Twelve-Week Roast Chicken and Rice
Freeze-dried chicken, instant rice, and a bouillon base. One pot, one boil.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 500 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried cooked chicken | 1.5 oz | rehydrates in about ten minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rice | 1 cup | parboiled, not raw long grain |
| Chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | paste or powder |
| Dried onion and carrot | 3 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried thyme, black pepper, garlic powder | 1 tsp total |
Method
- Put the chicken and dried vegetables in the pot with 500 ml of water. Bring it to a boil and hold it there two minutes so the meat starts taking on water.
- Add the bouillon, rice, and spices. Stir once.
- Cut the heat, put the lid on, and leave it eight to ten minutes. Wrap the pot in a jacket if it is cold out.
- Stir in the oil. If the rice is still firm, add a splash of hot water and give it another five minutes off heat.
The source here was about raising a bird to slaughter weight, not about dinner on a ridge, so what carried over is the shape of the meal: chicken, aromatics, starch, long slow heat. None of that survives a backpack. Freeze-dried chicken replaces the roast, instant rice replaces the two hours of oven time, and bouillon does the work a pan of drippings would do at home.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Chicken and dried vegetables go in first and boil, because freeze-dried meat is slow to take on water and stays rubbery if it only gets the tail end of a soak. Rice goes in after, off a hard boil, so it steams instead of scorching to the pot. The oil at the end is not optional — bouillon and rice are close to fat-free, and this is a dinner, not a side.
Packing
Rice, dried vegetables, bouillon, and spices go in one bag. Chicken rides in its own bag because it is the expensive part and you do not want it wet early. Oil in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- Swap the chicken for a foil pouch of the same, added at the end instead of the start.
- A packet of instant gravy mix stirred in at the finish thickens it into something closer to a pot roast.
https://hedgecombers.com/rearing-ross-cobb-meat-chickens