Backpacking Food Ideas

The best backpacking food ideas are light to carry, easy to prepare, delicious and filling. After a day on the trail, you don’t want to spend much time and energy on cooking - but you want lots of food, and you want it to taste great!

Since breakfast needs to be hearty enough to fuel your day's adventures, we like to have a hot breakfast when backpacking. We cook dried cereal, like quinoa flakes or oatmeal, in water with dried fruit. We mix up some dry milk to pour on our cereal along with maple syrup.

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Backpacking Food Ideas

Breakfast

A blue bowl of oatmeal with raisins and milk

Lunch

Since we're probably hiking at lunchtime, our midday meal can't need cooking or preparation. "Grab and go" is the lunchtime motto.

Bagels with spreads like cream cheese or nut butter are quick and easy. So are canned sardines. (Be sure to have a ziploc bag handy for the empty cans!) Cheese, hard-boiled eggs and nuts are all quick sources of energy.

Backpacking Food Ideas for Supper

The best backpacking food is light to carry (of course!) but also delicious and easy to prepare. Here are some of our favorite backpacking supper ideas.

Cheesy Mexican Chicken is delicious! Here's the recipe.

Cheesy chicken dinner in a dark blue bowl

Chili is always popular!

Click here for complete instructions on making backpacking chili - from dehydrating to packing to cooking.

Pasta is always a good choice for a hiking trip. Pesto in a tube is easy to pack and carry.

Don't have the time or the desire to dehydrate your own food? No problem! There are lots of prepackaged options.

Harmony House Backpacking Kit

Harmony House Backpacking Kit

This handy kit includes

Split Pea Soup
Black Bean Chili Mix
Mixed Bean Chili Mix
Beefish Soup Mix with Mushrooms
Chickenish Soup Mix
Lentil Soup with Quinoa
Navy Bean Soup Mix
Northern Bean Soup Mix
Italian Vegetable Soup Mix

and more!

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Mountain House Chicken Mac & Cheese

Mountain House Chicken Mac & Cheese

Would you rather have a complete ready-to-rehydrate meal? This chicken mac & cheese gets great reviews. Just add boiling water, wait 10 minutes, and enjoy authentic flavor. One reviewer said it's good enough to eat at home!

CLICK HERE to purchase.

Dessert and Snacks

Trail mix

You can't go hiking without trail mix! Let each person make up their own bag.

You'll find some great trail mix recipes and hints on this page.

Dried fruit and chocolate

Dried fruit and chocolate are staples on our hiking trips. At the end of a long day's hike, a plate of dried fruit and some squares of chocolate looks like dessert fit for royalty!