Quick & Easy Thru-Hike Recipes

[Skye15]

Hello, I am planning on mainly using the wide variety of Knorr packets along with packaged chicken/tuna/maybe some precooked sausage or steak strips if I'm feeling adventurous. Even though there are a bunch of different styles of those pasta's and rice sides - i'm curious what can be used to spruce them up. Ideas for lightweight and easy (and cheap) alternatives that can keep for 4-5 days would be good too.

When it comes to breakfast, after talking to some veteran thru-hikers I learned that pop-tart's become a ritual. I personally can't stand pop-tarts, hopefully one of you out there has a better option??

Please include what you take for lunch too! The whole spectrum. Thanks!

[Tipi Walter]

The humble oat. After 35 years of backpacking with this food, I never get tired of it. And it can be soaked and eaten w/o cooking if needed.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I don't really eat that many "meals" when I'm hiking, I eat continuously throughout the day.

Here's a partial list of what's often in my food bag:
Oats!!!
Muesli
Nuts
Dried fruit
Peanut Butter (a food group in itself)
Tortilla rolls
Hard Cheese
Pepperoni
Fresh fruits and vegetables (in reality you resupply every few days, you can buy enough for the first day or two out of town)
Beef jerkey
Sardines
Whole wheat crackers
Pringles
Chocolate anything


I haven't brought a poptart since 2009, they turn into little heartburn bombs in my stomach.

[fastfoxengineering]

I despise pop tarts. I bring mini-bagels, iced hunny buns, oatmeal, tea/coffee, and sometimes fresh pastries from the bakery for breakfast. Breakfast carnations with just water aren't too bad either. Peanut butter and jellys are good in the am too. Those are mostly heavy foods though. But after a while I don't care about how much my food weighs. I'm gonna wanna eat what I wanna eat.

I like to bring a bulb of fresh garlic, and some jalapeno/habanero peppers to spice up cooked meals. I love a little fresh veggies. Sometimes I buy an onion. A very small, light onion. I'll start using them right away and they're really not that heavy for what they do to a meal.

Grocery stores now also carry like 1oz ziplock packets of spices. Great for the trail to enhance meals.

Don't think you have to eat ramen and pasta sides everynight. I did that for a month straight, then started changing it up. Foods that are light are a plus, but man do pasta sides get old..real old.

Think of weighs to change things up. Throwing your rice side and chicken packet on a tortilla wrap is whole new ball game than eating it out of a ziplock bag.

[RED-DOG]

I often will put summer sausage, pepperoni slices and Ham chunks, in my pasta sides and don't forget about the Fiesta sides the Spanish rice and summer sausage is my favorite.
and I often will cook Spagetti and pepperoni slices, and let's don't forget about the ready to eat bacon that along with Hot cereal is awesome for breakfast.
and also Mac and cheese with summer sausage or ham chunks is great.
Don't LIMIT yourself to just pasta sides when it comes to trail recipes the only limitations is your imagination, let your imagination run wild and you will eat like a king.

[Dogwood]

If you're going to eat Pop Tarts make sure you understand the directions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U

[Connie]

Pasta takes a lot of hot water. I was making cocoa with the leftover water.

Then, I switched to couscous. It is fast. There is no left over water. It seems everything is good with it: sweet, savory, spicy, meat, vegetables, fruit. I add couscous to take up "extra water" in other entrees.

It is lightweight in the backpack.

It gives me something different than the usual rice sides.

It is more filling, for me, than potato sides. I still have potato sides, now and then, but less often than I did. There didn't seem to be enough "staying power" in potato sides, as the other options.

One of my favorites is turkey stuffing mix or chicken stuffing mix with Southeastern Mills country gravy mix. If I have a small tin of turkey or chicken, all the better. Then, mashed potatoes are very welcome. Now, if I could only dehydrate whole cranberry sauce I could have Thanksgiving Dinner often on the trail.

I like Mountain House "Pro Pak" Meat Lasagna.

I like Summer Sausage and Thuringer sausage. I choose the least spicy sausages, because I experience more thirst with any sausage. Lately, I have been looking at sausage as an addition to Packit Gourmet Gumbo dinner.

I like okra. Packit Gourmet has entrees with okra. I like their chicken and dumplings: dumplings are easy if your cookware has a fitted lid.

