Instant Vegan Camping Food: Black Bean Soup
It’s not your average vegan camping food- this instant black bean soup is homemade! Savory black beans are joined with carrots, onions, garlic, and a whole medley of spices. Dried coconut powder makes it rich and creamy, and cumin, tomato powder, chili, and more give it plenty of flavor. It’s a great high-protein, shelf-stable, light and dry food option- all that’s needed is hot water to get it ready to eat. Now, we’re not one for exaggerating our recipes- this soup is not perfectly silky smooth, it’s a little grainy. But it’s also instant soup, so it’s kinda what you’re signing up for. But, a little grainy or not, it’s still rich and delicious, flavorful and hearty. If you’re hiking, camping, or just looking to have some emergency food stored, this shelf-stable black bean soup is the perfect option.
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Vegan Camping Food
As you may have guessed, I’m about to go on a little camping trip. I call it a camping trip- honestly, I’m staying in a yurt, with a mattress. No refrigeration though, and only an outlet or two. So really, I’ll be roughing it. Whether you camp the way I do, or are more of a serious backpacker, finding the right food for your camping trips can make all the difference. On the plus side, being vegan isn’t too much of a hindrance here since meats and dairy don’t exactly stand up to the needs of hiking foods anyways. Look for food that is shelf-stable, so you don’t need to worry about it going bad while you’re on the trail. Depending on your trip, you may also want food that doesn’t need to be cooked at all. If you do have access to heat, you also probably want food that needs minimal cooking, as you likely don’t want to bring multiple pots and pans out with you. If you’re going to be hiking or backpacking with your supplies, you’re going to want foods that are lighter, and that don’t have a lot of packaging adding weight to your pack. In addition to this dehydrated black bean soup recipe, we’ve put together a list of other great camping recipes.
A Few Great Vegan Camping Food Ideas
- Peanut Butter
- Crackers
- Bread
- Baked goods, like these pop-tarts or scones
- Dehydrated fruit
- Vegan jerky
- Oats for oatmeal
- Bought or made granola bars
- Granola
- Potatoes for oven-baked potatoes
- TVP or soy curls
- Canned beans, especially if not hiking
- Boxed vegan mac and cheese
How to Make Instant Vegan Black Bean Soup
This makes use of two of my staple kitchen tools- my blender and my dehydrator. Granted, I use my blender far more frequently than I do my dehydrator, but my dehydrator is a beloved staple none the less. To start, get your beans together. Either use canned beans, or rehydrated dried beans. I know it seems sort of silly to rehydrate dried beans, and then to dehydrate them, but don’t use dried beans that haven’t been rehydrated, because they also haven’t been cooked. So cook up those beans. You’ll also need to chop an onion, some carrots, and garlic, and then arrange all the vegetables as well as the beans on a single layer on your dehydrator trays. Set it on the vegetable setting, and walk away. I let mine dehydrate for around 16 hours, mostly because I went to bed before it was dry so it just kept going overnight. Plan on it taking roughly 12 hours. Once your vegetables are dried, you can get them going in your blender or food processor. The finer you blend, the smoother soup you’ll get when it’s rehydrated. Once your vegetables are all ground up, you can add your other seasonings. Most of them are fairly basic, but there are a few slightly more unusual ones. We used powdered coconut milk to give a creamy texture and some richness. This is most easily found online, although co-ops and health food stores may stock it. Tomato powder is also perhaps a little less common- you can make your own with our recipe or purchase it online. The third less common ingredient we used is citric acid, which helps to provide that bit of acidity and brightness that might be added from a squeeze of lime when fresh. Once all the ingredients are well combined, make sure to store in an air-tight container until you’re ready to use, to stop it from absorbing moisture and spoiling.
PS- if you want our little label we sketched up for your black bean soup, you can get it here!
Instant Vegan Camping Food: Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked black beans (1/2 lb. dried beans, reconstituted or 2 cans)
- 1 medium-sized onion, cut into half-moons
- 3 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
- 2 medium-sized carrots, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup powdered coconut milk
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. tomato powder
- 1 tsp. nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. citric acid
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and chop your vegetables. If using canned beans, drain and rise them. Preheat your dehydrator to 125°F (°C). Arrange your beans, onions, garlic, and carrots across a few dehydrator trays, making sure they remain in a single layer. Place the trays in your dehydrator, and dehydrate until all the beans and vegetables are dry. First check around 8 hours, but it will likely take 12 or longer.
- Once the vegetables are dry and brittle, place them in a blender or food processor, along with one bay leaf, and blend until they’ve reached a fine powder. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend or pulse to combine. Store the powder in an air-tight container until needed.
- To rehydrate soup, add boiling water and stir well. Depending on how thick or thin you want your soup, add between ¼ cup- ¾ cup of water to 2 tbsp. dried soup. Whisk well, let sit for a couple minutes to rehydrate, and whisk again. You can also rehydrate this soup in a pot on the stove or fire.
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