Trail Meal | Instant Mustard soup

Mustard soup is a great boost of flavor that out on trail punches all the right spots to set you up for a warm night. Out hiking this is a great moral boost. Lets dive into the recipe!

The ingredients for this trail meal are as follows.

• Mustard powder, Fresh mustard or a fast food package
• Dried onions
• Dried leeks
• Instant mashed potato powder
• Bacon bits or dried sausage
• Bouillon cube
• Salt & pepper plus your favorite spices

The gear you need for cooking out on trail:

• Mess kit – I carry my Esbit cook kit for this.
• Tea towel for cleanup
• Spork
• Pocket knife 
• Gas stove , alcohol stove or your favorite hiking stove.
• Sea to Summit X Cup

Preparing the ingredients

Mustard powder comes from a few different brands in supermarkets, I would suggest looking around for the English brand Colman’s. Otherwise check out the herbs and spices sections for more choices.

Instead of mustard powder you can also pack out some fresh mustard with you. Of course the weight will increase when packing out fresh mustard. The coarse ground mustard tastes best in my opinion.

If you are stopping in town for a resupply and spot a snackbar or fast food joint, the mustard packets are often free or supplied with meals. Simply ask for a few more to take with you on your next hiking trip. The mustard packets last a long time in the fridge and out on trail.

Dried Onions and leeks I had over from my previous Trail Meal I did. When you go out of your way to make Leek soup it is a good meal to have on a other day out on trail.

The instant mashed potato powder serves as a thickener and to add a bit more body to the soup. Traditionally this is done with flower while cooking the leeks and onions. But to save time and cooking equipment needed the same result can be had using the Instant mashed potato powder.

Cooking the recipe out on trail

Cooking the recipe takes about 10 minutes and only really needs water as the added ingredient.

• Put two cups of cold water in your pot.
• Add in the dried vegetables and the Bouillon cube
• Add in the dried mustard or fresh mustard while stirring
• Wait till it boils and add in the instant mashed potato powder
• Stir for a few minutes while on low heat and add the bacon bits or dried sausage
• Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes with the lid on.

After that you can dig in and enjoy your mustard soup!