Backpacking Recipes with Rice Shared by Readers

There are lots of options for making backpacking meals with rice.

Backpacking Rice Recipe: Curry Chicken & Rice.

Photo: Chef Glenn's Curry Chicken & Rice.

Use store-bought seasoned rice sold in pouches or boxes. Knorr brand makes several flavors called Rice Sides. A lot of those have a cheese sauce focus. Zatarain's makes packaged rice products with Cajun seasonings.
Use instant rice and add your own seasonings.
Pre-cook regular rice at home in low-fat vegetable, beef, or chicken broth, and then dehydrate it. The dried rice will hold the flavor of the broth. Explore: Dehydrating Rice.

Here are several backpacking rice recipes shared by Backpacking Chef readers:

Featured Backpacking Rice Recipes:

Camp Cashew Curry over Poha

Southwest Beef & Rice

Rice & Sausage Dinner

Pineapple-Ginger Rice

Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Camp Cashew Curry over Poha

Shared by Emma from New Zealand

Poha is cooked and flattened rice which rehydrates instantly in boiled water. An optional ingredient in Emma’s Camp Cashew Curry recipe is paneer, a fresh, non-melting cheese that can be added for more protein.

Camp Cashew Curry over Poha, topped with paneer.

Photo: Cooked poha topped with cashew curry and paneer.

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

⅓ cup raisins (optional, adds sweetness)
¼ cup carrots, dehydrated
2 tsp. yellow curry powder
¼ tsp. garam masala
¼ tsp. cumin
2 cubes vegetable bouillon
½ cup cashews, broken
4 Tbsp. coconut milk powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ cup onions, fried, dehydrated
1 cup hot water, to rehydrate
1¼ cup poha "rolled rice"
½ tsp. salt
1½ cup hot water, to rehydrate poha

At Home:

Pack poha and salt in Ziploc bag.

Pack all other ingredients together in a second Ziploc bag.

On the Trail:

Add one cup hot water to curry mix. Stir and let thicken for two minutes.

While curry mix thickens, pour 1½ cups hot water over poha. Count to 10 seconds. Drain. Fluff poha with fork.

Plate poha and top with curry mix.

Variations:

1 packet paneer (optional, extra weight). Paneer should be in vacuum-sealed pack, or dehydrated and kept separately. Paneer, halloumi and other similar products dehydrate and rehydrate well. If using, rehydrate paneer by covering in hot water 30 minutes before eating. If desired, paneer can be lightly fried.

1 packet roasted chickpeas make a lovely garnish to add crunch.

Try other vegetables instead of carrot, e.g. zucchini, kumara (sweet potato), pumpkin, okra, or spinach.

Notes:

Poha is cooked and flattened rice, similar to instant oats. Poha rehydrates in seconds and makes an excellent carbohydrate for tramping. It is also great for a hut rice pudding and even a savory congee with dehydrated mushrooms and chicken. Look for poha in Indian section of your grocery store or visit an Indian market.

Southwest Beef & Rice

Shared by Moof Beaverton, Oregon

A flavorful one-bag, one-pot backpacking meal of rice, veggies, and meat.

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

⅓ cup dried ground beef
½ cup instant brown rice
⅔ cup dried Southwest veggie mix
1 Tbsp. dried tomato flakes
2 Tbsp. cheese sauce powder
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
⅓ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. chicken soup base or beef bullion
⅛ tsp. chipotle powder*
⅛ tsp. oregano
6 cracks black pepper

* Go easy on the chipotle powder. If you use too much, this meal goes from tasting smokey/spicy to being inedible.

At Home:

Put it all in a bag, easy peasy.

On the Trail:

Add 1¾ cups water and soak for five minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, about five minutes. Continue simmering for two more minutes. Insulate pot and let stand for 8-10 minutes.

Rice & Sausage Dinner

Shared by GreyWolf from Irving, Texas

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 Pkg. rice (such as Knorr Brand Rice Sides, any flavor)
1 8-oz summer sausage
dried mushrooms
green onion
cilantro
garlic
pepper

At Home:

I put the mushrooms in a ziploc bag and I carry all the ingredients separately.

On the Trail:

Boil the water for the rice per the package instructions adding the green onion, cilantro, and mushrooms. Slice and fry the sausage separately. It is already precooked, but it tastes great heated up. Combine all together and season as you like.

Pineapple-Ginger Rice

Shared by Margo D.

Prepare this backpacking recipe as a side or add dehydrated ham to make a main dish.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 cup Minute Rice (white or brown)
¼ cup dried pineapple pieces
¼ cup dried ham pieces
1 small ham bouillon cube
1 Tbsp. dried green onions
1 Tbsp. Butter Buds
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried ginger pieces

At Home:

Place rice in zip-lock bag. Put pineapple, Butter Buds, green onions, ginger pieces and salt in a small bag and ham and bouillon cube in another small bag. Enclose small bags in rice bag.

On the Trail:

Add ham pieces and ham bouillon cube to 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.

Stir in rice and everything else.

Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 15 minutes.

Additional Comments:

I made this at home first to figure out how much water, how much time, etc. It was great! The ham is optional if you want to prepare as a meatless side item. -Margo

Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Shared by Poet from Walker Louisiana

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

½ cup dried red beans
¼ cup dried ham
½ cup dried rice, precooked
1-2 pinches of Cajun seasonings. Cajun Sparkle packets from Popeye's Chicken work great or Tony Chacheres Cajun Seasoning.
1½ cup water to rehydrate

At Home:

Dehydrate red beans. I like Trappeys or Blue Runner New Orleans Cream Style red beans. Spread beans on dehydrator tray covered with non-stick sheet or parchment paper. Dry at 125 F for approximately six hours.

Put ½ cup red beans, ½ cup rice, and ¼ cup dehydrated ham in a Ziploc bag.

On the Trail:

Combine all dry ingredients with 1½ cups water and let sit to rehydrate for 10-15 minutes.

Check to see if all water is absorbed. If so add a small about to make sure mixture is wet enough but not too soupy. Stew consistency is good. Heat to a boil and then remove from heat. Place in a cozy and let sit for 10 minutes. Season to taste and enjoy.

Comments and Suggestions:

To make your own Cajun seasonings, mix salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Alternatively, it could be just salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce.

If you like it spicy, try peperoni slices instead of ham.

I got envious looks at shelters every time I pulled my Cajun Red Beans and Rice meal out. The smell is wonderful and beats the stuffing out of noodles every night.