Freezer Bag Cooking Recipe: Bean and Rice Burritos
Now that Autumn is upon us, the days are shorter, and there is less daylight for hiking. This is the time of year that I stop backpacking solo and try to make more elaborate dinners with friends to pass the hours between sundown and bedtime.
Making bean and rice burritos for dinner is a simple, but satisfying meal that you can make using dehydrated refried beans from Fantastic Foods, instant rice, some hot spices, and hard cheese slices. I’m planning to bring it on my next section hike in a few weeks and it’s also a pretty easy meal to resupply if you’re on a longer hike.
If you’re new to freezer bag cooking, here’s a great video by Sarah (Sarbar) and Kirk Kirkconnell on how to cook Bean and Rice Burritos.
As you can see, freezer bag cooking is an easy way to prepare interesting food from premixed ingredients and helps you avoid having to clean up the dishes after dinner!
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My son’s and I used the freezer bag cooking method on all eight of our trips on the Finger Lakes Trail this year and we were happy with it for a number of reasons. The most obvious of course was the time and energy saved from not having any dishes, pot or pans to clean, just a spoon. I have found this to be an extremely convenient way to cook; all prep in done at home, on the trail just add water and in ten minutes your food is ready.
I am not a backpacking gourmet, at the end of the day I just want eat a simple but tasty meal and relax. I have used either Ramen noodles or rice as a base then added vegetables and meets that I dehydrate myself at home, add spices and place them all in a freezer bag. On two of our trips we added cheese, I have used string cheese and a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese, and both worked great and were delicious. I have even dehydrated tomato sauce and added it to our meals. If you own a dehydrator you can create a number of meals that are less expensive, more nutritional and more satisfying than commercially produced freeze dried foods. I highly recommend this method of cooking to anyone looking to simplify their backpacking meals.
I love Freezer Bag Cooking! It is a great resource for tons of backpacking meals you can do in just one bag. I hate reading recipes where they expect you to bring a skillet backpacking… This is a simple and cheap option. I’ve tried those Mountain House dehydrated foods, and they are good and all, but the cost starts to add up, especially if you are going on a long trip. Like Chris said, I like to relax at the end of the day and eat something easy, and honestly, if you are really really tired, it doesn’t even matter if it tastes all that great anyways.
I tried FBC last week on a three day backpacking trip in the Vosges mountains of France using a soda can stove. I loved the simplicity and lack of clean up.I particularly enjoyed the grits with jalapenos and cheese and oatmeal with nuts, raisins and brown sugar for breakfast as well as chili and bean burritos for dinner
I was less impressed with the ramen salad and couscous and lentil salad I prepared for lunch, but still ok.