Read on for our guide to hiking food ideas and how to keep snacks and meals healthy and high energy on the trail.

Food is such a huge part of our lives as humans. We spend so much time thinking about it, planning it, cooking it and eating it. And for good reason – it provides us with so much. Nutrition, energy, joy, tradition, stimulation of the senses, connection to family and even strangers. It’s kind of everything, isn’t it?

Food consumes a large portion of our days while we are at home – and it becomes even more important once we leave our home. Personally, our connection to food is strong, and when we go hiking or backpacking, that connection becomes even more important. We find ourselves obsessing over how to construct a healthy, flavourful, satisfying and lightweight menu to accommodate the energy demands of increased activity.

Planning for and packing the right types of foods for your hike will make a huge difference to your energy level, performance, comfort and happiness. We love hiking, but if we are being honest, it can be a cause of discomfort and pain. When you are hiking, food becomes this amazing luxury and distracts you from the negatives of the trail. That is why food always tastes better when you are outdoors hiking or camping.

So, let us share with you what we have learned about food and hiking. Here we’ll give you our best tips on proper nutrition, tasty recipes and healthy snacks. We are always trying to improve on this, so if you have any great ideas or recipes of your own, please leave them in the comments below! 😊

Are you planning an overnight hike or multi-day backpacking trip? Make sure you have the right gear! Visit our Travel Resources page for a carefully curated list of the best outdoor gear and travel gadgets. And for now, here is our ‘Top 5 Must-Have Items for Multi-Day Backpacking Trips’:

• BAFX Products Trekking Trail Poles – do not attempt an advanced trail without trekking poles. These things will save your joints from high impact which will keep you hiking longer, safer and happier.
• Elmchee Rechargeable Headlamp – Flashlights are so last year.
• Geertop Lightweight Compact Mummy Sleeping Bag – our favourite budget sleeping bag 😃
• Trekology Camping Pillow – At less than 3 oz., this luxury item will significantly improve your rest and recovery.
• Sawyer Products Water Filtration System – the best water filter system for hiking – lightweight and effective!

Guide to Healthy Hiking Food Ideas for Snacks, Lunch, and Dinner on Day Hikes and Overnight Backpacking Trips

List of High Calorie and Energy Dense Foods

When you are hiking, especially on long or strenuous hikes, your focus should be on energy dense foods. These foods offer more energy per gram which means you will have lots of energy available to use for your hike and you will be carrying around less weight in your pack. Traveling lightweight is especially helpful on multi-day hikes since food weight adds up quickly and can take up a huge portion of your pack weight. It’s simple – carrying around less weight = more energy left for you to use.

We’ll focus on the macros – protein, fat and carbs. We like quality forms of energy, therefore we avoid added sugars, artificial oils, fillers and preservatives. So be careful when you are buying food for your hikes. Most pre-packaged foods contain all of the above. Instead, focus on whole foods, natural foods, good quality proteins, complex carbs and healthy fats.

The Best Protein Food Ideas

• Beef Jerky – check out our recipe for homemade jerky below
• Pepperettes – we like finding grass-fed beef sticks
• Tuna Packs – these come in great flavours now
• Packaged Chunk Chicken
• Dehydrated Meats – you can make these at home or buy in bulk food stores and add them to soup or rice dishes for dinner
• Hard Boiled Eggs – these only last a few hours out of the fridge so they can only be brought on day hikes
• Dehydrated Eggs – these are not as bad as they sound! 😉
• Turkey Roll-ups – sliced cheese and veggies rolled up in a slice of turkey
• Mixed nuts
• Roasted Chickpeas
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Protein Shakes
• Protein Bars – look at the ingredients carefully

Great Complex Carbs

• Granola – look for granola with low added sugars or for ones that are sweetened with natural sugars like honey.
• Brown Rice Cakes
• Unsweetened Banana Chips
• Popcorn
• Raisins
• Apples
• Oranges
• Berries
• Red Pepper Sticks
• Cucumber Sticks
• Carrot Sticks
• Instant or Quick Cook Packaged Brown Rice
• Dehydrated Vegetables – look for interesting veggies to add to your dinner recipes like sweet potato and peas
• Whole Grain Tortilla Wraps – perfect for making quick sandwiches and they won’t get smushed like bread will.

Healthy Fats

• Natural Peanut Butter – eat it on it’s own or add to wraps or rice dishes
• Powdered Peanut Butter – if you are concerned about pack weight
• Almond Butter – and other nut butters
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Packaged cheese like string cheese and Babybells
• Hard Cheeses like aged cheddar and Parmesan – we’ve done a lot of research on cheese and how long they can stay unrefrigerated. Cheese companies are not allowed to suggest this, however, many packaged cheeses and hard cheeses can last for days out of the fridge.
• Mixed Nuts – almonds, cashews, walnuts, macadamia
• Dark Chocolate
• Packaged Salmon – add to sandwiches or to dinner recipes
• Coconut – in any state. Chunked coconut is great to snack on. Coconut oil and cream are great to cook with or add to recipes.

