This may be the ultimate in hiking comfort foods. I’ve even had it for breakfast on hikes. It’s satisfying, energising, warming, ultralight, great for the family and also cheap to put together.

Instant potato flakes need only boiling water to turn them into mash (though they’re even better with some milk powder included – see my recipe below). Same goes for dehydrated peas, and for instant gravy.

Choose your gravy to suits dietary requirements – you can find gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan options etc. depending on who you’re cooking for.

Preparation

To serve two, you’ll need:

• 40g dehydrated peas – put in a small baggie
• 1 sachet instant onion gravy (check how much boiling water you’ll need to make the gravy – most say 1 cup or 250 ml)
• 60g or 1 and 1/3 cups potato flakes
• 15g-20g milk powder (optional)
• 1 tsp salt

Combine the potato flakes, milk powder and salt into a medium baggie, and the peas into another small baggie.

At camp

1. Boil the peas in 2.5 cups of water. This will take about 5 minutes.
2. The water will reduce to about 2 cups. Using a strainer, pour the water from the peas into the potato flake mixture in another cup.
3. Stir the potato thoroughly to rehydrate all the potato. Cover the peas and potato to keep warm.
4. Boil a cup and a half of water. This will reduce to about a cup. Use this to make the gravy in another cup.
5. Enjoy!