50+ Best Backpacking Recipes

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.

Yellow Mung Dal

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.

Indian Dal Recipe

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

• Upside Down Shepherd's Pie
• Beef & Potatoes
• Trail Turkey Dinner
• Barbeque Chicken Stew

Chicken & Rice Recipes

• Jamaican Jerk Chicken
• Curry Chicken & Rice
• Tassie's Penang Chicken
• Chicken with Caramelized Onions & Tomatoes (photo below)

More Best Backpacking Recipes with Rice:

• Southwest Beef & Rice
• Rice & Sausage Dinner
• Pineapple-Ginger Rice
• Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Chicken & Pasta Recipes

• Chicken Carbonara (shown above)
• Italian Chicken Noodles with Deconstructed Pesto
• Chicken Piccata with Lemon-butter Sauce
• Chicken Cacciatore over Noodles
• Chicken & Dumplings

Couscous Backpacking Recipes

• Chicken & Cheese Couscous with Mushrooms & Veggies
• Couscous with TVP & Tomatoes

Thai Backpacking Recipes:

• Thai Curry with Rice Noodles
• Thai Spicy Peanut Noodles with Chicken
• Tom Ka Gai Rice & Chicken.

Green Lentil Chili

This vegetarian chili backpacking recipe was featured in Chef Glenn's free monthly newsletter. Subscribe to Trail Bytes.

Lentil Surprise Stew

No meat lentil stew. Can be cooked on the stove, but it’s faster in an Instapot pressure cooker.

Pasta Sauce Recipes

• Marinara Pasta Sauce
• Two-Mile High Bolognese Pasta Sauce
• Pasta with Red Sauce & Ground Beef
• Cheesy Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
• Fettuccine Alfredo with Clams

Joe's Extra-Meaty Chili

This chili recipe was featured in the Trail Bytes newsletter with tips on dehydrating stew meat.

More Chili Backpacking Recipes

• White Bean Chili
• Mr. Dog's Chili Corn
• Gluten Free Chili with Quinoa
• Cram's 4-Way Chili

More Dehydrated Beef Recipes

• Taco Mac & Cheese
• Beef Tortillas
• Meatloaf & Rice
• Beef Stir-Fry
• Vegetable Beef Stew
• Chili

Beef Stroganoff Recipes:

• Brittany's Beef Stroganoff
• Moof's Beef Stroganoff
• Lucky's Beef Stroganoff
• Easy Beef Stroganoff

Mushroom Stroganoff (shown above)

A hearty vegetarian version of beef stroganoff.

Knock 'n Kraut

A hearty trail meal of Knockwurst sausage and cabbage.

Salmon Recipes

• Salmon Cakes
• Spicy Salmon & Noodles
• Smoked Salmon Chowder

Dehydrated Soup Recipes

• Instant Black Bean Soup
• Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Quick Backpack Chili
• Thai Pumpkin-Carrot Soup
• Chicken Soup and more...

Shelley's Camping Recipes

• Spam Chimichangas
• Clam Chowder
• Applesauce-Oatmeal Pancakes
• Flat Bread

Campfire Recipes

Foil Wrapped Veggie Dinner, and Stick Bread recipe. There's a form on this page to share campfire recipes and tips.

Backpacking Food Ideas for Lunch

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

• Curried Salmon Salad Sandwich
• Turkey BBQ Sandwich
• Beef & Bean Burritos
• Sloppy Joes.

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.

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Gazpacho - a zesty tomato soup served hot or cold

Couscous Salad with Cucumber Salsa Dressing

Dried Thermos Lunch Recipes for trail or work

Best Backpacking Recipes for Breakfast

Hudson Bay Bread

4-Ounce breakfast bars with 400 calories. One batch makes 30 servings. Shared by PasnThru.

Breakfast Camping Recipes

A collection of recipes that use fresh (heavy) ingredients and/or require a frying pan.

• Hash Browns
• Salmon Scramble
• Breakfast Burritos
• Cinnamon Breakfast Bannock
• Chocolate Chip Plopcake
• Apple Crumble
• Banana Crunch Breakfast

Best Energy Bar Recipes

Best Energy Bar Recipes

• Toasted Oat & Almond Energy Bars
• High-Carb Peanut Butter Energy Bars
• Low-Carb Nuts & Seeds Energy Bars
• Apple Jerky
• Banana-Granola Trail Cookies
• Fig Nut Energy Bars

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Sample Shared Recipe:

Apricot Raisin Cobbler

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:

• ½ cup diced dried apricots
• ¼ cup white raisins
• 1 caramel candy (keep wrapped for sealing)
• 3 tsp. dark brown sugar
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch salt
• ¼ cup Graham cracker crumbs
• ¼-cup of pecan pieces
• ½ cup water

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.

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