Dehydrated Soup
for BC Living
September 2023
Dehydrated meals are EXPENSIVE! If you’ve ever looked into going on a backpacking trip where you’re trying to carry light, you’d see that the mass marketed meals are pretty pricey.
Luckily, you can make simple dehydrated meals at home that will save you space, time, and fuel on the road/trail/adventure. A dehydrator is a great investment too – I've been drying my herbs from my garden and grinding them for my spice shelf.
I’ll probably turn this into a series over the next few summers as I find more and more things I can dehydrate, but we’re starting with a simple one!
DEHYDRATED SOUP
This soup is perfect for the cold start to the outdoor season, a rainy night when you want something quick, or as a side with a sandwich. They’re also great for at home if you want to make a big batch of something and save space in the freezer.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium carrot, peeled
- 1-2 stalks of celery
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ cup pasta/noodle shape of your choice
- 1 bouillon cube (vegetable, chicken, or otherwise)
- salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Finely chop the carrot, celery, onion and garlic into very small pieces. (This is a mirepoix/sofrito mix, with some garlic added as well.)
In a large pot, heat the tsp of olive oil - do not use more than this, you don’t want fat in stored food if you’re keeping these for a while.
Add the chopped veggies to the pot and cook, sweating them until their water has released, and the onions are tender. Set aside and let cool, then spread on the appropriate tray of the dehydrator, and follow the machine’s instructions for how long to dry them for. Mine took about 6 hours, but you can test and see throughout if they are done.
At the same time, you can spread parsley leaves on another tray and dry them as well or skip this step and add dried parsley to the finished product.
You have two options for the pasta. You can cook it ahead of time, drain it when just al dente, and douse it with cold water to stop the cooking process. And then dry the pasta again.
Doing this will help it cook faster on site and save fuel. If that isn’t of concern, you can cook it all together in one pot at the campsite.
When everything is dry, in a bag, or mason jar, add the dried carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley. Toss in a bouillon cube, add some salt and pepper and the pasta.
When cooking, add the mix to a pot, add a cup of water and let it stand and soak for 5-10 minutes – everything will begin to rehydrate without the use of fuel.
Then bring everything to a rolling boil, stirring to break up the bouillon cube, and let stand for 5 minutes, covered, or until the pasta is done.
ENJOY!
Note: If you’re going to be making a recipe in the near future that requires a mirepoix/sofrito - ex. A Bolognese, other soup, etc. - you can make extra and dehydrate it for future recipes like this!