Backpacking Food Ideas

BACKPACKING FOOD IDEAS

Most foods can be bought at a grocery store.
You may want to repackage some types of food in plastic zip-lock bags.
Read the cooking directions on all packages in advance to see if there are additional ingredients you need to bring, like powdered milk, butter, sugar, tomato paste, etc.
Plan cooking utensils carefully.
Fresh foods are heavy, but that might be okay for short trips, or as an occasional treat on a longer trip.
Freeze-dried foods are very expensive, don't always taste good, and give you small portions. However, you might want to consider some for extended backpack trips.
Plan on 2 pounds of food per person per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).
Remember - you must pack all uneaten food back out - so make sure you like what you cook!

BREAKFAST

Instant cocoa

Juice (Tang)

Fruit - fresh or dried

Cold cereal (choose a nutritious brand that packs small without being crushed, like granola, spoon-size shredded wheat, etc.)

Hot cereal (instant oatmeal)

Powdered milk (for cereal)

LUNCH AND SNACKS

Powdered drink mix (Gatorade, Lemonade, etc.)

Crackers

Chips (corn chips, tortilla chips)

Cheese (cheddar, string cheese)

Salami or beef stick

Peanut butter and jam

Beef jerky

Canned meats (tuna, deviled ham, etc. - heavy - good for short trips only - must pack out can)

Nuts

Trail mix

Candy bars (watch out for melting)

M&M's

Hard candies (like Brachs or Werthers)

Licorice

Granola bars

Fruit - dried - raisins, prunes, banana chips, etc.

DINNER
SOUPS

Cup-of-soups (Nile Spice, Trader Joes, wonton, etc.)

Packaged dried soups (Knorr, etc.)

Top Ramen

MAIN DISHES and SIDE DISHES

Rice, pasta, or cup-of-soups, with optional meat (like pepperoni, beef stick, summer sausage, canned tuna, browned and dehydrated ground beef or turkey) added in. Examples below:

Chili cup-of-soup with browned, dehydrated ground beef and dehydrated tomatoes.

Lentil and couscous cup-of-soup with pepperoni.

Angel hair pasta with Alfredo sauce and extra chunks of cheese. (Thin pasta, like angel hair, cooks faster than thick spaghetti.)

Angel hair pasta with tomato-based spaghetti sauce, and Parmesan cheese (use packaged sauce, like Lawry's or Shilling, with tomato paste, or make your own homemade sauce and dehydrate it).

Dried tortellinis (Trader Joes) with pasta sauce.

Macaroni and cheese with pepperoni slices.

Mashed potatoes (dehydrated instant) with gravy mix and optional browned, dehydrated ground turkey and dried cranberries.

Stove-Top stuffing mix

Hash browns (dehydrated, in a box)

Fantastic Foods dehydrated refried beans

VEGETABLES

Fresh vegetables (bell peppers and carrots keep well)

Freeze-dried vegetables (for long trips)

DESSERTS

Instant pudding (bring a shaker to mix it in)

Cheesecake (packaged - Royal or Jello brand - you may need to bring butter, powdered milk, sugar, aluminum pie tin - check directions)

After-dinner mints

Cooked dried fruit, with cinnamon added