I figure with a few favorite entrees and what I can throw together I have the basis for good nutrition.

I add olive oil or the "salad dressing" packets to almost every entree to increase the healthy calories.

I drink water often. I like the 500 ml flat platy water containers.

I snack almost never. If hungry, it is "time to eat".

If I snack, I like dried cherries and chocolate chips. The only other dried fruit I like is honey apricots, honey pears, or nuts with "tropical fruit". But that one makes me extra thirsty. I also prefer slightly dehydrated apples and raisens mincemeat, or, khadrawi dates or dates and walnuts.

I like hominy grits. I am finding out more about good hominy grits and hominy grits recipes.


edit: Tortilini pasta seems to require less water.

[vega802]

If you get tired of knorr pasta sides, try the Bear Creek pasta packet thingies. I usually could get 2 meals out of one pouch, if I added summer sausage or pepperoni.

I also liked ramen + peanut butter + hot sauce + nuts or trail mix + jerky/summer sausage/pepperoni

[Starchild]

I can't do a traditional hiker breakfast, and while not quick or easy this is perhaps my most satisfying hiking breakfast so far, It's not simple, but not too hard either depending on your pot and stove. For this the MSR Kettle or any one that is designed to fit a large canister inside is the best choice.

Open Breakfast Sandwich: ham egg and cheese on a warmed bagel half. Cover the pot bottom with ham making a 'boat'. Place in the boat with cheese and a sliced hard boil egg, the boat prevents the cheese from contacting the pot. Place the 1/2 bagel on top and put the pot lid on. Heat as slow as your stove will allow. When it seems all nicely heated take the pot off and flip it with the lid still on, a slight tap on the table/ground should have all the pieces nicely fall onto the lid and you can remove the pot to find your open sandwich sitting neatly on your pot lid. If you wish you can place the other half of the bagel on top to make a full sandwich. You can also place that top bagel half in the pot to get prewarmed also, and either remove it before the flip or reposition it after it.

And the quick one, how to make the FD eggs taste OK. I have not found a good FD egg solution, but a small amount of grape jelly (like 1 package), improves the taste a whole lot, that and do not over-water it.

I also will have cold cut lunch meats & cheese for b-fast as well (on some bread), heated or not. This is also my normal lunch (and second lunch). I try to get the sealed single serve packages and only open what I plan to consume at that meal, sometimes I need to reseal that package and eat the rest soon after. Packaged spam also fits in here.

Dinner I try to make my main meal and experiment often. I have made chicken soup (from raw frozen chicken - I placed the chicken hidden in the freezer case in the supermarket then get it the next morning before heading back out), beef stew (again from raw frozen beef) and others, as well as the precooked meats you find in the refrigerator section. The raw ingredients obviously need to be eaten right away but the precooked and sealed packages of chicken and beef can stay at least to the 2nd night and I have pushed it to the 3rd which it also seemed to be fine, however I do get a bit nervous at this point if it has been warm out.

For the trip out, I have come to call it beef jerky day, which is what I bring but save it for this. It is just too expensive to have all the time, but it is also light so I don't mind carrying it, and great to snack as I hike. If I have additional wet food I may chose to have that instead, lowering my pack weight and saving the more expensive stuff for the next leg.

[CarlZ993]

Breakfast is usually granola cereal & Nido powdered milk. Sometimes oatmeal as a change of pace (not too often).

Lunch = All day snacks. Snickers, Fig Newtons, Wheat Thins, trail mix, peanut butter crackers, etc.

Supper = Boil, mix, set pot in pot cozy, & eat 15 min later. Instant Rice, couscous, or pasta based food that cooks quickly. I've found that Knorr Pasta Side + a ramen block (w/o the flavor pack) makes a very filling meal. Just boil 3 C water, stir the dry ingredients in the boiling water, place in the pot cozy, wait 15 min, & enjoy. I'll add some olive oil & some sort of meat for flavor & protein.

[shelb]

My son's favorite - Taco Tuesday:
Instant Mashed potatoes
Taco Seasoning mix (NOT the whole pkt - just to taste)
Beef Jerky bits

Another one he likes - ChiChi:
Beef Ramen Noodles
Cut up slim Jim
Crushed doritos or fritos on top

Breakfasts - Go oatmeal!

