During our first couple of trips that we started venturing into the back country, we had too many dinners that consisted of packaged noodles and sauce served with flavorless chicken from a pouch. Or even worse- bright orange mac and cheese with crunchy undercooked noodles. This is not the kind of food we eat in our day to day lives and we definitely didn’t enjoy these types of meals. Since we love to eat well at home, it’s no different when we are on a backpacking trip- I just had to learn how to plan and prepare meals for the trail that we all could enjoy. Backcountry cooking is fun and there are countless delicious meals you can enjoy on the trail! And while preparing meals for backpacking does require some advance planning, I’ve learned it is relatively easy to put together a meal that my family looks forward to gobbling up after a long day of hiking.

Here are some of our favorite tried and true trail recipes. Hope you enjoy!

Getting Started:

Dehydrating Food For Backpacking

Homemade Clarified Butter

Breakfasts:

20 Delicious Recipes for Backpacking Breakfasts

Trail Oatmeal- 9 Add In Combinations to Make Your Breakfast More Delicious and Nutritious

Dinners:

Backpacking Meals From the Grocery Store

Dehydrating Ground Beef

Chili Con Carne with Pan Fried Corn Cakes

Spicy Curried Lentil Soup

Pasta with Dehydrated Pesto Sauce and Parmesan

Snacks:

Sweet and Spicy Dehydrated Cinnamon Apples

Homemade Strawberry Kiwi Fruit Leather

Trail Snacks – How “Snack Bags” Changed How We Hike With Our Kids

The following are a few of my favorite backcountry cookbooks.  While I don’t tend to follow any recipe exactly, each of these books have given me ideas and inspiration for delicious trail meals-

Recipes for Adventure: Healthy, Hearty and Homemade Backpacking Recipes– by Glenn McAllister

Fork in the Trail: Mouthwatering Meals and Tempting Treats for the Backcountry– by Laurie Ann March

Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling– by Alan Kesselheim

Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook– by Mary Bell

Lipsmackin’ Vegetarian Backpackin’– by Christine and Tim Conners

Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’: Lightweight Trail-tested Recipes for Backcountry Trips– by Christine and Tim Conners

Happy Travels!

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