Fried Rice Backpacking Recipe
If you’re tired of the same, boring meals then this fried rice backpacking recipe is a great way to add a little creativity to your menu. It can be made with or without a dehydrator at home, which makes it really versatile regardless of what’s in your kitchen.
Plus, if you have a drawer full of soy sauce packets from past chinese takeout this is an excellent way to put them to use!
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Fried Rice Backpacking Recipe
This fried rice recipe is extremely flexible depending on your budget, what you have at home, and your flavor or nutritional preferences.
You’ll want dried corn and peas, but you can accomplish this in a number of ways. If you already own a food dehydrator then these are easy and quick to dry.
Otherwise, these two veggies are also fairly easy to dehydrate in an oven or can be purchased in dried form online.
For backpacking, powdered eggs is the best, most lightweight option. However, if you’re car camping or can spare the extra weight of a few fresh eggs that’s a welcome upgrade to this meal!
Personally, I think the trickiest part of this entire recipe is scrambling the eggs. My backpacking stove doesn’t do simmer very well, so it can be easy to go from liquid to burned if I’m not paying extremely close attention.
Keep in mind that scrambling an egg means you’ll need a fry pan. If most of your other meals are simple boil+rehydrate meals this may be extra weight for a single meal. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it! (I like my Jetboil summit skillet for this recipe)
Ingredients
- Dehydrated corn [1 cup]
- Dehydrated peas [1 cup]
- Seasoning, to taste [about ½ tsp each]
- Brown sugar
- Ground ginger
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Bouillon cube (chicken, beef or vegetable) [2]
- Soy sauce [4 packets]
- Instant rice [1 cup]
- Eggs Crystals [8 tbsp]
Servings: 2
Cost per serving: $2.13
Calories per serving: 640
Macros per serving: 104g carbohydrates, 26g protein, 12g fat
If you’re looking to add more calories or protein, I recommend an individual packet of chicken (adds about 80 calories and 13g protein per serving.) A handful of cashews is also a nice addition to add some crunch.
Instructions
At home:
Combine dehydrated corn, dehydrated peas and spices in a bowl and mix.
Portion veggie mixture into individual storage containers and add a bouillon cube and soy sauce packets to each.
In another container, place one serving of rice in each.
At camp:
Add egg crystals and water in a 2:3 ratio (ex. 4 tbsp egg crystals and 6 tbsp water) to your pot or skillet and mix thoroughly.
Cook on low heat until scrambled. Move to bowl, cover and set aside.
Combine veggie mixture, bouillon cube and soy sauce in pot or skillet. Add 1 to 1½ cup of water and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, drop to a simmer (or turn off and cover if simmering is not possible with your camp stove). Allow to heat for around 5 minutes, or until veggies soften.
Next, add the bag of instant rice to the pot or skillet with the veggies and stir until mixed. Leave covered for 5 minutes to allow rice to cook.
Combine veggies and rice with scrambled eggs and enjoy!
