Good Old Mac N Cheese

There are lots of Mac n Cheese versions available now on the web. But I’ve tried to develop recipe that would be suitable for prolonged backpacking trips and thru-hikes. I wanted it is lightweight, tasty, quick and easy-to-cook, preferably in one pot, and with long shelf live. I wanted to use also as more natural, non-harmful ingredients as possible.
To minimize the cooking time on the trail, I cooked the pasta in advance and then dehydrated it. For sauce I used whole milk powder (Nido), ghee, flour and freeze dried Cheddar cheese that has been ground in a coffee grinder into a powder. As a result, I’ve got silky smooth Macaroni and Cheese.

servings: 1 | calories: 656 | cooking time: 10 min | weight: 145 gr / oz

Category: dehydrated, dinners, high-energy, lightweight, one-pot, pasta, vegetarian

nutrition info:

calories: 656, protein: 19.1 g, carbs: 82.4 g, fat: 26.3 g, sugars: 8.7 g, sodium: 996 mg

you'll need:

1 tablespoon heavy cream powder
3 tablespoons Cheddar cheese powder
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
2/3 cup pre-cooked and dehydrated pasta
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon ghee

at home:

Mix heavy cream powder, cheese powder and cornstarch in a small-sized zip lock bag.
Pack the remaining ingredients separately.

on the trail:

Pour pasta into a pot; add in 1/3 cup water.
Bring to a boil and season to taste.
Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, or until rehydrated.
Take the pot off the heat.
Stir in cheese sauce powder from the bag.
Add ghee and mix well until it melts.
Enjoy!

Note: You can make this recipe also with regular, non-dehydrated macaroni too. Just cook them in salted, boiling water according to package instructions. Drain the water off reserving about ¼ cup for sauce, then follow original recipe.

more recipes from this category:

3 mushroom risotto, dehydrated backpacking meals, lightweight backpacking recipes

6 Comments

Deathstalker on October 21, 2021 at 10:01 pm

How do you mix? Lightly or quick?

- Tanya Krezevska on November 21, 2021 at 3:15 pm
  
  You can mix depending on your preferences
  
Deathstalker on October 21, 2021 at 10:00 pm

How do you mix? Lightly or quick?

Makari on April 20, 2019 at 3:56 am

Attempted this recipe twice, when i pour in cheese mix it clumps together into tiny cheese clusters leaving noodles bare… any ideas?

- Tanya Krezevska on April 23, 2019 at 11:02 am
  
  What kind of cheese mix do you use? Is it fine enough? Try also to stir your macaroni constantly while adding cheese powder.
  
- Mediocre Trail Tester on September 12, 2019 at 11:33 pm
  
  Mix the cheese powder with a small amount of cold water to make a paste first.