Hiking and backpacking is our favourite way to travel and explore the world around us. Check out all of our posts featuring our best hiking guides, tips and ideas:

• Physical Training for Backpacking and Long Hikes
• Backpacking Essentials: What to Bring and What Not To
• Everything you Need to Know About Hiking the West Coast Trail

10 Actually Healthy Snack Food Suggestions to Add to Your Checklist

It is best to bring as many whole foods and homemade snacks as you can since many packaged foods contain high amounts of salt, sugars, preservatives and fillers. However, if you stick with high-quality brands, you can find very healthy snack options. And we love the simplicity of throwing these into our pack.

You can search for health foods and nutritious snacks online through Amazon or Vitacost.

Nothing But the Fruit Real Fruit Bites – these fruit snacks are fantastic because that is the only ingredient – fruit! These snacks are simply pureed and pressed fruits, which provide you with one serving of fruit, use fruit from sustainable farms, and are gluten-free and vegan. These are the perfect snack for kids because they will actually like eating them!

UNREAL Dark Chocolate Peanut Gems – another great treat for the kids. These ‘M&M’s’ lookalikes offer you a special treat with only 5g of sugar per serving. They use ingredients like 72% dark cocoa, carrot juice, beet juice and quinoa to create these tasty morsels.

KRAVE Jerky – this is one of your best options when buying jerky. Due to the nature of jerky, most brands are high in additives and preservatives. Krave jerky has minimal ingredients, are minimally processed and has no artificial ingredients. And the best part is – they are delicious! And come in some unique flavours like Black Cherry BBQ and Chili Lime.

Seven Sundays Muesli Squares – it’s difficult to find a granola bar with any health qualities at all. Seven Sundays does it right by creating a tasty square that offers half the sugar, and more protein and fiber than other bars. We love that these snacks have no refined sugars and are sweetened with honey and fruit. And better yet, they are gluten free!

Skinny Dipped Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almonds – this company takes the decadent chocolate covered almond and makes it even better. Naturally wholesome almonds are covered in ethically sourced dark chocolate and sprinkled with pure raspberry, and only 6g of sugar per serving.

Made in Nature Fruit Fusion Superberry Superfuel Blend – this is a healthier twist on the traditional trail mix. A mixture of cranberries, raisins, cherries, blueberries, goji berries, and zero preservatives make for a tangy treat! Check out this brand – they have loads of healthy snack options.

RXBAR Whole Food Protein Bars – we love these bars because every ingredient is listed right on the front of their package. The bars consist of egg whites, dates, nuts and natural flavours to make unique tatses like Gingerbread, Mango Pineapple and Maple Sea Salt. And having no added sugar and being gluten free and dairy free, you have a delicious, healthy treat.

NOOSH Almond Butters – NOOSH knows what we want – travel sized, portable, healthy and satisfying snacks. These snack sized squeezable almond butters are more than convenient to carry along on a hike. The natural goodness of almonds is combined with awesome flavours like chocolate, coffee and birthday cake. They are also vegan, gluten free, dairy free and have zero palm oil (yay!).

HighKey Mighty Cheese Crunch Snacks – if you are afraid to bring cheese along on a long hike, this is your solution. These crunchy cheese snacks only contain two ingredients – cheese and egg whites – no preservatives at all, yet they do not have to be refrigerated. These are the perfect cheesy and high energy snack for hikes and they come in great flavours like Parmesan and Cheddar Bacon.

QUEST Protein Bars – we love QUEST bars because they have a high quality protein blend and no added sugar – instead they are sweetened with natural ingredients like stevia. Most granola and protein bars are loaded with sugars which may give you some energy upfront, but you are bound to crash in no time. QUEST bars offer you a longer lasting and higher quality form of energy. They also have tons of fun flavours like Peppermint Bark, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Do you want to travel more but aren’t sure where to start? We can help! Check out our budget travel posts for our best travel tips and hacks: 

• ‘How to Find Budget Accommodation Anywhere in the World’
• ‘Things to do for Free While Traveling’
• ‘How to Maintain Your Food Budget While Traveling’
• ‘How to Travel the World for Free’

Easy Dehydrated Hiking Food Recipes for Ultralight Packing

Our preference is to make our meals and snacks at home and take them along on our hikes. By making our own hiking food we can control the ingredients which cut down on salt, sugar and fillers. We can also control the taste to our preference. And the best part is that it saves us money – pre-packaged and dehydrated foods are very expensive.

