Here are 50+ of the best backpacking recipes shared by experienced backpackers and camping chefs. These trail meals come from vegans, vegetarians, and omnivors. Take a look at their top-picks.
Alex's Taco
Mac'n'Cheese
Bonnie's Italian
Chicken Noodles with Deconstructed Pesto
Tanya's Upside Down Shepherd's Pie.
Brittany's Beef & Potatoes and Trail Turkey Dinner.
Tanya's Curry Chicken & Rice.
Have a great recipe for backpackers? Share it here.
Barbara shares several ways to serve Yellow Mung Dal on the trail. Mung beans are fast-cooking, high in fiber, and loaded with protein.
Photo: Barbara's Yellow Mung Dal.
A hearty Red Lentil Indian flavored meal. Zondra dries her Indian Dal into bark and serves it with vegetables and rice. Shared by Zondra Skertich.
Meat & Potatoes Backpacking Recipes
More Best Backpacking Recipes with Rice:
This vegetarian chili backpacking recipe was featured in Chef Glenn's free monthly newsletter. Subscribe to Trail Bytes.
No meat lentil stew. Can be cooked on the stove, but it’s faster in an Instapot pressure cooker.
This chili recipe was featured in the Trail Bytes newsletter with tips on dehydrating stew meat.
More Chili Backpacking Recipes
Mushroom Stroganoff (shown above)
A hearty vegetarian version of beef stroganoff.
A hearty trail meal of Knockwurst sausage and cabbage.
Foil Wrapped Veggie Dinner, and Stick Bread recipe. There's a form on this page to share campfire recipes and tips.
You don't always need to pull out the pot and stove for a trail lunch, especially on shorter trips where perishable foods like tortillas and cheese will keep for a few days and overall backpacking food weight is not as big of a consideration.
Backpacking Food Ideas for Lunch
P.S. These recipes are great for dinner, too!
Another backpacking meal strategy for lunches is to prepare the meals in the morning in a thermos food jar. Just add hot or cold water depending on the recipe. At lunchtime, just open and eat!
Explore more lunch ideas in the Trail Bytes newsletter.
Gazpacho - a zesty tomato soup served hot or cold
Couscous Salad with Cucumber Salsa Dressing
Dried Thermos Lunch Recipes for trail or work
4-Ounce breakfast bars with 400 calories. One batch makes 30 servings. Shared by PasnThru.
A collection of recipes that use fresh (heavy) ingredients and/or require a frying pan.
Sample Shared Recipe:
Shared by Front Row of Clyde, TX
Apricot Raisin Cobbler is a chewy, tart and vitamin-packed dessert that is easy to rehydrate and heat in one pot.
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
At Home:
Pack the graham cracker crumbs in a small bag. Put that bag into a larger bag along with the fruits, wrapped candy, and spices.
On the Trail:
In a pot over a low flame, add water and fruit packet.
Open candy and drop that into the water, too.
Cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in graham-cracker crumbs and allow the pot to steep in a cozy for 5 minutes.
Top with pecan pieces.
Thanks again to everyone for sharing your best backpacking recipes.
-Chef Glenn
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