
Use a permanent marker to label your servings with the date, recipe title, and the approximate amount of water to add. Use heavy-duty Ziploc-style bags for short-term use (2 weeks or less), or vacuum-seal your meals for longer-term storage. It’s best to measure and repackage ingredients at home to minimize the amount of wrappers and garbage you’ll have to carry on the trail. Package condiment packets or anything extra to go with each serving in a small bag for a total of about 100-150 gramsĪdd spices or flavorings with measuring spoons Slowly pour dried food into the bowl until you reach the desired weightĪdd the contents of the bowl to a Ziploc and move on to the next food - Aim for a ratio of ⅓ protein, ⅓ starch, and ⅓ sauce/vegetables, etc. If the weight of the bowl is being measured, press ‘TARE’ to zero it out Place a small lightweight bowl on your digital scale and power the scale ON Keep in mind that it may not look like a lot in the bag, but when the ingredients rehydrate, they expand substantially. We recommend experimenting at home to find out how big you want your meals, since carrying out wasted food or going hungry is a major bummer. We’ve found that a 100-gram meal is usually sufficiently filling for an average hiker, and 150 g is satisfying for a large or very hungry hiker. Adding oil and/or butter is another excellent way to supplement your caloric intake and make your meals taste great too.Ī small lightweight bowl and a digital scale make portioning meals easy, especially since many dehydrated foods are tough to accurately measure with cups/spoons. Look for rich, calorically-dense foods (100+ calories per ounce) that offer real hunger-crushing value and keep you fuller for longer. The goal is to create meals that provide the most calories and nutrition with the least amount of weight. Keeping your pack weight to a minimum is really important on multi-day trips, but also try to have a good balance of foods that you enjoy and make you feel good. The healthier you feed yourself on the trail, the better you’ll feel and perform. Backpacking is an endurance sport and your body needs plenty of carbs, proteins, and fats to sustain its energy and help you recover. Backpacking Nutritionįorget everything you’ve learned about limiting your consumption of calories and turn it on its head. If you’re just getting started and want an idea of what other backpackers eat for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, check out our Best Lightweight Backpacking Food guide featuring a video covering the foundations of Ultralight Backpacking Food. If you like this article, you might also like this popular CleverHiker content: Not ready to make your own backpacking meals and just want to know which store-bought meals are the best? Get the skinny on our Best Freeze-Dried Backpacking Meals list. Whether you just need a couple dinners for a weekend outing or you’re preparing months of meals for a thru-hike, we’ll get you primed to start cooking and packing for your next adventure right away. After that, you can start experimenting to turn your own recipes into delicious instant meals you can take anywhere. Follow the steps below to learn the basics of food dehydration, then try some of our favorite recipes for inspiration.
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Store-bought freeze-dried meals are convenient and lightweight, but they can be expensive and full of preservatives. Making your own backpacking meals can be fun and a great way to take control over your nutrition while saving money.

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