I usually eat no-cook meals on trail but when I hike with others who carry a stove I offer to bring some of my favorite meals along. Last summer I led a 3 day backpacking trip into the Olympics to Boulder Creek Campground with some friends (including my mom) and I made this dinner up knowing someone had a brand new Jetboil they looking forward to using.
I also cooked it up on top of a scramble above Snowy Lakes off the PCT in the Pasayten Wilderness during a short backpacking trip last October and plan to include it regularly in my trips this summer. It is super easy to put together and uses a combination of fresh and dehydrated for a powerful flavor punch on the trail.
#chicken #ricenoodles #coconutmilk #basil #greenonion #ginger #lime #almonds
Ingredients
You can prepare this meal two ways, depending on the length of your trip and if you want to dehydrate the ingredients at home. For the trips above, I just packed in the ingredients fresh, they will last a day or two without refrigeration. If packing for longer, I use dehydrated ingredients that also cuts down on weight in addition to lasting longer into a trip. The pictures you will see have a combination of fresh and dried, it’s what I had on hand.
I use canned chicken from Costco*, either repackaged fresh or dehydrated. Foil packets of chicken would work great, too. I also use powdered coconut milk which I talk more about in my Cocoa In The Wild post. I love adding ginger to a lot of meals, not only for its anti-inflammatory properties but for the spicy kick.
Lime adds another level of flavor that is a perfect tang for the taste buds after a long day of hiking. Can you feel your mouth salivating now?
Here are the ingredients for a one serving meal but you can always tweak it to suit your needs (ingredient list below). If cooking for several people, you can combine ingredients together for packing. You will notice that the basil pictured is not true Thai basil which has more narrow leaves and a somewhat purplish tinge of the stem. It is a subtle flavor difference and if going for a more “Thai” flavor, I suggest using it. I tend to have a version of sweet basil (pictured) in my fridge so it is used more but when intentional, I go for Thai basil. You might also try something fun like lime basil!
At Home
You want to store the ingredients that need to be cooked in one bag (noodles, anything dehydrated) and the rest that will be added after cooking in another bag (the milk, nuts and fresh ingredients). If using the FBC method (freezer bag cooking), put the cooking ingredients into a quart size ziploc freezer bag.
If using canned chicken (not dehydrated), repackage in its own bag with the lime juice separate from other ingredients to marinate. It will last a day or two without refrigeration. Store the smaller bags all together in the larger freezer bag.
If you want to go the dehydrated route, I talk about how to dry the veggies and chicken in my Eat Your Veggies post. Soak the chicken in the lime juice for about 10 minutes before dehydrating. Lime zest takes very little time to dehydrate, maybe one hour. Dehydrating will obviously extend your prep time.
At Camp:
Bring water to a boil and then add the noodles and any dehydrated ingredients into the water and let simmer until almost soft enough, 2-3 minutes. Rice noodles really don’t need to “cook”, they will soften simply by sitting in hot water. Drain leaving about 1/3 cup of water. Add in all of the other ingredients and stir. The noodles will continue to soften and absorb the water so it will seem thin at first but the sauce will thicken in a few minutes.
You can also just add the hot water directly into the freezer bag itself and let sit 10 minutes or so to soften. A freezer bag cozy works great for this. I bought mine at Ultralight Designs here but you can make your own like in this freezer bag tutorial.
When I make this no-cook, I substitute 1/2 cup instant rice for the noodles and soak everything a few hours before I want to eat.
I like using the thicker freezer bags even if I don’t add the hot water to them because I do take them home to wash and reuse. The thinner bags will get holes more easily, especially with dried food items. They are also more sturdy for storing other garbage inside my opsak so it won’t get dirty. Just don’t tell Andrew Skurka. I’d hate to have him write a blog post picking on me, too.
If you are new to dehydrating or want more information, especially if you need your meals to last more than a month without refrigeration, please visit my Dehydrating 101 page to find out how to do it safely. And if you enjoyed this recipe, head over to my Hiking and Backpacking Paleo Index for over 60 tasty treats to take on your next outdoor adventure!
Editor’s note: since posting this recipe, I have started to swap out rice and rice noodles from my meals in order to include more vegetables or reduce my carbohydrate intake when necessary. My Trail Meal Bases: 5 Grain Free Swaps has all the details!
Thai Basil Chicken
Looking for a flavorful trail meal with a combination of dried and fresh ingredients depending on the nature of your trip? Tangy lime and a powerful basil punch make this a meal to look forward to at the end of your day!
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Total Time
25 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nightshade Free, Whole Food
Servings: 1 dinner
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice noodles
- 1/4 cup cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup powdered coconut milk
- 1/4 cup almond slivers
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon diced green onion fresh or dehydrated
- 1 teaspoon lime zest fresh or dehydrated
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger or 1/4 teaspoon powdered or dried ginger
Instructions
At Home
- Put the noodles and any dehydrated foods in one freezer ziplock bag and the powdered milk, almonds and fresh ingredients in a smaller snack size ziploc bag.
- If using canned chicken, repackage in a snack size plastic bag with the lime juice separate from other ingredients. It will last a day or two without refrigeration.
- Store the smaller bags all together in the larger freezer bag.
At Camp
- Bring water to a boil and then add the noodles and dehydrated ingredients into the water and let simmer until almost soft enough, 2-3 minutes. It doesn’t take long, be careful not to overcook or you end up with one gelatinous ball.
- Drain leaving about 1/3 cup of water.
- Add in all of the other ingredients and stir.
- Let sit for a few minutes. The noodles will continue soften and absorb the water so it will seem thin at first but the sauce will thicken.
- You can also just add enough hot water directly into the freezer bag with the dehydrated ingredients to cover and let sit 10 minutes to soften. Then, add the rest of your ingredients and let sit for a few more minutes to incorporate.
Notes
If you are like me and want to eat this at home, you can use 1/4 to 1/3 cup canned coconut milk instead of the powdered and drain the noodles more. I use full fat because “low fat” simply means a higher water ratio in the can.
I like using the thicker freezer bags even if I don’t add the hot water to them because I do take them home to wash and reuse. The thinner bags will get holes more easily, especially with dried food items.
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*For some reason I was looking at the Costco chicken label again this week (6/6/2017) and noticed it had modified food starch. I buy this brand now.