Combining quick-cooking instant rice, freeze-dried vegetables, powdered eggs, and soy sauce packets, this fried rice recipe is a great bikepacking idea that relies entirely on store-bought ingredients. No dehydrating required!

As so many bikepackers do, we often get food cravings while out on the trail. While pizza is always high on the list, close behind is a carb-loaded favorite: fried rice. What’s great about this recipe is that it relies entirely on store-bought ingredients. So if you don’t have a dehydrator (or don’t have time to dehydrate), this is a great recipe to have in your back pocket. You can pick up the instant rice, veggie bouillon, dried spices from your local grocery store.

At home, combine the veggies with the dried spices in a resealable container and place a cube of vegetable bouillon and two soy sauce packets inside. If you can track down individual soy sauce packets, you can also fill a small resealable container with soy sauce. You’ll need at least 2 tablespoons for this recipe.

In a separate container, store the instant rice. If this is the only meal that includes eggs, you will also need to store the OvaEasy in a separate container as well, but more often than not, we just bring the whole bag as we are using eggs for other meals too.

At camp, the first step is to cook the eggs. In the bottom of a pot (with the heat off), mix the appropriate amount of egg crystals with water until the mixture is smooth. Then turn the heat on low to scramble. Add a little cooking oil if you’re worried about them sticking. Once the eggs are done, transfer them out of the pot into a bowl or cup.

The next step is to rehydrate the veggies. Pour the veggies and spices into the pot, add the vegetable bouillon cube, soy sauce packets (2 tablespoons-worth), and water. Let this all simmer for a few minutes, until the veggies are rehydrated and the bouillon cube is fully dissolved.

Then pour in the rice, turn off the heat, and cover. The rice is usually ready in about 5 minutes. All that’s left to do it stir everything up, mix the eggs back in and enjoy. If you brought a little extra soy sauce, this is a perfect time to drizzle a little on top.

Ingredients

In one bag:

  • 1 cup dehydrated or freeze dried veggies
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube
  • ½ teaspoon brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt, (omit if your bouillon is super salty)
  • 2 soy sauce packets

In a second bag:

  • 1 cup instant rice

In a third bag:

  • ¼ cup OvaEasy egg crystals

Instructions

  • At home, assemble all ingredients in bags as listed above.
  • In camp, mix ¼ cup OvaEasy egg crystals with 3 oz. water in your cookpot and stir to blend. Place the cookpot on your stove over low heat and scramble, stirring frequently so the egg doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once cooked, remove and set aside.
  • Add 1 ¼ cup water and the contents of the veggies + spices bag to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the veggies are soft, about 5 minutes.
  • Add instant rice, stir, and remove the pot from the heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Return the egg to the pot and stir to combine and re-warm the eggs.