cooking backpacking food in front of the tent

Backcountry Food & Cooking

This section is dedicated to backpacking food. We cover what to pack, how much to pack, how to adapt it to different diets, and how to cook it. Backpacking food and hydration are an essential part of life on the trail, and mastering the art will massively improve your experience. By eating the proper amount of healthy and nutritious food, you will hike faster and recover more fully each night.

testing backpacking stoves in the desert

Best Backpacking Stove System 2023 Ultralight

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These are the best backpacking stove systems for ultralight style food prep. They are the lightest weight, smallest, and most fuel efficient.
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How much food should I take? The detailed answer

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There is no exact answer to this question. In my "The Best Backpacking Food - simple and nutritious", I threw out the best guess of 1.5 lb of food per day. But how but much food you need depends on who you are and what you do. 1.5 Pounds per…
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low carb backpacking food list

Best Backpacking Food | Healthy & Nutritious

We've completely overhauled our Backpacking Food to the latest research and thinking on the best hiking food & nutrition. So whatever your diet, low carb, keto, omnivore, vegetarian, & vegan we give you the latest knowledge available to create a healthy and nutritious trail diet that will put a spring in your step.
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low carb backpacking food

Low Carb Backpacking Food List | 3 Day

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Our Low Carb Backpacking Food List is nutritious & has all calories of traditional backpacking food but it’s healthier & 1/2 the weight!
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keto backpacking food lead image

Keto Backpacking Food List | 3 Day

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Our Keto Backpacking Food List is nutritious & has all calories of traditional backpacking food but it’s KETO & 1/2 the weight!
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Trail Designs Kojin Ultralight Alcohol Stove

Trail Designs Kojin Ultralight Alcohol Stove Review

Based on extensive field and lab testing, I believe that the Trail Designs Kojin Ultralight Alcohol Stove  is the best alcohol stove system for ultralight backpacking (when paired with a Caldera or TriTi Cone). The new Kojin stove is incredibly…
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Drink When Thirsty

The Best Hydration | Drink When Thirsty

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Drink When Thirsty debunks the many myths about hydration and dehydration like "If you are thirsty, it's already too late" and "If your urine is yellow, you are dehydrated." This article suggests that Drink When Thirsty is the best and healthiest strategy for hydration during exercise.
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Nutritious Backpacking Meal Recipes

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These tasty and nutritious backpacking meal recipes are healthier, have more calories and cost less than commercial, freeze dried backpacking meals. Keep it simple — there are enough nutritious backpacking meal recipes here to provide sufficient daily variety to keep meals fun and interesting. But there aren't so many recipes that I spend too much time buying ingredients and assembling a large meal inventory.
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The Big Three

Quick ways to reduce backpack weight

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Want to shed backpack weight with the minimum of effort? The following are quick ways to reduce backpack weight. A few may surprise you...
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Backpacking Food

Backpacking Food List – Simple and Nutritious for 7 days

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NEW June 2016 - Meal Recipes are Posted. See Nutritious Backpacking Meal Recipes here This list is packed with nutritious backpacking food for a "week long" trip of 7 days 6 nights of dinners and breakfasts 7 days of lunches and daytime…
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Cooking and Lightweight Backpacking Stoves

[fusion_text]Most ultralight backpackers take stoves. Just small light ones. When I hike with others, I take a stove and do civilized stuff like make coffee & tea and hot dinners. Sometimes, especially when I solo, I go ultra simple with…
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Backcountry Tea – loose leaf, connoisseur style

Most hikers are used to caffeine in the morning. Interrupting that habit makes for grumpy hikers who are not the best trail company. Caffeine pills help, but do not provide the same emotional (some would say spiritual) comfort of wrapping your…
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Conclusion: Backcountry Food & Cooking

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this section on backpacking food and found some inspiration for what to bring next time you hit the trail. For more how to content, don’t miss our backpacking skills section!