A low carb backpacking food list for 3 days in the backcountry
Below we give you our 3 Day Low Carb Backpacking Food List. It has all the food you need to stay well fueled on the trail with a spring in your step. It’s nutritious and provides all the calories of traditional backpacking food but it’s almost 1/2 the weight.
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Why Low Carb is a Great Choice for Backpacking Food
Low carb backpacking food is the way to go on the trail (and likely for your general health). Every year more and more data is coming out that replacing carbs with natural fats makes a healthier diet. Especially on trail and when engaged in endurance activities. Cutting carbs reduces sugar crashes and gives your mind and body the nutrients they need to sustain peak performance levels — and it has wealth of other health benefits. Finally, it is significantly lighter than traditional backpacking food for the same calories.
1/2 the Weight of Traditional Backpacking Food | Same Calories
1.2 lb of Low Carb Hiking food = 3,000 calories — Amazing, right?! That’s almost 1/2 the weight of the 2 lb per day most hikers carry. It’s nutritious and provides the same calories.
* What is Low Carb? While there is no definitive definition of a “low-carb diet,” many definitions of a low carb diet are under 150g net carbs/day for the 3,000 cal/day that we suggest for hiking (~20% of calories). But it is up to each hiker to make their own dietary strategy — some may choose to go moderate carb or even full carb.
What if I Want More Carbs?
No worries if you want some more carbs. Using this food list a a base, and adding carbs in moderation will likely keep your food weight to around 1.5 pounds per day. Still substantially lighter than the 2 lb of food per day that the usual hiker brings.
Other Resources: See our Best Hiking Food Guide
Nutrition Summary Low Carb Backpacking Food | 3 Days
3.0 Pounds Food | Trip Total for 3 days
Amounts per Day of Nutrition*
| Cal | Fat | Prot. | Carb | Fiber | NetCarb | Sugar |
| 3000 | 226 | 110 | 123 | 42 | 81 | 24 |
* Nutrition scaled for 2.5 days of food (no breakfast first day & no dinner last day). That is, a full day of food — Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch, & Dinner equals 1.2 lb of food and 3,000 calories.
Detailed List of Low Carb Backpacking Food | 3 Days
Day by Day | Everything You Need to Take
Day 1 Food
Snacks, Lunch, & Dinner
| oz | Day 1 Breakfast |
| None. Eat before hitting the trail | |
| Day 1 Lunch | |
| 2.0 | ORGANIC PANTRY Flaxseed Crackers |
| 2.0 | Almond Butter |
| Day 1 Snacks | |
| 2.6 | Mixed Nuts |
| 2.0 | People’s Choice Beef Jerky |
| Day 1 Dinner | |
| 3.2 | Broccoli Beef Stroganoff (RightOnTrek) |
| 0.5 | Dried Mango |
| 2.0 | 90% Dark Chocolate (Lindt) |
| 0.9 | Pounds | Totals Day 1 |
Nutrition Totals Day 1
| Cal | Fat | Prot. | Carb | Fiber | Netcarb | Sugar |
| 2207 | 167 | 106 | 98 | 29 | 68 | 22 |
Day 2 Food
Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch, & Dinner
| oz | Day 2 Breakfast |
| 4.2 | Low Carb “Granola” (homemade) |
| NuTrail™ – Keto Nut Granola (store buy alternate) | |
| Coffee, Starbuck’s VIA | |
| 0.5 | Heavy cream powder |
| Day 2 Lunch | |
| 2.0 | ORGANIC PANTRY Flaxseed Crackers |
| 2.0 | Hard Cheese (cheddar or other) |
| Day 2 Snacks | |
| 3.0 | Mixed Nuts |
| 1.8 | Sausage (Duke’s Original) |
| Day 2 Dinner | |
| 4.9 | Cheesy Bean & Meat Chili (homemade) |
| 2.0 | 90% Dark Chocolate (Lindt) |
| 1.2 | Pounds | Total Day 2 |
Nutrition Totals Day 2
| cal | Fat | Prot. | Carb | Fiber | Netcarb |
Sugar
|
| 3101 | 225 | 92 | 137 | 54 | 84 | 22 |
Day 3 Food
Breakfast, Snacks & Lunch
| Day 3 Breakfast | |
| 2.4 | Cheesy Mushroom Egg Scramble (RightOnTrek) |
| 1.0 | Butter (to add to breakfast) |
| Coffee, Starbuck’s VIA | |
| 0.5 | Heavy cream powder |
| Day 3 Lunch | |
| 2.0 | ORGANIC PANTRY Flaxseed Crackers |
| 2.0 | Almond Butter |
| Day 3 Snacks | |
| 2.6 | Mixed Nuts |
| 1.8 | Sausage (Duke’s Original) |
| 1.4 | Kind Bar |
| Day 3 Dinner | |
| None. Eat after exiting the trail | |
| 0.9 | Pounds | Total Day 3 |
Nutrition Totals Day 3
| cal | Fat | Prot. | Carb | Fiber | Netcarb |
Sugar
|
| 2218 | 191 | 79 | 78 | 22 | 56 | 16 |
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Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!
LOVE this planning list, thank you!
One note: 90% dark chocolate has a good amount of caffeine. I’ll be bringing lots of dark chocolate on my thruhike, but not eating it after 2pm to keep my sleep much more regular. Per the manufacturer:
(Ghiradelli) 86% Cacao Midnight Reverie: 20 mg/13 g square or 152.45 mg/100 g (which means about 75g per 2oz – as much as a cup of coffee!)
Yup, all good stuff. The Ghiradelli 92% Cacao is my staple. And better yet it is low on heavy metals vs. many chocolates on the market. A definite win. Happy trails, -alan
I thought I needed carbs on the trail? Slow burning fuel for the muscles .
Good Q Michael. But in very short, carbohydrate is not a an essential nutrient. We need fat and protein, but we do not need carbohydrates. Your body is fully capable of metabolizing fat and protein to produce all the energy you need. I have done brutal week long trips with essentially zero carbs and have done just fine. In activities like backpacking we are almost 100% aerobic and therefore should be easily sustainable burning fat.
But here is the big BUT. You need to be low carb adapted to do this (or more specifically closer to your natural hunter-gatherer metabolic state). The average US person is eating 300g or more of carbohydrates so is in a high-carbohydrate metabolic state. And when a carb dependant person like this is deprived of carbs they are unable to quickly switch over to metabolizing enough fat on the trail. Thus they feel like crap and have no energy. On the other hand, if you have been following a low carb diet at home for a while, then you should be low-carb adapted and able to efficiently metabolize fat. In this case, limiting your trail carbs should not cause you any energy issues as you body should already be more efficiently burning fat for fuel vs carbs. So in the end it’s all about diet adaptation before you hit the trail especially for activities like backpacking which are almost 100% aerobic and therefore should easily sustainable burning fat. All that being said, a bit of carbs to help you through a tough, non-aerobic period of activity is not necessarily a bad thing. Best, -alan