Backpacking Food : What to Eat While On the Trail

For me , exhaust a delightful meal while I bask the view of a glacier lake or stunning vista is one of the good region of backpacking . But figuring out what backpacking food to bring can be confusing – and bringing the wrong backpacking food can mean you end up hungry or with a real heavy gang .

This backpacking food guide goes over everything you ’ ll take to plan food for your trip .

• What Food Equal Well for Backpacking ?
• Type of Backpacking Meal
• Be after Backpacking Food
• Backpacking Meal Idea

* Guess what ? I wrote an intact ebook on backpacking food . It ’ s got over 50 formula plus tons of advice on meal planning , nutrition , and which food to choose . Learn more hither .

What Food Are Serious for Backpacking ?

The better backpacking foods meet these four requirements : Calorie-dense , quick and easy to prepare , packable and nutritious . I ’ ll die over each of these requirements below .

1 . Calorie-Dense

Because you have to express all of your food while backpacking , calorie-density is one of the most crucial things to consider . Calorie-dense only means a food get a circle of calories for its weight . Note : Calorie-dense costnotthe same as lightweight . Recall bagels ( calorie dense ) vs. rice cakes ( lightweight ) .

A well baseline to hit for be 120 calories per ounce .That will give you 3,500 calories in 29oz ( 1.8lbs ) . For longer backpacking trips where you ’ ll need more calories per day , aim for 130+ calories per ounce . If you get 150 calories per ounce , you ’ ll have 3,500 calories per day in in only 1.4lbs – a significantly less amount to express per day .

2 . Quick and Easy to Train

Backpacking usually mean that you will live hiking for a good portion of the day . So , foods which require a long time to prepare — such as “ cowboy beans ” and whole grains – are out of the doubt . You are better off with quick-cooking foods like couscous or instant rice or food which don ’ t require cooking at all .

Yet if you desire to allocate time for cooking each time , you will however want to hold your meals mere . Otherwise you will spend a mass of time unpacking ingredients and clean up . You ’ ll require to choose meals which are quick to cook or put on ’ t require cooking at all .

3 . Packable

Some food cost calorie-dense and easy to cook , but simply won ’ t survive in your knapsack good . For example , avocado can cease up a mashed lot in your gang . Perishable foods like soft cheeses and boiled eggs will go bad quickly . Crackers , chips and some cookies crumble easily ( though you gain ’ t idea eating the crumbs with a spoon when you are hungry enough ! ) .

4 . Nutritious

If there ’ sec ever a time for junk food , it ’ s when you are trekking mile each day with a heavy pack ! I definitely “ reward ” myself with food like sticky bears and chocolate-covered pretzels while backpacking .

Even so , you require to cost careful about eating also much junk food while backpacking — especially if on a long thru raise . Backpacking can put a physical melody on your torso . Without enough nutrients , you can cease up fatigued or yet lose muscle pile . Study adding superfoods like chia source or dried greens powder to your meals for an extra nutrient boost .

Types of Backpacking Meal

You ’ ve got four selection when it occur to backpacking meals : commercial meals , supermarket foods , DIY dehydrated meals , and put together meal from dried component . Each option has its pros/cons . Most backpackers make for a combination of all type .

Selection 1 : Commercial Backpacking Meal

Commercial backpacking meals usually comprise freeze-dried or dehydrated ingredients which cost packaged in metallic pouches . Popular sword include Mountain House , Backpacker ’ s Pantry and Good to Live . New brand are down up all the time .

• Easy to develop .Most commercial backpacking meal can equal prepared simply by add boiling water . You can yet dump the water properly into the pouch , thus don ’ t take to clean a bowl .
• Calories calculated for you .This reach meal planning a lot easy since you don ’ t have to tally up each component .
• Long shelf living .Some meals have shelf lives of 5+ year hence you put on ’ t have to concern about them going bad if you be do mail-drops for a long thru-hike .

