Outer Woods

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Backpacking Meals

Tanner Rowley

It can be tough to plan meals and food for a backpacking trip. Outer Woods has been out in the woods and has some things to offer for help. If you want the quick and dirty of this post, skip to the recipes, if you want a little more guidance, read along!

It can be daunting for someone new into backpacking to plan meals and feel confident in their food for a trip, even enough to prevent the trip from happening. Even for experienced backpackers, it can be a pain to take the time to plan means and ensure proper nutrition. The goal here is to quell nerves about food on the trail, give some ideas for meals, and educate on the reasoning behind things.

If you fit into one of the following descriptions, this blog might be helpful for you

  1. You’ve never backpacked and are just curious about what the hell and how the hell you eat in the wilderness

  2. You are planning a backpacking trip and are feeling excited or anxious about planning meals for your trip

  3. You are a seasoned backpacker, but you want some new ideas for grub out there

Let’s start with this: I consider backpacking an excursion where you’ve got everything with you, on your back, you are carrying everything you need, you’ve left your car, and you’ve walked at least a mile plus from the trail head. It’s different from a typical camping trip, maybe you’ve heard the term car camping, glamping, overlanding. There’s an art to cooking for that type of camping, but we are going to talk about backpacking food here. 

These are the main reasons that backpacking food/cooking is different from car camping: 

  1. In backpacking, you carry everything with you, all your stuff gets heavy quickly, you have to be very selective about what you carry.

  2. You can’t bring an ice chest or a cooler, you can't refrigerate food

  3. You are limited in your cookware, your devices, your appliances

  4. You really don’t want to bring things that have a lot of water weight already. Mainly here, I’m talking about cans. Cans are great because they don’t need refrigeration, but damn chili is heavy because there is already water in the can. 

So, now that we’ve painted the picture of why backpacking food prep takes a little more thought and planning, here are my go-to meals for a short trip: 


Dinners: 

Pesto Pasta

What you’ll need:

  • Noodles (¼ lb per person, your preference for type)

  • Olive Oil (maybe a couple tablespoons, take a small container for the whole trip)

  • Pine Nuts (tablespoon-ish per person)

  • Vacuum Sealed Chicken (Starkist Chicken Salad Pouch, 2.6oz per person)

  • Powdered Pesto Package (knorr Creamy Pesto Pasta Sauce Mix, 1.2oz per person

  • Parmesan Cheese (a pinch per person)

The process:

  • Get the noodles going in some water! Light up a stove, fill a pot with water, get the water boiling, then toss the noodles in. I’ll leave the time up in the air, and the amount of water up in the air, cause it’s backpacking, eh? Keep checking ‘em, drain the water when they are ready!

  • At the same time, make the pesto sauce from the powder in another pot if you have one and a separate burner. The sauce pouch should have instructions for water and oil amount! If you don’t have another pot/burner, put the noodles in your bowls/plates and do this step in your one pot/burner.

  • Once the noodles and sauce are ready, combine them into one pot, put this back on the burner on low-ish

  • Throw in the chicken, and let the whole dish heat up. 

  • Dish out the slop into everyone's bowl, garnish with pine nuts and parmesan

  • Find a nice rock with a view replenish those calories


Deconstructed Shepherd’s Pie

What you’ll need:

  • Package of dried mashed potatoes (one package can be enough for 2-4 people)

  • Olive Oil (a couple tablespoons, take a small container for the whole trip)

  • Vacuum sealed meat pouch (bbq, chicken, pulled pork, one small package per person)

  • Dried vegetable mix 

  • BBQ sauce packages

The Process:

  • According to the dried vegetables package, hydrate/prepare the vegetables on their own 

  • If you have a second burner/pot, prepare the mashed potatoes like the package tells you to, if you don’t have 2 sets of cookware, just do it after the vegetables are cooked

  • Throw the vegetables, potatoes, and meat in your biggest pot, crank up the heat and warm everything up one last time

  • Dish out the slop, dress with some BBQ sauce

  • Find a nice stump next to an interesting fungus and replenish those calories 


Rice and Beans (and Meat)

What you’ll need:

  • Rice and Beans package (Knorr Power Rice Blend, one package per person)

  • Olive Oil (a couple tablespoons, take a small container for the whole trip)

  • Vacuum sealed meat pouch (bbq, chicken, pulled pork, one small package per person)

The Process:

  • According to the package, prepare the rice and beans with water and oil

  • Toss in the meat of your choosing once the rice and beans are done so that everything heats up nice

  • Serve up the slop

  • Find a nice stream, watch a fish, and replenish those calories



Lunches

(skip the cooking, you’ve got trail to crush, sights to see, fish to catch)


Trail Buffet

What you’ll need:

  • Package of pepperoni (needs to be okay unrefrigerated)

  • Ritz Crackers (or your favorite crackers)

  • Hard cheese/prepackaged cheese (they sweat a lot after opening, so individual packaging for each cheese hunk is best)

  • Salami sticks

  • Beef Jerky

  • Trail mix (make your own, or buy already prepared)

  • Dried fruit

  • Mustard/Mayonnaise packets

The Process:

  • We love making little cracker sandwiches with the pepperonis, crackers, and condiments packs

  • Nothing like munchin’ on beef jerky or salami as you are walking down the trail

  • Same goes for the trail mix or dried fruit

  • Really you are just looking to pound some quick and delicious snacks that add up to a meal in terms of calories and nutrition

  • Take the time to relax and fuel up, but don’t let a long lunch prevent you from getting to that perfect campsite that evening!


Breakfasts: 


Fast Breakfasts

What you’ll need:

  • Bars (nature valley, kind, special K, Belvitas, you pick your favorite!)

  • Dried fruit

  • Trail mix

Process:

  • Wolf that s*%# down.

  • Hit the trail.


Slow Breakfasts

What you’ll need:

  • Oatmeal

  • Dried Hash Browns (Hungry Jack is always a winner)

  • Pepperoni packages or salami (has to be okay unrefrigerated)

  • Pancake powder (just add water pancakes)

  • Dried Fruit

Process:

  • Most of these things have packages, just read the packages for cooking instructions

  • Make sure to put some meat in the hashbrowns if that’s your thing, it’s delicious

  • Pace around the campsite, stretch, and get some calories in there. ‘Bout to be a good day.