[blackbird04217]

On some occasions when I was near my parents I'd buy mac and cheese for the cheese packet, but leave the macaroni for my mom to make other things with. (Didn't quite cook right for me in my little pot). Using 2 packages of ramen (discarding the flavor (or adding a tiny amount)) for the noodles I would then make mac and cheese. Add some spam or tuna and it's like 4 star dining, especially with the peanut butter for desert.

[lonehiker]

Spam packets for the Knorr sides (like 2.5 times the calories of basic tuna). Also, my current favorite Knorr sides are the pasta/rice blends. For breakfast, and available nearly everywhere, cold cereal of choice. I slightly crumble it so as to take up less space. Roughly 4 - 4.5 ounces in a zip-lock bag. Throw it in cargo pocket and eat throughout the morning.

[July]

Quick cook noodles with a bullion cube, fresh onion, ginger, and garlic. Wash it down with a cup of Joe.

[jimyjam]

I usually have oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, lunch is usually GORP and cheese and crackers, dinners very a great deal but a great trick I found for lunch or dinner is: hummus dehydrated and processed to a fine powdery substance. I also do the same with REFRIED beans and black beans. I store them all in separate ziplock bags. I take some from which ever bag I am in the mood for and put in my mug/bowl and add water and mix thoroughly and let set (I keep hiking until ready to eat at lunch time). Put on flout tortilla wrap...Yum! You spice up your beans and hummus before dehydrating so spices are already inside!


Life is full of ups and downs! Hike on!

[Siestita]

"Breakfast is usually granola cereal & Nido powdered milk."

This is also my usual breakfast, but enlivened with the addition of a fistful of dried fruit (often cranberries, raisins, or apricots). During dinner the previous evening I place the next morning's dried fruit into a bottle with some water. It then rehydrates overnight.

[CarlZ993]

"Breakfast is usually granola cereal & Nido powdered milk."

This is also my usual breakfast, but enlivened with the addition of a fistful of dried fruit (often cranberries, raisins, or apricots). During dinner the previous evening I place the next morning's dried fruit into a bottle with some water. It then rehydrates overnight.

Yep, me too. Usually add cranberries to the mix. The granola flavors gets varied. Not much else.

[gypsy97]

I've heard a lot about Nido milk, but never drink anything with cereal besides fresh whole milk. Can you throw Nido in with cereal to cook, i.e., oats or Malto, and not have to mix it up prior to using it?

[Thinspace]

My favorite trail food used to be my home made granola which was far better than any storebought granola (for my taste anyway). I would eat it for breakfast with powdered milk or cooked like oatmeal (try it you'll like it) or just out of the bag like gorp. It got too expensive to make and maybe I just got lazy so I just buy it now.

[rock steady]

Breakfast I like 2 packets of oatmeal w/cashews or peanuts and crasins or dates. drop all into a freezer bag & add hot water. Lunch tortillas w/peanut butter & honey. The oatmeal is super light-tortillas not so.Since my appetite is lousy the 1st couple of days I may just take the fajita size for the first week or so. Probably by 2 weeks lunch is gonna be SERIOUS lol! Take care-good hiking!

[CarlZ993]

I've heard a lot about Nido milk, but never drink anything with cereal besides fresh whole milk. Can you throw Nido in with cereal to cook, i.e., oats or Malto, and not have to mix it up prior to using it?
I mixed Nido in other foods that I've cooked before (Mac & Cheese) & it worked. Nido is the best tasting powdered milk I've tried over the years. It isn't always easy to find. Walmart stores around Austin carry it. A lot of hikers had trouble finding it consistently along the trail (smaller stores). I predominantly used mail drops. It was always in my food drop.

[Second Hand]

I love this thread.
The more backpacking I do the more tired i get of Romen, Tuna packets, Mac and Cheese and cliff bars. This has been an interesting read

[brancher]

For me, breakfast is oatmeal - I like steel cut but those Quaker instant packets are quick, convenient, and pretty tasty. I also like to toss some dried fruit in 'em. I also drink coffee - black but with a pack of cocoa - contains creamer, sugar, and chocolate for an energy punch. Sometimes when I want to get an early start I will just grab a Snickers and walk a couple of hours, then settle into a clearing and cook the breakfast.

