What’s Inside: In this article I will show you how to make Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes using shelf stable foods that you can store in your pantry.
Hello, food storage enthusiasts and kitchen warriors! Today, we’re venturing into the exciting world of prepper pantry meals. I’m here to guide you on a culinary adventure that’s as tasty as it is practical. Our mission? To create a comforting dish of cheesy scalloped potatoes with Spam. Yum! So, let’s get things cooking!
How to Make Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes from Food Storage
Preheat an oven to 350 Degrees.
Ingredients
Firstly, let’s run through our ingredient list, all sourced directly from our trusty food storage. We have around four cups of dehydrated potatoes, filling a quart jar to the brim. To complement the potatoes, we also require 1/3 cup of powdered milk, 1/4 cup of dried onions, a 16-ounce can of Ragu double cheddar cheese sauce, and a 12-ounce can of Great Value luncheon meat (or any brand of Spam you prefer). Lastly, we’ll need four cups of hot water.
- 1 quart (4 cups) sliced, dehydrated potatoes
- 1/3 cup powdered milk
- 1/4 cup dried onions
- 16 oz can Ragu Double Cheddar Cheese Sauce
- 12 oz can of Spam (I used Great Value brand luncheon meat)
- 4 cups hot water
The Step-By-Step Process
Augason Farms Dehydrated Potatoes
You can use your home-dehydrated potatoes for this recipe. However, if you haven’t dehydrated potatoes yourself and want to keep things as simple as possible, I recommend using Augason Farms Dehydrated Potato Slices for this recipe.
Now, onto the fun part – the cooking process! Let’s start by rehydrating our potatoes. Pour them into a bowl and cover them with four cups of hot water. To trap the heat and speed up the rehydration process, place a plate over the bowl. These potatoes will need about 20 minutes to fully rehydrate and regain their texture.
Rehydrate the Potatoes
Put the dehydrated potatoes into bowl and cover with hot water. Put a lid on to keep the heat on. (I put a plate over the bowl.) It will take about 20 minutes for the potatoes to rehydrate.
Fry the Spam
While our potatoes are rehydrating, let’s turn our attention to the luncheon meat. Don’t worry about the gel-like substance coating the meat – it’s perfectly fine. Cut the meat into cubes; this not only makes it easier to fry but also ensures that every bite of the finished dish has a piece of this tasty protein.
With our Spam cubed, it’s time to bring out the cast iron skillet. A quick spray of non-stick cooking spray should do the trick, even though the meat itself carries enough fat. Now, it’s time to sizzle! Toss those cubes in and let them brown to perfection. You’ll find that frying the already cooked Spam enhances its flavor, giving your dish an extra layer of deliciousness.
You may choose to leave out the meat if you prefer a vegetarian version. The dish will still taste fantastic!
Augason Farms Vegetarian Bacon Bits
If you want this recipe to be vegetarian, but still want a meaty flavor, I recommend Augason Farms vegetarian bacon bits. Especially when used in a casserole such as this, even the meat eaters among you won’t notice that you use a meat-free option. 🙂
Prepare the Cheese Sauce
Pour the Ragu cheese sauce, powdered milk, onions, and 1/4 cup of water into a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
Note: to get as much cheese sauce out of the jar as possible, I poured the water into the jar, put the lid on and shook it up. I then poured the “cheesy water” into the cheese sauce mixture and stirred it up.
Augason Farms Cheese Powder
I’ve found that the Ragu Cheese Sauce isn’t always available. Also, it’s a bit on the pricey side, compared to making your cheese sauce from powder. You can substitute Augason Farms cheese powder for the Ragu cheese sauce. Just make up a couple of cups of cheese sauce using the instructions on the can and use it in place of the Ragu.
Assemble the Cheesy Scalloped potatoes
Spread a thin layer of cheese sauce on the bottom of a pie pan or square casserole dish.
Drain the potatoes, but don’t worry about getting all the water off. If there is a small amount of water left on the potatoes, that will all be absorbed during the baking process. The main thing is to not have it be so watery that you end up with a watery sauce on the potatoes.
Put the potatoes onto the layer of cheese sauce, top with spam and cover with cheese sauce.
Bake
Once our dish is all layered up, it’s time for the oven. Cover it with foil and pop it into a preheated 350-degree oven for about half an hour.
Usually, I take the foil off after the first half-hour when making scalloped potatoes and let them brown a bit. But since I haven’t used this kind of cheese sauce before, I’m not sure if it’ll brown the same way. Well, there’s only one way to find out, right?
While it was starting to brown, I wanted a bit more browing, so I put it back into the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
Making it Stretch
I personally feel there was plenty of Spam and cheese sauce to feed more people. If you want to stretch this to 6 servings, I recommend starting with 6 cups of dehydrated potatoes. Increase the amount of water you add to the cheese sauce to 3/4 cup. Bake in a 9″ x 13″ pan.
Making it a One-Dish Meal
If you wanted to make this a one-dish meal, I recommend adding a vegetable, such as broccoli to it. Since we’re working with all shelf-stable ingredients, you can use home-dehydrated broccoli, or freeze-dried broccoli.
Augason Farms Broccoli
Augason Farms is my freeze-dried and dehydrated food supplier of choice. I’ve found that their prices are generally less than the same product from other freeze-dried food companies, and I’m generally happy with the quality of their products as well.
Cheese Sauce Recipe
If you have cheese on hand, you can make your cheese sauce from scratch, rather than using the Ragu sauce and powdered milk.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups grated cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Cook the flour/butter mixture for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. The flour should turn a light golden-brown color. Whisk in the milk, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is the desired thickness. Mix in the grated cheese until the cheese is melted. If it doesn’t taste cheesy enough, you may need to add a bit more salt, as the salt helps to bring out the flavor of the cheese.
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