Trail Thanksgiving Stuffing and Potatoes
Dried bread crumbs, a poultry seasoning blend, and instant potatoes. Holiday dinner out of two freezer bags.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 520 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
- Winter / snow
- Basecamp
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Dried bread cubes | 2 cups | crusty bread diced small and oven-dried at 350F until it snaps |
|---|---|---|
| Dried diced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery flakes | 2 tbsp | spice aisle |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Low sodium chicken bouillon | 1 tbsp | |
| Poultry seasoning | 1 tsp | or 1/2 tsp rubbed sage plus 1/2 tsp thyme |
| Ground black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Fine sea salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 3/4 cup | |
| Dry milk powder | 2 tbsp | |
| Butter powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Pouch chicken | 7 oz | |
| Turkey or chicken gravy mix | 1 packet |
Method
- Boil about 520 ml of water. You are splitting it three ways, so keep the pot covered between pours.
- Pour 120 ml into the stuffing bag along with the oil. Stir into the corners, seal, and set it inside a jacket or cozy for 15 minutes.
- Pour 300 ml into the potato bag. Stir hard, seal, and park it next to the stuffing.
- Put the last 100 ml back in the pot with the gravy mix and the chicken. Bring it up to a boil, stir, and pull it off as soon as it thickens.
- Open both bags, spoon the gravy over the potatoes, and eat straight out of the bags.
Thanksgiving works on trail because almost every part of it is already dry food. Bread crumbs, potato flakes, and a seasoning blend are shelf-stable by nature, so the only real home prep is drying the bread hard enough that it does not mold in your pack.
The timing is the whole trick. Stuffing and potatoes rehydrate in their bags with no heat under them, which frees the pot for the gravy. Bread takes less water than you expect, so measure it rather than eyeballing, or you get paste. The gravy is what ties the two bags together, and the pouch chicken is where the protein comes from.
Packing
Dry the bread and grind the seasoning at home, then bag the stuffing and the potato mix separately. Oil, gravy packet, and chicken pouch ride loose. Two quart bags plus a pot is the whole kit.
Variations
- Swap the chicken pouch for a drained can of turkey if weight is not the issue.
- Vegetable bouillon in place of chicken, no meat pouch, and the stuffing and potatoes stand on their own.
- A handful of freeze-dried green beans rehydrates in the potato bag and adds a vegetable.
https://trailcooking.com/2018/11/19/the-offgrid-thanksgiving-menu