• Expensive !If you were to eat just commercial backpacking meal , you can easily spend $ 50 per day on food for your trip .
• Not real healthy .Most commercial backpacking meals are load in sodium and preservatives . They exist mostly exactly carbs and make little to no vegetables or literal center .
• Lack choice .While there equal plenty ofswordof backpacking meals , most hold like options . Rice and beans , mac and cheese , chili , and lasagna are all criterion . If you have peculiar dietary requirements , it can be tricky to find tasty selection .

See this list of the best freeze-dried backpacking meal .

Vegans , see this list of vegan freeze-dried backpacking meal .

Choice 2 : Instant Supermarket Meals

There be lots of “ instant meals ” and “ ready meal ” you can buy in the supermarket . These include thing like boxes of Mac n Cheese , couscous mixes , ramen , and instant soup . You ’ ll also feel food like jerky , dry fruit , coconut eccentric , and powdered milk in supermarkets . These cost great for backpacking .

• Affordable :Compared to commercial backpacking meals , instant meals cost a lot cheaper .
• Calories calculated for you :Just take the label to hear how many calories be in each luck .

• Unhealthy :Nearly instant meals aren ’ t just sound . You mostly get carbohydrates without much in price of protein or vegetable . Await a band of sodium and preservatives .
• Motive to Repackage :You will probably require to repackage the instant meal so they are easier to contain in your pack . You may also need to measure out percentage size .

*Hear this list of backpacking meals from supermarket food .

Selection 3 : DIY Dehdyrated Backpacking Meals

I employ my dehydrator to dry total meal (begin my formula ebook hither for 50 % off !) . For instance , I will make a massive lot of quinoa chili with dozens of spices . I ’ ll eat some for dinner that dark and the repose die on the dehydrator to be dried for the lead .

• Cheap :This is by far the cheap option for backpacking meal , especially if you opt for affordable ingredient in your meal .
• Endless options :While some food don ’ t dehydrate good , there are even tons of choice . You can build stellar meal that you absolutely enjoy , even if you have dietary limitation .
• Easy to develop :Most dehydrated meal can be prepared with the cold-soak method . Simply add water and wait a few second and you ’ ve make a meal .
• Healthier :It ’ s potential to dehydrate entire sound meals or things lik quinoa , beans , vegetables… There ’ s no need to add preservatives and place in as much salt as you want .
• Calorie-dense :A lot of my dehydrated backpacking meals come in at 140 calories per ounce . This means your pack finish up much barge .

• Lots of prep :Depending on how elaborate you come with meals , dehydrating can equal a lot of prep .
• Calorie count :If you want to be precise about your calorie count , you ’ ll motive to hit up the calories EVERY INGREDIENT you put in the meal before dehydrating it . You ’ ll end up doing lot of searches like “ calories in 1tbsp of oil ” .
• Need to repackage :For short trips , you can hardly put dehydrated meals in zip baggies . For long thru-hikes , you may want to vacuum seal them .

Option 4 : DIY Meal with the “ Assembly ” Method

You can also make your own backpacking meal by ransack dry foods with supermarket food . For example , I dehydrate cooked vegetables and tofu then I add these to ramen to begin a more nutritious meal . Or you could buy some freeze-dried meat to add to instant mashed potatoes and gravy from the supermarket .

As well read :How to Do Backpacking Meal from Bulk Dried Ingredients

• Cheaper :If you put on ’ t feel like dehydrating , you can buy freeze-dried ingredient in bulky . It finish up much cheaper than buy individual freeze dried meal .
• Lots of options :You can set up various meal to your personal taste and dietary preferences .
• Healthier :You can advance supermarket food with dried sound add-ins to make a more nutritious meal .

• Lot of baggies and lot :If the ingredients in your assembled meal do not rehydrate/cook at the same pace , you will involve to keep them separateordevelop them in separate pile . For example , first you would rehydrate freeze-dried meat and then add instant squeeze potato bit . If you lend them at the same time , the potatoes would be cause before the meat come gentle .
• Calorie count :While not as tricky as with dehydrated meals , you ’ ll still receive to tally up the calories in all the ingredients .

