Hello all, I am just getting started in long-distance backpacking and I would like to get some information on the most nutritious “light-weight” trail food to take with me on my hikes.
I am looking to reduce my pack weight down to about the 25 lb. range in order to make more miles during the day. Currently I am in the 30-35 lb. range. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated
Trekking Trav
Try pemmican, the calories vs oz. is very good (about 185 calories per ounce)and you can leave the stove at home. Just google and you will find lots of recipes for it.
Captain K-man
yeah, Pemmican if you’re rich; that stuff’s pricey–tasty, though. dehydrating your own food is a great way to keep healthy if you’ve got the time to do it.
you can pack up fresh broccoli and eat it within a couple days. i’ll just boil it with a package of Liptons.
usually it seems like the limiter is not the number of healthy food that can be carried in a pack, but just what’s available in town.
0101
Thanks for the info.
I was doing some research last night on MREs and saw that they only have 1200 calories and weigh 13-18 ounces. Has anyone ever used MREs on the trail, and if so are they worth the price over things like Ramen, bagels, mac 'n cheese?
A major concern of mine in addition to nutrition is the price of pre-packaged foods like MREs, freeze-dried, or dehydrated foods. Are there any lightweight foods that someone on a budget could afford?
Trekking Trav
I’d be one to tell you to look elsewhere besides MRE’s. I wouldn’t put them in the “light weight” arena. Taste wise…you can do better then that as well.
Lipton’s are light and cheap (I happen not to like the rice one but enjoy most of the pasta choices.) Also Idahoan potatos are light and pretty good, plus as with the Lipton’s you can add stuff to them to add flavor and nutrition. By themselves neither of these would make it to the top of the nutrition list.
Dehydrated foods, those bought at a store, are pretty expensive but however are light and most have good flavor. I like to take a couple of 1 serving and 2 serving dishes on my hikes. That way if a day has been rough I can eat well.
I guess in the end, even on a budget, you still have to mix it up a bit.
Other ideas…fresh cheese (a small wege) is great for dinner meals. Most you have to eat within the first day or two.
Have fun, try new things, enjoy.
SweetAss
SweetAss
I recommend freeze-dried (not dehydrated, which are heavier and take longer to rehydrate). I ordered from two companies last year and preferred the selection and taste from Emergency Essentials (beprepared.com). They have meats, veggies, fruits, and dairy. I didn’t try the f-d cheese but was intrigued by it.
Mixing some meat and veggies with instant potatoes, ramen, Lipton sides, etc. give nutrition, calories, and variety at relatively low weight. But you can’t beat candy bars and peanut butter mixed with honey for energy.
Mango
Powdered milk is light and versatile plus lots of protein and calcium.
Tortillas and Tortilla chips are lightish and versatile and they wont spoil quickly.
Cheese is packed with calories and versatile. I’ve made sharp cheddar last over a week with 90 degree temperatures, just buy as sharp as you can get and in the brick form.
Garlic. It will last a while, very versatile and a natural remedy for many on-trail ailments. It’s said to repel ticks and mosquitos. It also repels some people.
Food is something that I am not going to skimp myself on so I plan on buying fresh onion, peppers, garlic, cheese, and whatever I see that looks appealing and available.
Some hikers enjoy building a fire at camp, some enjoy journaling, some enjoy just hanging out with other hikers. I enjoy cooking a great meal at the end of the day (most enjoy all of the above), But sometimes you are just too exausted so thats why you take some easy meals for the section. This will be of good use when it’s raining and windy and you don’t feel like choppin onion-garlic-pepper for veggie quesadillas.
I stay away from all of those prepackaged freeze dried or MREs. The freeze dried almost always gives me a weird feeling stomach after hogging down 2 serving sizes.
Ohioan
MRE’s stop you up real bad I have found Mountain house sells bulk cans of food and they are good I just make pre packed ziplock bags.MRE are heavy also and work with what they have in towns mac n cheese and tuna is good also…
Tambourine
Has many, many recipes on it for easy and light trail cooking. While the concept of my site is on freezer bag cooking, you can do the recipes in a any backpacking pan. It is an affordable way to eat while hiking, and simple.
sarbar
I highly recommend cooking and dehydrating your own food. That way you get to eat what you like, made the way you like it (I’m a vegetarian, and I like spicy food) I had about 30 different dinners made for my thru last year, never got tired of my own home cooking.
HeartFire
There is a company that makes really good freezed dried fruits & veggies. I think it’s called something like “Just tomatoes” or “Just corn”, or something real similar to that. I know I’ve seen it mentioned here on this site, so maybe someone else can recall the specific name. It comes in a small tub; & due to it being freeze dried, it is Very light weight. But very good; nothing added to it; so it’s real adaptable to any recipe.
Leah
I know that when I bought it, I got it at a Health Food store. They had a whole display of all the various types of food products they offer, from freeze dried peas to carrots, to apples, to corn & so on. So if you are interested in cking this out, you may want to start by asking at a Health food store to see if they either carry it or can order it for you. Real good food; lightweight.