How to Make Homemade Jerky

On our last multi-day hike we made our own beef and chicken jerky. We find packaged meats to be particularly expensive and we saved a huge amount of money by making it ourselves. It was fun and we got to choose our own flavourings to make the perfect jerky for us.

Here is the basic recipe we used, but check out JerkyHolic for loads of great jerky recipes. We don’t have a food dehydrator, and you don’t need one. Just use your oven set to it’s lowest temperature and leaving the door slightly open:

• If making beef jerky, use a lean cut of beef like ‘eye of round’, ‘bottom round’, ‘top round’, ‘sirloin tip’ or ‘flank steak’. We used 2 lbs of ‘eye of round’.
• You can also use pork, chicken, turkey or salmon.
• Slice all of the meat into 1/4″ strips.
• Marinate the meat in whatever flavours you want. For the beef jerky, we went with our favourite teriyaki sauce and added hot sauce. For the chicken jerky, we went with a chili lime rub. Marinate meat in the fridge for 4-12 hours.
• Remove meat from marinade and pat dry.
• Since we used our oven, we put a toothpick through each piece of meat and hung it from an oven rack. Work your way until each slice is hung up with space around each piece – make sure they are not touching each other.
• To cook jerky in the oven, first cook it at 300°F for 10 minutes to kill the bacteria. Then, turn the oven down to 160°F and prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon which allows moisture to escape and air to circulate. It could take anywhere between 3 and 8 hours to cook depending on the thickness of meat and cut of meat you use. Our jerky took 4 hours.
• You know the jerky is done when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

No Cook Energy Bites Recipes

Energy balls are the perfect choice for hiking food. They are healthy, energy dense and you can add literally anything you like. They are also no-bake so they are simple to whip up in your kitchen.

Our favourite things to add are shredded coconut, coconut oil, almonds, pecans, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips.

You can find thousands of energy ball recipes online through sites like Allrecipes. Or just start experimenting and create your own treats!

Our go-to recipe is below, but feel free to add any ingredients you like:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bites Recipe

• 2 cups unsalted almonds, chopped finely in a food processor
• 20 pitted dates
• 113 grams of cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 teaspoon flaked salt
• Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until everything is pulverized. Add a bit of water if the mixture is too thick and not blending well.
• Scoop a tablespoon of dough at a time into your hands and roll into balls. Put in fridge to set.

DIY – Dehydrating Meals to Make Budget Hiking Food

The best way to save money and eat well on an overnight or multi-day hike is to dehydrate your own food. As long as you have an oven, you can do it. We have dehydrated everything from fruit, to vegetables, to meats and even a full lasagna!

The options are limitless. Just think of your favourite meal, cook it up at home, dehydrate in your oven, package in freezer bags and throw them in your backpack – then they are ready for your delicious home-cooked meal by the campfire.

For everything you need to know about dehydrating food at home, check out the Beginner’s Guide to Dehydrating Food at Home by Survival at Home.

Just Add Water Recipes for Overnight Hiking Dinners

If we decide to cook meals on our overnight and multi-day hikes, our rule is to keep it simple! We want to limit the weight in our pack, the time it takes to cook and the dishes and tools we need to prepare it.

Some tips to make cooking easy while at camp are:

• Pre-cook and dehydrate veggies, meats and full meals (Fresh and canned versions are way too heavy and bulky for your pack).
• Pre-cut any fresh veggies, fruits and added ingredients so you don’t need to bring a knife and cutting board.
• Carry along spices and powdered sauces to flavour dishes (no liquids – they are too heavy!).
• Find quick cook or instant rices, noodles, pastas and potatoes.

We’ll share some of our favourite dishes below – they are our favourite because they are lightweight, quick to cook, yet still delicious! Also, check out the Trail Recipes website for all things food and hiking.

Campfire Burritos Recipe

This is so simple. Bring along tortilla wraps and fill with any ingredients you like. We choose to add dehydrated beef & beans, instant rice, powdered tomato and taco seasonings to a pot with water and cook until soft. Then we top it with some hard, aged cheddar before stuffing our faces.

Spicy Peanut Noodles Recipe

One of our favourite things in the world is ramen, so why not have it while we’re hiking? We simply cook instant ramen noodles in boiling water, drain and add the flavour packets, powdered peanut butter, cayenne pepper, and pre-soaked dehydrated veggies, and top with chopped peanuts.

Thai Seafood Curry Recipe

Cook up some instant rice and add in curry powder, coconut powder, pre-soaked dehydrated veggies and chunked tuna or dehydrated shrimp.

Okay Hikers.. that’s our roundup of tips for now. Did you find this helpful? We would love to do another post with even more recipes and tips on hiking food! Let us know and comment below!

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