Making Your Own Instant Soups
What could be better than a cup of hot soup on the trail, especially when the weather is cold and rainy? I do not know about you, but we have faced bad weather many times during our trips and on occasion, we’ve even been soaked clear through. After pitching a tent and changing into dry clothes, we certainly enjoyed a cup of hot soup. This helped us stay warm, recover, and rehydrate quickly.
Instant soups are very convenient when you need something tasty, nourishing and quick to cook. All you need to do is add boiling water, give a good stir and let it soak for five or so minutes.
The current market presents a huge number of ready-made instant soups. However, homemade instant soups are healthier, tastier and a chipper alternative. Moreover, they are very simple to make.
The key to making your own homemade cup-a-soup is to use ingredients as “thin” as possible that will allow you to rehydrate your soup using only boiling water so you don’t actually have to cook the ingredients while on the trail.
The most common ingredients I use for homemade cup-a-soup recipes are:
- Pre-cooked dehydrated (or quick-cooking) pasta, noodles and grains;
- Instant mashed potatoes;
- Freeze-dried or dehydrated veggies;
- Vegetable powders;
- Freeze-dried meat;
- Milk powder;
- Cheese powder;
- Bouillon powder;
- Miso paste or miso powder;
- Dried herbs and spice mixtures.
How to pack
The ideal packaging for instant backpacking soups are Ziploc Sandwich Bags or vacuum-sealed bags with an oxygen absorber packet.
Instant soup recipes
Try these recipes to make a cup of delicious and super-comfortable soup on the trail:
Curried Pumpkin Soup
Curried Zucchini Soup
Tomato Basil Soup
Creamy Spinach Soup
Cheesy Cauliflower Chowder
