The Best Backpacking Food Ideas for 2024
This is a great round up of backpacking food ideas to use when food planning for your next trip. Taking foods that are lightweight and easy to make is key when backpacking!
When packing for multi-day trips, I have all of my meals planned out and weighed in advance.
Coming up with ideas for new and delicious food to take on your next backpacking trip can sometimes be a challenge, so today I’m sharing all of our favorite backpacking food ideas. Be sure to also check out our Keto Backpacking Food Ideas for even more low carb backpacking foods!
Tons of Backpacking Food Ideas!
Pack weight is super important whenever backpacking, whether you are taking short trips or doing longer hikes that last several days or weeks. The best backpacking foods are dehydrated, lightweight, and easy to prepare.
The right food will save you so much weight and storage space in your backpack! I find meals that can be cooked simply by adding boiling water to them are the easiest to make on the trail. I love, love, love to use this Jetboil camping stove on all of my backpacking trips.
Foods with a high nutritional value are also very important to consider when meal planning. When backpacking, I tend to burn a lot of extra calories and will eat between 2000-3000 calories a day. High-quality backpacking food helps to keep my body fueled and satiated on my trek.
In my experience, you can find a lot of different options at standard grocery stores. Trader Joe’s has a particularly good selection of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. Specialty outdoors stores may provide you with a little bit more variety when it comes to hot dinners.
Backpacking Snack Ideas
- Protein bars
- Trail mix
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruit leather
- Granola or granola bars
- Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate
- Electrolyte drink mix
- Beef jerky, pepperoni, or dried salami
- Dehydrated fruit
- Hard cheese
- Nut butters in individual packets
We typically spend lunch time with a quick stop on the trail. This doesn’t leave time for cooking a hot meal, so we often plan to eat a cold lunch to avoid unpacking all of our supplies. After a long day, we always plan something for dinner that is hearty and warm and can be cooked once we set up camp.
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Backpacking Meals
- Sandwiches made with bagels or tortillas
- Tuna or chicken packets
- Ramen noodles
- Dehydrated meals like these from Next Mile Meals, Backpackers Pantry, or Good To Go
- Instant mashed potatoes or soups
- Macaroni and cheese
- Instant oatmeal
Homemade Dehydrated Meal Ideas
This Backcountry Carbonara looks absolutely delicious and easy to make!
Berbere Chicken Soup would be a yummy addition to our trail meals.
Backpacking Pad Tai is so freaking yummy, you NEED to try it!
This Backpackers Blueberry Crisp is the kids’ favorite backpacking meal.
A water purification system should be thoughtfully considered and packed as well. Unless you can guarantee access to a safe water source, you are going to need it. We like to pack two types of water purification, a Life Straw and aqua purification tabs.
I like to pack my backpacking food into separate large freezer bags for each day for easy organizing and storage in my backpack. These all go into a large dry bag that I use for food. This makes it easy to pull all of my food out of my backpack to store in a bear safe cache each night.
Proper food storage is essential when exploring the back country. I highly recommend investing in a quality food bag and practicing good bear safety when hiking.
I make my own dehydrated egg scramble to take on all of my backpacking trips. It’s easy to create, cost effective to make, lightweight, and simple to prepare.
I pack a small, individual serving size frying pan to cook it in. Be sure to check out the details in this Keto Backpacking Foods post.
Treats are essential, too, and I always include them in my backpacking meal plan! Once I have my meals planned out for each day, I like to add “treat” foods, if I have the room in my pack and the weight to spare. Things like candy, chocolate, and pre-cooked bacon help to keep my spirits high and taste buds excited on a long trip.
What are some of your favorite backpacking food ideas? Please share!
This tinfoil packet nacho recipe is a great way to enjoy pub style nachos while camping. Add this recipe to your next camping trip!
