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Dehydrated Seafood Paella
By Fresh Off The Grid, camping & backpacking blog
Fresh Off The Grid is your online destination for all things camp cooking. From recipes to instructional guides to gear reviews, they help you elevate your outdoor experience through food and drink. They offer a collection of recipes, how-to guides, and camp cooking gear to help you enjoy great food in the great outdoors.
This Dehydrated Seafood Paella recipe made using the Sahara Dehydrator is some serious next level gourmet backpacking food. Shrimp, crab, olives, capers, and veggies in a bed of golden saffron rice this dehydrated backpacking meal is sure to become a favorite. If you enjoy the flavors of paella and want to impress your fellow trail mates with your backcountry culinary skills, this dehydrated paella is for you!
An Easy and Flavorful Backpacking Meal
Fully cooked shrimp and imitation crab meat give this paella its seafood flair. They are both easy to find at your local grocery store, simple to prep, and rehydrate reasonably well. This recipe also features a variety of salty Mediterranean flavors like capers and olives. And to hold it all together is a vibrant bed of golden saffron rice. Not only is it loaded with fresh and exciting flavors, but it is actually easier to make than some other backpacking meals.
Dehydrated Seafood Paella Recipe
Traditional Spanish paella is made with a highly-absorbent short-grain rice, typically Bomba (which is sometimes sold as Calasparra), but use any short grain rice available like Calrose, Sush, or medium grain rice.
To help the shrimp dehydrate/rehydrate better, slice them in half lengthwise and then chop the two pieces in half. This will provide more surface area to allow the shrimp to rehydrate.
*It is worth noting that re-hydrated shrimp will have a bit of a chewy texture. To us, the flavor outweighs the texture, but if it’s going to bother you, sub with more imitation crab, which rehydrates with a better texture.
Imitation crab meat can come in lots of different styles (legs, chunks, and flakes). Any of them will work, but when making this recipe we used chunks—flakes will also work well. We cut the chunks in half and then pressed on them with a fork to shred them.
Yield
2 servings
Timing
- Active: 45 minutes
- Inactive: 8-12 hours
- Total: 9-13 hours
Ingredients
| U.S. Volume | |
|---|---|
| Short grain rice | 1 C |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Garlic Powder | ½ tsp |
| Saffron | ½ tsp |
| Red bell pepper | 1 each |
| Yellow bell pepper | 1 each |
| Parsley, leaves only | ¼ C |
| Capers | 2 tbsp |
| Garlic cloves, smashed and sliced | 3 each |
| Shrimp (cooked, deveined, shell and tail removed) | 6 large |
| Imitation crab meat | 6-8 pieces |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
| Packaged olives (such as Oloves) | 1 package |
Equipment
- Brod & Taylor Sahara Folding Dehydrator
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Saucepan
- Mesh Drying Sheets and/or None-Stick Silicone Baking Mats
- Resealable bags, jars, or vacuum sealer for storing dehydrated meal
Getting ready
Set up the Sahara Folding Dehydrator and turn on to 140°F.
Instructions
Cook the rice: For paella, don’t pre-rinse the rice; you actually want some starch to develop. Make the rice according to package directions for 1 cup (uncooked) rice, adding the salt, garlic powder, and saffron to the water at the beginning of the cooking process.
Prep remaining ingredients: While the rice is cooking, chop the bell peppers into ¼" pieces, roughly chop the garlic, quarter the shrimp, and chop or shred the imitation crab.
Dehydrate: Transfer all the ingredients (cooked rice, veggies, herbs, and seafood) to the dehydrator trays, utilizing mesh or solid liners to prevent small pieces of food from falling between the holes in the trays. Load the trays into the dehydrator. Dehydrate at 140°F for 8-12 hours until everything is completely dried & hard.
Pack or store:
Short-term use (within the next few days): Divide and store everything in well-cleaned, resealable bags. Additionally, separately pack 1 tablespoon olive oil and a small package of olives per serving.
Mid-term Storage (for next month or two): Store the meal inside a sealed mason jar in a cool, dark place. If you live in a particularly warm/humid climate, then storing in the fridge will be better.
Long-term storage (upwards of a year): Store the meal inside a vacuum-sealed bag in the freezer.
Short-term use (within the next few days): Divide and store everything in well-cleaned, resealable bags. Additionally, separately pack 1 tablespoon olive oil and a small package of olives per serving.
Mid-term Storage (for next month or two): Store the meal inside a sealed mason jar in a cool, dark place. If you live in a particularly warm/humid climate, then storing in the fridge will be better.
Long-term storage (upwards of a year): Store the meal inside a vacuum-sealed bag in the freezer.
To rehydrate on the trail: Add all the dried ingredients to your pot and add water until everything is just barely covered. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes OR bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, cover, remove from heat and place inside an insulated cozy. Add oil towards the end of the cooking process. Once the meal has rehydrated, add the package of olives and enjoy!
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