Van Camp Taco Bowls
Beans, rice, and browned meat in one pan, built out of tins and a cooler.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 16 oz
- cal / oz
- 45
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- none
- 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
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1/2 lb | or diced chicken thigh; keep it cold until it hits the pan |
|---|---|---|
| Taco seasoning | 2 tbsp | or your own paprika, cumin, garlic powder, chili flakes |
| Tinned black or kidney beans | 1 can (15 oz) | drained |
| Precooked rice pouch | 1 pouch (8.8 oz) | |
| Tinned corn | 1 small can | drained |
| Cherry tomatoes | 1 cup | halved |
| Cucumber | 1/2 | diced |
| Avocado | 1 | |
| Lime | 1 | |
| Salsa or hot sauce | 1/2 cup | |
| Tortilla chips | 2 handfuls | |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado first. Once the pan is hot you will not want to stop.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the meat, breaking it up as it goes. Five to seven minutes.
- Stir in the seasoning and let it cook another minute so it stops tasting like raw powder.
- Add the drained beans and corn. Squeeze the rice pouch in on top and stir until everything is hot through, about three minutes.
- Kill the heat. Pile the cold vegetables over the top, spoon on salsa, squeeze the lime over it.
- Crush chips over each bowl as you serve. They go soft fast, so add them last.
This is a cooler meal, not a pack meal, so it keeps the fresh things a backpacking recipe has to give up. The structure is simple: one hot base of meat, beans, corn, and rice built in a single pan, and one cold pile of vegetables that never touches heat. Keeping them separate is the point. Cook the tomatoes and cucumber and you get a wet stew instead of a bowl with texture.
The precooked rice pouch is doing the real work. It needs no water, no simmer, and no second pot, which means one pan gets washed instead of two. Tinned beans and corn come drained so the pan does not turn to soup. If the cooler has been running warm for a few days, cook the meat first and early — everything else in here is shelf-stable and will wait.
Packing
Tins, rice pouch, seasoning, and chips live in a dry box. Meat, avocado, and vegetables ride in the cooler. Drain the cans away from camp so you are not carrying wet trash.
Variations
- Skip the meat and use two cans of beans. Then it is vegetarian and vegan.
- No fresh produce left on day five? Salsa and a squeeze of lime carry the whole bowl.
- Rice pouch replaced with instant rice and 1 cup boiled water if you would rather not carry the weight.
https://ratpacktravel.com/blog/easy-camper-cooking-meals-for-your-next-roadie