Easy Backpacking Recipes: 12 Trail Meals You Can Make

These easy backpacking recipes use supermarket ingredients that are already dry, so there's no dehydrator and no special gear. Each one is pre-mixed in a bag at home, then finished on the trail with hot or cold water. Every recipe lists the dry weight, approximate calories and protein, and the water you'll need, so you can plug the numbers straight into the trail meal planner.

Nutrition values are approximate, based on typical labels and USDA FoodData Central reference data. Brands vary, so check yours.

How these recipes work

Each recipe follows the same pattern:

1. At home: combine the dry ingredients in a labelled zip bag. Write the water amount on the bag.
2. Pack separately: oil sachets, cheese, salami and any fresh items.
3. On the trail: add water (boiling for hot recipes, cold for cold-soak ones), wait, stir in the extras, and eat.

Breakfasts

1. Peanut butter and banana oats

Water: about 200–250 ml, hot or cold overnight. Approx.: 780 kcal, 26 g protein.

2. Apple-cinnamon protein porridge

Water: about 250 ml hot. Approx.: 580 kcal, 33 g protein. Stir the powder in after the water to avoid clumps.

3. Breakfast "cereal" with milk

80 g granola, 30 g milk powder and 20 g freeze-dried berries. Water: about 200 ml cold. Approx.: 610 kcal, 17 g protein.

Lunches

4. Hummus and sun-dried tomato wraps

Hummus powder (40 g) mixed with water and a 15 ml olive oil sachet, spread on two large tortillas with 20 g chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Water: about 60–80 ml cold. Approx.: 700 kcal, 20 g protein.

5. Tuna salad crackers

A 75 g tuna pouch, a mayonnaise sachet, a relish sachet and 50 g crackers. No water. Approx.: 440 kcal, 23 g protein.

6. Peanut butter and honey tortillas

Two tortillas, a 32 g peanut butter sachet and a 20 g honey sachet. Approx.: 610 kcal, 17 g protein.

Dinners

7. Lemon-herb couscous with salmon

Water: about 150 ml boiling. Cover for five minutes. Approx.: 570 kcal, 29 g protein.

8. Cheesy potato and salami mash

Water: about 250 ml boiling. Approx.: 710 kcal, 28 g protein.

9. Thai-style peanut noodles

One 85 g block of instant noodles (half the seasoning), a 32 g peanut butter sachet, a soy sauce sachet, chilli flakes and 15 g crushed peanuts. Water: cook or soak the noodles, then drain most of the water before stirring in the peanut butter. Approx.: 660 kcal, 19 g protein.

10. Bean and cheese burritos

Water: about 150 ml boiling, until thick. Approx.: 690 kcal, 33 g protein.

11. Curried rice with red lentils

Water: about 300 ml boiling. Red lentils need longer than instant rice, so pre-cooked dried lentils or a few minutes' simmer helps. Approx.: 700 kcal, 20 g protein.

12. Pesto pasta with parmesan

Quick-cook pasta (90 g), 1 tbsp dried pesto mix or a shelf-stable pesto sachet, 20 g grated parmesan-style cheese and a 15 ml olive oil sachet. Water: enough to cover; simmer, then drain. Approx.: 600 kcal, 20 g protein.

Recipe summary table

Scaling for two or more

Multiply every dry ingredient by the number of people and pack the mix in one larger bag, or keep individual bags so each person can eat at their own pace. The meal prep recipe scaler multiplies any recipe and totals the protein for you.

Making recipes denser

If your food bag is heavy, check each recipe with the calorie density checker. The quickest upgrades:

• Add another oil sachet (about +120 kcal for about 14 g).
• Swap skim milk powder for whole.
• Add nuts on top of dinners.
• Use coconut milk powder in curries.

Seasoning kit

A tiny seasoning kit makes every one of these recipes better. Many hikers carry a few small bags or a pill organiser with:

Together they weigh very little and stop the fourth dinner tasting like the first.

Cost per meal

Most of these recipes use cheap staples like oats, couscous, instant potato, noodles and rice, with a smaller amount of more expensive protein such as tuna, salmon, cheese or salami. They usually cost well under a commercial dehydrated meal, though prices vary by country and shop. To compare the protein components fairly, run them through the protein cost calculator.

Shelf life and storage

Dry mixes generally keep as long as the shortest best-before date among their ingredients. Store them sealed in a cool, dry cupboard. Keep cheese, salami and oil sachets separate, and treat them as the perishable parts of the meal. Eat soft or fresh additions early in the trip.

Testing at home

Before your trip, cook each recipe once at home with your camping stove or a kettle, and measure:

1. how much water it really needs;
2. how long it takes to rehydrate;
3. whether you'd happily eat it after a long day.

Adjust seasoning, since trail food usually needs more salt and spice than you expect. Write the final water amount on each bag.

Labelling bags

Write three things on every bag with a permanent marker: the recipe name, the water amount, and any extras to add ("+ oil + cheese"). After a long day, in fading light, you'll be glad you don't have to remember them.

Leave No Trace

Pack out all packaging, used sachets and leftover food. Strain dishwater and scatter it well away from water sources.

Do it yourself

1. Pick one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner per day from the table.
2. Enter the calories into the trail meal planner and check the daily total against your target.
3. Fill any gap with snacks from the trail mix builder.
4. Check the trip's total weight with the food weight calculator.

For complete trip plans built from recipes like these, see the 3-day backpacking meal plan and hiking meals.

Sources: nutrition values are approximate, from typical product labels and USDA FoodData Central reference data.