Turkey Leg Noodle Soup, Camp Version
Freeze-dried turkey, egg noodles, and a stock base. One pot, thirty minutes, no slow cooker.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 98
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 700 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried or canned turkey or chicken | 5 oz | a foil pouch of chicken works if you are only out one night |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken bouillon | 3 cubes or 3 tsp | stands in for the eight cups of stock the original simmers all day |
| Egg noodles | 4 oz | wide noodles break less in a pack than thin ones |
| Dried carrot, celery, and onion | 1/2 cup total | soup vegetable blend from the bulk bin |
| Dried thyme | 1 tsp | |
| Dried rosemary | 1/2 tsp | crush it between your fingers going in |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1/4 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Red pepper flakes | a pinch | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Citric acid or a lemon juice packet | 1/4 tsp | goes in at the end, off the heat |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil. Stir in the bouillon, dried vegetables, herbs, bay leaf, and pepper flakes.
- Simmer 8 minutes with the lid on. The carrot and celery need the head start or they stay hard.
- Add the noodles and the turkey. Simmer another 7 to 9 minutes, stirring so the noodles do not weld to the bottom.
- Pull the pot off the heat. Fish out the bay leaf, add the citric acid, parsley, and oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Let it sit two minutes with the lid on. The noodles keep drinking water and the broth tightens up.
The original runs six hours in a slow cooker on wild turkey legs, which is the correct way to handle dark meat with that much connective tissue and the wrong way to eat at 8 p.m. in a campground. Bouillon does the job the long simmer was doing: it puts gelatin and salt into the water so the broth has body instead of tasting like herb tea. Freeze-dried meat goes in late because it is already cooked and only needs to rehydrate.
Dried mirepoix is the other swap worth explaining. Fresh carrot and celery are heavy and mostly water, and the dried version rehydrates in the broth you are already making, so nothing is wasted. The acid at the end matters more than it looks like it should. Without it the whole pot reads flat and salty, and half a teaspoon of citric acid weighs nothing next to a lemon.
Packing
Bouillon, dried vegetables, and all the spices go in one bag. Noodles in a second bag so they do not grind into powder against the salt. Meat pouch rides on top.
Variations
- Swap half the noodles for instant rice if someone in the group avoids wheat.
- A spoonful of instant potato flakes at the end turns it from soup into stew.
- Skip the noodles and pour the broth over couscous in a bowl. Faster, and you only boil once.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/slow-cooker-turkey-leg-noodle-soup