Venison Cheesesteak Dip
Camp-stove version of the football-Sunday dip, built on shelf-stable cheese and a foil pouch of venison.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 250 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.
- Snack
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Venison steak, cooked and diced | 1.5 lb | trim silver skin and connective tissue at home; carry cooked in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 large, diced | keeps for days without ice |
| Bell pepper | 1 large, diced | |
| Dried sliced mushrooms | 1 oz | stands in for 8 oz fresh |
| Cream cheese | 16 oz | two blocks, cooler item |
| Sour cream powder | 1/3 cup | replaces 1 cup fresh sour cream |
| Provolone or Italian blend, shredded | 2 cups | |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt, pepper, and steak seasoning | to taste |
Method
- Pour about 250 ml of boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a mug. Let them sit ten minutes, then drain and squeeze them out.
- Heat the oil in the pot and cook the onion and pepper until they slump, about eight minutes. Add the mushrooms for the last two.
- Turn the heat to its lowest setting. Add the cream cheese in chunks and stir until it melts into the vegetables.
- Sprinkle in the sour cream powder and stir it smooth. Add the venison and half the shredded cheese.
- Scatter the rest of the cheese on top, cover the pot, and hold it over low heat five minutes until it melts. Season and eat straight from the pot.
The original is baked, which is a problem when the oven is a canister stove. A covered pot on low heat does the same job: the cheese on top melts from steam instead of dry heat, so nothing browns, but nothing scorches on the bottom either. Stir the cream cheese in off a near-dead flame or the milk solids catch.
Dried mushrooms are the swap that matters. Fresh mushrooms are mostly water and turn to slime in a cooler within two days, while an ounce of dried rehydrates to about the same volume and packs flat. Sour cream powder replaces the tub for the same reason. Cream cheese and shredded cheese still need cold, so this is a cooler recipe, not a backpacking one.
Packing
Dice the onion and pepper at home and bag them. Venison goes in a zip bag, cooked, in the coldest part of the cooler. Sour cream powder, mushrooms, and seasoning ride in one dry bag.
Variations
- Beef chuck or leftover steak works the same way.
- A splash of hot sauce or pickled pepper brine cuts the fat.
- Tortilla chips keep it gluten-free; a torn hoagie roll does not.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/venison-philly-cheesesteak-dip