they don’t wilt to nothing when dehydrated. They rehydrate quickly in hot broth and hold their flavor better than blanching-then-drying would preserve. The butter and coconut milk powder do the heavy lifting here—they turn thin broth into something dense enough to justify the fuel.
The potato flakes thicken without turning gummy because you’re not cooking them raw in liquid. They just need to absorb the hot broth and swell. This is the same trick that works in the Ramen Bomb: starch added to something already hot becomes tender instead of grainy. Season carefully at the end, since dried broth powder is salty.
Packing
Mix all dry ingredients into a quart freezer bag at home. Wrap butter separately in foil. One bag, one pot, one spoon.
Variations
- Use fresh nettles in spring, steamed and chopped. They need less time to soften.
- Replace coconut milk powder with powdered milk for a more traditional cream flavor.
- Add a handful of dehydrated mushrooms for earthiness and another gram of protein.
https://foragerchef.com/classic-nettle-soup