Backpacking Food

My favorite trail breakfast consists of three packs of instant wheat cereal and dried fruit and nuts. You just need to boil water to make it. I like to make mine the consistency of soup because the extra liquid helps me rehydrate in the morning and because it makes it …

There’s a simple rule of thumb for figuring out how many days of food you can fit into a bear canister. Find out the capacity of your bear canister in cubic inches and divide by 100. That will give you a pretty good approximate of the number of days of …

Many of us shy away from eating dried pasta on backpacking trips because it takes so long to cook and uses too much stove fuel. But did you know that you don’t have boil dried pasta using the amount of water recommended on the package or for the entire boil time? Simply …

Freeze-dried or dehydrated? That is the question. When making your own backpacking meals, is it nobler to buy freeze-dried ingredients or dehydrate them yourself in a food dehydrator? I think it really comes down to how you want to spend your time and how complicated your meals are. I spent one …

The Backpacking Chef’s backpacking and camping cookbook called Recipes for Adventure is chock full of healthy, hearty, and homemade backpacking recipes. I know this first-hand because I’ve made many of them, like this Ratatoille. But while the meals and snack recipes in Recipes for Adventure are excellent, the real value of …

Simple one pot backpacking meals are a great option if you want more variety in your backpacking diet, you want to eat real food with less preservatives, or you want to adapt your meals to seasonal or locally available ingredients that you encounter on your hike. But if your existing stove …

Have you even opened your backpacking food bag and lost your appetite at the prospect of eating the same boring meal again? Do yourself a favor and increase the variety of food you bring on backpacking trips. Develop a menu that keeps you interested in eating, so you can refuel with …

The best ultralight backpacking foods are high in calories, compact, and fast to prepare. In order to keep your food load as lightweight as possible, you want to carry foods that have 100 calories per ounce or more. One ounce is 28.3 grams, a fact that will help you compare food …

As a rule of thumb, you can figure on using 2 lbs of food per person per day on a 3 season backpacking trip. Depending on your body weight and exertion level, you may need more or less food, but that’s a pretty reliable estimation to begin with. When I …

It’s a sad fact that many of the grocery stores you used to find in small towns along the Appalachian Trail and other hiking trails have been replaced by gas station convenience stores. The quality of food available has suffered and it can be difficult to walk away with anything resembling …

If you were to look into the foodbags of most hikers, you’d be horrified or amazed, or maybe both. I know a few hikers who only eat pre-processed, pre-packaged meals for months at a time on thru-hikes, others who carefully pre-bag freezer bag meals, and still others who subsist almost entirely …

Have you ever looked at the nutrition labels on Mountain House and Harmony House backpacking meals and Knorr Rice and Pasta sides. You’ll be appalled by the amount of sodium included in these meals, especially since the other trail foods (nuts, bars, salty snacks) most people eat during the day, also …

Backpackers are always looking for ways to save pack weight. Some continuously upgrade to the latest lightweight gear, while others remain solely focused on eliminating all but the necessities. Regardless of the motivation, the objective is the same – to lessen the load so that hiking is easier and more …

Milk is the new Gatorade for backpackers. At least dehydrated milk is. What other energy drink weighs so little but packs such a big punch in terms of calories and overall nutrition? With a caloric density of 150 calories per once (dry), drinking a quart of whole milk will add 640 calories …