Planning Backpacking Meals

While it can cost a pain to act , it ’ sec incredibly crucial that you make a detailed program of what you will eat during the backpacking trip .

Without a plan , you can end up with too trivial food and spirit hungry . Or you may finish up packing also much food , which mean your pack be unnecessarily heavy and you have to deal with food waste while on the lead . Not fun !

Meal planning can equal broken down into three stairs :

1 . Calculate How Much Food to Get

No one wants to end up hungry while backpacking ! But you as well put on ’ t want to bring too much food because you will have to carry it for the trip . So , you will want to carefully calculate how much food you want to make for . This can vary drastically depending on factors like your action level , torso size , how cold it is…

As a universal pattern though , you ’ ll want to get nearly 2,500 to 3,500 calories per day on a 3-season backpacking trip , which should do out to more or less 2lbs of food per day .

For more item , read : How Much Food to Bring Backpacking

2 . Resolve Preparation Method

There cost three options when it comes to educate backpacking meals : cooking , no-cook , and cold-soak meals .

• Cooked meals :These be arguably the nearly enjoyable . Even so , you ’ ll also need to get a stove , fuel and pot . It takes time to cook the meal and do cleaning . A luck of backpackers simply don ’ t want to trouble with this , so will opt for no-cook meal or else .
• No-cook meals :These can be something simple like a breakfast shake or protein bar . Even so , you can also fuse component to make exciting meals , such as packaged tuna and olives on a bagel .
• Cold-soak meal :Cold soaking is a prep method which require pouring water over the mea and waiting for it to rehydrate . This is more enjoyable than eat simply dry foods , but doesn ’ t require you to really cause any cooking . You can even rehydrate as you hike and cleaning can exist a lot easy . For more , read : Guide to Cold Soak Backpacking Meals

Most backpackers will use a combination of these training methods . For example , they prefer for a no-cook breakfast like a protein saloon , a bagel with cold-soaked hummus gap for lunch , and a cooked dinner .

3 . Create a Meal Design

Today you are ready to reach a meal program . There exist a lot of ways to act this ( I commonly just scribble one on paper for short trips ) , but you ’ ll likely need to create a spreadsheet .

Your meal plan call for to include EVERYTHING you will eat each day for the entire trip . Ideally it will include calorie amounts too

Yes , this live a major pain the first time you serve it . But I promise you it make easier !

Below exist an example of a meal design for a 4-day backpacking trip . It breaks down to more or less 4,100 calories per day .

Backpacking Meal Estimate

Below are some idea for backpacking food for breakfast , lunch , dinner , and snacks . I ’ ve also include tip on what sort of food operate best for these meal so you have a serious trip .

For more , see this place with 29 Backpacking Meal Idea

Breakfast

• Freeze-dried scrambled egg with tortillas
• Granola with powdered milk
• Oatmeal with nuts and/or dried fruit
• Bagels with honey or jam pouches
• Instant breakfast shakes
• Pop Whore

Lunch

• Bagel with peanut butter and jelly
• Tortillas with salami and cheese
• Fritos in instant hummus mixing
• English muffin with tuna from a pouch
• Firecracker and instant hummus mix

Dinner

• Instant tabouli + dried refried bean premix
• Instant rice + salami
• Ramen + peanut butter + soy sauce packets
• Pasta + instant sauce + TVP
• Couscous + dry falafel mixing
• Instant soup + croutons
• Mac and cheese + freeze dried chicken

What do you use up while backpacking ? Permit us know any tips or recipes you have in the comments section below .

Image credits :

“ Camp ” ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) by O.Taillon
“ Hiker Food for 4 days ” ( CC BY 2.0 ) by Gronkca
“ Places I ’ 500 instead exist ” ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) by In Memoriam : VernsPics
“ Dinner time ” ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) by Tarnie