Leah
It is www.justtomatoes.com They make a ton of products, from veggies to fruit.
Also good is another brand, Crunchies!, and tehy make a roasted corn that is freeze dried.
sarbar
These are all excellent recommendations, and my mouth is watering just thinking of eating all this good stuff on a hike; i want to offer you a somewhat different perspective though.
On any long distance hike (500+ miles, say) packaging and sending all you’re food from home is a tremendous logistical and financial problem. buying mass quantities, packaging, postage, and loss of flexibility are just some of the problems with it. Some people do it, but be ready for the challenge if you do.
If you’re like most of us this point is moot, as you will end up eating whatever is available in town. liptons, cheese, PB, honey, bagels, mac and cheese etc. are all widely available and pack a caloric punch. The way to shop when you’re thru-hiking is to walk into the grocery store (not hungry!) and buy all the junk food you wouldn’t normally eat at home, while keeping an eye out for variety, price, nutrition and calorie output. Avoid heavy packaging (cans, MREs), and re-package your food (getting rid of the excess)- these will do wonders to the weight. Use drops from home to send treats, maps and some healthy food that will add variety.
All this put aside, I would steer clear of reducing my pack weight by cutting food, if I were you. Food, especially on a thru-hike is essential to your health and happiness. any day seems gray when you’re starving. The better way to reduce packweight is by reducing base-weight; the gear you’re carrying around that isn’t ending up in your stomach. a good way to begin doing that are reading “beyond backpacking” by Ray jardine; also, this forum and the internet in general are replete w/information about that subject. do your research and you’ll do just fine.
Happy hikin’ and good eatin’!
Remy
My wife and I are older hikers so it is essential that we be mindful of weight and nutrition in the food we carry. As Heartfire writes, a dehydrator is the way to go. We cook-up a big pot of whatever (Chili, pulled pork, etc.), estimate how many meals we’d made, then process it in our Excalibur dehydrator. Vacuum packed into two-serving (the number previously estimated)portions (usually 3 oz.)it takes only about 15 minutes of soak/cook time and it’ll taste as good as at home. We aim for a max of 2lbs food per day for three meals plus snacks for the two of us. Someone wrote TrailForums to recommend wild rice–What a great idea:) We’ll try some as a breakfast cereal, the inst. grits/bacon bits or inst. oatmeal/dried fruit we’ve alternated with in the past is the only meal we’ve found to be boring on the trail. BTW, lean hamburger, scrambled and dried is easy, convenient and delicious: mix a bit on the trail with inst. mash potatoes et.al., for a fabulous shepherd’s pie. The only down side to home dehydrating is the pre-trip work and mail drop planning. How blessed we are to hike!
T&LR
T&LR, don’t you just love the Excalibur? Mine sits in a place of honor in the kitchen, I love the sound it makes (It lets me know I’m going hiking again soon!!)
But yes, You do get much better nutritious food that way, I pack lots of high protein foods this way - I add TVP (texturized Vegertable Protien) to all the stews, soup and casserols I make
HeartFire
Ramen noodles, baby. Although I kind of got burned out on them by Virginia in 05. You have to be creative. Plus they really don’t fill you up very good once you get your hiker appetite. And they are bulky.
flyingturtle
yep!..that excaliber can’t be beat!..paw-ee and i also prepared everything at home…if you start 4 or 5 months ahead of time doing a little bit all along, you don’t have as much of the “rat race” when your start date draws near…tofu (believe it or not) is an easy, lightweight, nutritious, deyhydratable food…(you freeze it first for a more ‘meaty’ texture, then you thaw, squeeze it out, crumble, season and throw it in the excaliber…it’s quick)…we added ours to some of our non-homemade meals like ramen…we usually just seasoned ours mostly with ‘BAKON’(hickory smoked torula yeast at the health food stores)…but i was thinkin’ you could do lots of other things with it…i want to try spicing it up like ‘tacos’ and then using it (after adding water to it in a baggie in camp in the a.m.) on a tortilla at lunch for a moist and nutritious ‘mexican’ snack…with a little raw onion…YUM!..paw-ee and i often carried raw onion or other veggies (ray jardine is right!)…you can find lots of other ways to lighten up…don’t skimp on food…ahhhhh!..i envy you, trek!..PREPARING to go is almost as fun as GOING!..happy trails!
maw-ee
With most of those dehydrated foods like jerkey, MREs and some Mountain House foods there can be alot of sodium. Thats not very healthy for a body. Good in calories bad in sodium. try adding half of a MRE or Mountain house with some of those rice in a bag things. Reduces the sodium and will make the food last longer.
SuprScout
I usually eat a double serving size package. Rice and Chicken for example has 2960 mg of sodium that’s pretty much a full days worth of sodium in one meal. Maybe that is why they don’t sit to well with alot of hikers.
Ohioan