Stay fueled. Here are some versatile items that we like to always have in our food bag to add extra calories, flavors, and variety to backcountry meals. The possibilities are endless, but by carrying these ingredients you can take any off-the-shelf backpacking meal to the next level or add calories and taste to your own creations.
Dehydrated or Freeze-Dried Vegetables
A great way to add flavor and variety to your meals, as well as have a few servings of veggies during the day or with d
A staple technique used in pre-packaged backpacking meals, freeze-drying is a process by which food (typically already cooked or a product that could be eaten raw) is frozen and the pressure in a chamber lowered. As a result moisture in the product is almost completely removed and foods that are freeze-dried can last years or even decades without refrigeration.
A commercially available freeze-dried meal prior to rehydration.
Freeze-Dried Meals Pros & Cons
Compared to at-
In the world of sports nutrition, the word “electrolyte” refers to minerals dissolved in the body’s fluids that are lost in perspiration. Those little packets of sweetened electrolyte powder or brand name drinks allegedly offer all you need to replenish lost electrolytes during endurance exercise. But real food is often the best nourishment and includes both what you know you need and what you don’t know you need.
For electrolyte replenishment on the trail, it is so easy to create a trail m
While most breakfasts on the trail in my case are whatever gets me hiking the fastest – typically an energy bar or two and coffee – from time to time a more elaborate breakfast is called for. And of course, there’s always breakfast for dinner, which for me is the most likely time I’ll make such a breakfast meal. For this purpose I already have a couple go-to freeze dried backpacking breakfast meals including the Breakfast Skillet from Mountain House and their Spicy Southwest Style Skillet. Varie
Pad Thai with Chicken from Backpacker’s Pantry takes their most popular dinner – the vegetarian Pad Thai – and adds chicken with a “meal kit” including a lime packet and Sriracha powder, so you can customize the meal to your personal tastes. Right off the bat, it stands out that the meal packs a punch in the calorie department (for a pre-made backpacking meal at least), at 840 calories total.
As I’m personally a fan of a meatatarian meal for dinner when I’m on the trail (after all, br
Another option from the Outdoorsman Line of meals from Backpacker’s Pantry, their Beef Stroganoff with Egg Noodles promises their chef’s “real deal”, just add water take on stroganoff – a recipe that is not without competition in the freeze dried meal category. As with the other options in the new Outdoorsman Line, their beef stroganoff meal is designed to be a one serving meal with a lot of protein, and in a compact, packable form factor.
This option packs 530 calories into a package
On the trail my dinner requirements are simple: after a day of hiking and after setting up camp and filtering water for the night, I just want a meal that tastes good, doesn’t take long in the typical fading evening light, and meets some basic calorie and nutrition requirements. And all without too much clean up afterwards. With all these prerequisites in mind, freeze-dried meals can often be found in my food bag – and most of the time these meals will be a selection of staples I’ve come to find
This meal from Backpacker’s Pantry offers up their take on chicken lasagna in a 1 serving meal and is from their new Outdoorsman Line – a series of meals that are all a single serving and have a compact form factor. The Outdoorsman Line meals have a slightly higher level of calories and are also higher in protein compared to generally accepted backpacking meal standards.
This Chicken Lasagna Meal offers up 530 calories and 34 grams of protein, and is based around some hard to beat ing
The pumpkin might be the hardest part about this recipe. Prepare it freshly at home and make this meal your first night out. If you have time beforehand, use a dehydrator to save the most weight. If you really want to go old school, take the canned version and a P-38 can opener. You can try this with butternut squash too...which can be purchased freeze-dried. Serves 2.
This pumpkin curry recipe is a great option for when you have a little more time to prepare before a trip and cook on
Fall is in the air. The nights are getting crisp and the moist leaves on the ground have a pleasant and earthy odor. It is a wonderful time loved by many backpackers. Here’s a quick and simple yet yummy dessert that conjures up visions of autumn. Apples, cranberries, and cinnamon spice….all flavors of the fall. This backcountry apple crisp is a tasty treat for two or a decadent dessert for one.
This backpacking dessert is a perfect complement for chilly fall weather.
Apple Crisp
Let’s be honest; not every backpacking trip provides the time for us to prepare a nightly gourmet meal, and not all of us are ready to embrace, or perhaps we have yet to have a discussion with, our inner hidden chef. While I like to create backpacking meals from scratch at times and when I can, if you’re like me, after a long day on the trail I simply often find myself wanting a sufficient amount of calories that taste great, and I want that meal as quickly and as easily as possible with minimal
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