Spending day after day of your backpacking trip eating the same trail mix, jerky, candy (and whatever else you managed to jam into your pack) gets very old, very quickly. But with a little bit of planning, you can enjoy backpacking meals that are rich in nutrients and taste great too. In this post, we’ll cover the basics of backpacking meal plans, including how to calculate how much food to bring, the most nutritious and packable types of foods, and ideas you can use to build solid 3-day, 5-day, and 7-day backpacking meal plans.
How Much Food Do You Need?
Calculating exactly how much food to take backpacking is crucial — taking too much on means you’ll be hauling unnecessary weight, but bringing too little will leave you under-fueled, tired, and hungry. When considering how much food to bring, the most important factor is calories and nutritional value, not the volume of food itself. Some foods are calorie-dense like a candy bar, a handful of nuts, or a strip of beef jerky, while other foods just don’t deliver the same value.
There are multiple factors at play when deciding how much food to bring including how much you weigh, how many total miles you’re planning to hike, how many days you’re planning to be out, and the overall difficulty level of the route. A good place to get a baseline is the Calories Burned Hiking Calculator. Start there, then fine-tune based on your real-life experiences on the trail. Over time, you’ll get dialed into exactly how much you’ll need to bring based on where you’re going and what level of physical exertion your backpacking route requires.
Types of Backpacking Food
The best backpacking meals such as those found in our Marketplace are lightweight, nutritious, and taste great. Here are the main categories of food that need to find their way into your backpack meal plan.
Fruits and Vegetables
Mom was right. Fruits and vegetables are super important for staying healthy, on and off the trail. Dehydrated and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables should be a mainstay in your backpacking meal plans.
Protein
Long, multi-day hikes are tough on muscles. In order to keep your muscles in peak form, they’ll need plenty of protein to recover and rebuild. Dried meats like jerky are some of the most popular ways to pack in lightweight protein. Nuts and nut butters get the job done too.
Carbs
Carbs are the body’s jet fuel. They’re perfect for providing quick bursts of energy. Tortillas, pitas, dried pastas, and pre-packaged baked goods like honey buns are an ideal way to hold the weight down while ensuring your diet is well-supplied with carbohydrates.
Treats
Let’s be honest — we all have our guilty pleasures. Oreo’s anyone? But when you’re logging miles the thought of peeling back the wrapper of your favorite junk food is great motivation to get you through that last section of a gnarly trail. Peanut M&M’s, Sourpatch Kids, jalapeño Cheetos… bring it on! These treats are calorie dense and fat heavy, putting them up there with protein and carbs as vitals to replenish after a long day.
Backpacking Meal Plans: 3, 5, 7-day Plans
Here’s an easy backpacking meal plan you can tailor for trips ranging from three to seven days long. Insert snacks liberally where needed, including M&M’s, roasted or raw nuts, jerky, and dried fruits.
Pro tip: If you want to bring some chocolate when hiking in the desert be sure to freeze it. Depending on temperatures and how sunny the hike is you’ll want to eat in the first 24-48hrs to avoid having a chocolate puddle in your pack.
3-Day Meal Plan
Day 1:
Breakfast: 2 flavored instant oatmeal packs, box of raisins, a handful of roasted almonds, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 12-15 crackers, 2 ounces of salami, 2 small packaged cheese rounds or sticks of string cheese, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 box couscous, 1 packet of tuna, olive oil, seasoning mix, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
Day 2:
Breakfast: 1 cinnamon and raisin bagel, 2 packets of peanut butter, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 1 pita, 1 packet of tuna (bringing pre-flavored packs will save carrying extra sauces), 2 packets of mayo, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 bowl of instant ramen, 1 pouch of chicken, olive oil, 1 packet of soy or hot sauce seasoning mix, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
Sustainability tip: Prepacking food into single baggies (when ingredients permit) will help cut down on the number of packs and trash you’ll need to pack with you.
Day 3:
Breakfast: Pancakes, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 12-15 crackers, 2 peanut butter packets, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 packet of cooked rice, dehydrated refried beans, taco seasoning mix, 2 shredded, small packaged cheese rounds, freeze-dried ground beef, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
You’ll note we include electrolyte powder with lunch — however, great hikes and good hydration go hand in hand so you should be sipping throughout the day. Here are some of our favorite electrolyte powders and hydration supplements to include in your pack.
5-Day Meal Plan
Day 4:
Breakfast: Granola with powdered milk, box of raisins, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 2 tortillas, salmon jerky, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 bag of dehydrated mashed potatoes, beef jerky, freeze-dried mixed veggies, seasoning mix, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
Day 5
Breakfast: Freeze-dried eggs, freeze-dried ground beef, 2 flour tortillas, 1 packaged cheese rounds or stick of string cheese tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 2 pitas, 2 peanut butter packets, 2 jelly packets, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 bag of dried pasta Alfredo, 1 pouch of chicken, freeze-dried mixed veggies, seasoning mix, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
7-Day Meal Plan
Day 6
Breakfast: Freeze-dried breakfast skillet, packaged muffin or pastry, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 1 pita, dehydrated hummus, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: 1 bag of dried pasta, sliced salami, powdered cheese, freeze-dried mixed veggies, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
Day 7
Breakfast: Freeze-dried breakfast skillet, packaged muffin or pastry, tea or instant coffee
Lunch: 1 cinnamon and raisin bagel, 2 peanut butter packets, 2 jelly packets, 1 packet of electrolyte powder
Dinner: Expedition Foods spaghetti bolognese, 1 pita, cocoa with dehydrated milk or spiced cider mix
If you want to keep dinner simple after a long day of hiking, check out our line of Expedition Foods. All you need to do is boil water, thaw, and enjoy.
What Other Supplies Will You Need?
Most backpacking meals require some prep. Here are the essentials for preparing quick easy meals in the great outdoors. Assuming you opt out of the no-cook option, you’ll need at the very minimum, a lightweight camp stove, fuel canister, a small, lightweight pot for cooking/warming foods, and a spork. You may also want to add a plate or bowl, cup, fork, and knife. Just remember though, everything you pack gets heavier and heavier as the trip goes on!
A great backpack can lighten your load. Here are our top backpack choices for desert hiking.
Add a Pair of Backpacking Boots to Your Prep List
Now you should have what you need to create a solid backpacking meal plan for your next adventure. Is your footwear trail-ready too? Erem boots keep your feet comfortable, cool and dry on even the most demanding trails. Our desert hiking boots are made to excel in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Our men’s and women’s hiking boots provide superior durability, with full leather uppers and single-piece, natural rubber soles. Each pair is backed by our lifetime guarantee for material and workmanship. Erem Xerocole™ boots are Biocircular, with proven paths back to nature. Each pair is created using sustainable, eco-friendly practices and are made with 100% Biocircular components. Can’t quite bring yourself to say goodbye to your favorite pair of hiking boots, you can return them to us through our Reboot program. We’ll resole and restore them to like-new condition and send them back, ready for many more miles of on or off-trail adventuring.
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