Vienna Sausage and Turkey Cracker Spread
Two cans, a squeeze of mayo, and a sleeve of crackers. Lunch without a stove.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 68
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 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.
- Lunch
- Snack
- No cook
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Canoe / raft
- Day hike
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Canned vienna sausages | 1 can (5 oz) | drain the packing liquid off |
|---|---|---|
| Canned turkey | 1 can (5 oz) | canned chicken works the same |
| Mayonnaise | 3 tbsp | single-serve packets, no jar to keep cold |
| Yellow mustard | 1 tsp | packets again |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | a few grinds | |
| Crackers | 1 sleeve | the sturdy round kind, packed in a rigid container |
Method
- Drain both cans. Pour the liquid out well away from camp or into a sump, not at your feet.
- Dump the sausages and turkey into your pot or a wide-mouth jar.
- Mash with a spoon until the sausages break down. They give up quickly.
- Stir in the mayo, mustard, dried onion, and pepper. Let it sit two minutes so the onion softens.
- Spoon it onto crackers. Eat it all at once; there is no cold storage for leftovers.
This is a canned-meat spread built for a day with no fire and no cooler. Vienna sausages are already cooked and soft enough to mash with a spoon, so they act as the binder while the canned turkey adds bite and most of the protein. Together they hit a decent protein number for something that takes five minutes and no fuel.
Mayonnaise from packets is the part worth being deliberate about. A jar is a liability without refrigeration; single-serve packets are shelf-stable until you tear them and add the fat that canned meat lacks. Dried minced onion stands in for fresh and rehydrates on the moisture already in the mix. Make only what you will finish in one sitting, because mixed canned meat sitting warm in a pot is not something to carry into the afternoon.
Packing
Cans travel as-is and ride at the bottom of the pack. Mayo and mustard packets go in a small zip bag with the dried onion. Crackers crush unless they are in a hard container, so carry them in an empty peanut butter jar or a nesting cup.
Variations
- Swap the turkey for a foil pouch of chicken and skip one can of draining.
- A dash of hot sauce or pickle relish packets cuts the fat.
- No crackers? Roll it into a tortilla instead.
https://packedforlife.com/best-canned-foods-for-camping