Lunch: I like summer sausage and sharp cheese (it's a little heavy so I usually eat that stuff early in my week), Peanut butter and honey w/tortillas, or trail mix. I also take some Gatorade packets to mix with water if I want some flavor. I also take some turkey jerky and some gorp/seed/etc.

Dinner - two words: Harmony House. I buy the stuff and make my own meals by mixing ingredients and putting 'em in those little 'portion packs' you can get from Walmart or elsewhere - tasty, and mixed with ramen and ramen flavor packets, it is a very filling dinner. Also works with those instant mashed potatoes for kind of a perverted shephard's pie.

Oh, and hot tea in the evening. Earl Grey. Because no matter how muddy, wet, dejected, or broken you are at the end of the day, a slowly-sipped, steaming cup of Earl Grey makes you just a little more -- civilized.

[Rocket Jones]

For breakfasts, I like pre-cooked and dehydrated quinoa. Like oatmeal, you can add dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, honey or anything else you can think of. Add Nido or water, hot or cold, it's all good and you never have to be bored with the same thing every morning.

For the other meals and snacks, the first couple of days I like to bring fresh foods. Hard boiled eggs, olives, an avocado, an orange or two, etc.

[Hoofit]

True enough!
I always carried a few extra bags of oatmeal and found it to be very tasty and would just tear it open, throw a little water right in the packet and voila! Instant gratification ! Got me through some serious hunger on more than one occasion...

[gillian]

Rocket Jones, is the pre-cooked and dehydrated quinoa something that stores carry, or are you sending this to yourself in mail drops?

[Rocket Jones]

I cook my own quinoa and then dehydrate at home. No mail drops, I do shorter section hikes so I don't use 'em.

[vega802]

For coffee, I like to put instant coffee, hot coco mix, powdered milk and a handful of mini marshmallows in snack size baggies, and make one for each day. Then just mix with hot water in a cup on the trail. Yummy! I usually only do this when I'm prepping food at home though.

[RangerZ]

Spam packets for the Knorr sides (like 2.5 times the calories of basic tuna). Also, my current favorite Knorr sides are the pasta/rice blends. For breakfast, and available nearly everywhere, cold cereal of choice. I slightly crumble it so as to take up less space. Roughly 4 - 4.5 ounces in a zip-lock bag. Throw it in cargo pocket and eat throughout the morning.

Breakfast is oatmeal with Nido and my trail mix in it. For cold breakfasts, Cheerios plus Nido, raisins and dried fruit. I mix the Nido up with water in a quart ziplock then add everything else; I just can’t see adding water to cereal. I do summer sausage, tuna on tortillas for lunch early to get rid of the weight then switch to PB&J. I have problems with the Knorr pasta sides clumping together, so I like the rice/pasta ones better; especially the Spanish rice. I can get the 7 ounce chicken packets so I typically use half on tortillas for lunch then the rest with the Spanish rice that night. I’ve been meaning to make up a batch of jambalaya and dehydrate it, mix it with Spam or summer sausage for dinner. TVP with most stuff and I try to remember the EVOO I’m carrying. I’ve done the mashed potatoes with Spam, bacon bits, etc, I’m trying to move away from that – but it is easy.

[woodguy]

I like two packets of oatmeal and a couple of slices of precooked Bacon..

[Poedog]

Some valuable info here...

http://unboundroutes.com/2015/02/02/673/

[Misery]

I feel like lunch gets left out a lot. I love lunch. I find a nice place to sit down and relax and have a nice long lunch break. I'll usually eat some sort of sandwich. Pepperoni, fritos, a little packet of mustard and spinach (well for a day or two out of town) on a flat bread sandwich; or cinnamon pb, an apple nutrigrain bar, peanut m&ms, and gorp, on a tortilla. Sometimes I'l add a little fresh garlic to them too

[Demeter]

Another quinoa lover here. So versatile.

Am I the only person that eats raw oatmeal? Mix in some peanut butter and honey. The oats absorb the oil from the peanut butter to soften them up. Yummmm.

[Bronk]

If you get tired of knorr pasta sides, try the Bear Creek pasta packet thingies. I usually could get 2 meals out of one pouch, if I added summer sausage or pepperoni.

I also liked ramen + peanut butter + hot sauce + nuts or trail mix + jerky/summer sausage/pepperoni+1 on the Bear Creek sides...they are a premium version of the Knorr sides.