Planning A Backpacking Menu



Planning a backpacking menu is an important part of preparing for your trip. Back country backpacking can take you to very remote areas and you want to ensure you have the proper food to provide for your body’s needs. Carefully planning your menu helps ensure you don’t pack too little or too much food. Backpacking meal planning can be a lot of fun and is one of my favorite parts of getting ready for the trip!

Quick Tips

You have lots of options! When planning your menu, it’s good to get ideas for different food you can bring. They can range from freeze dried backpacking food to backpacking recipes and more! Feel free to view our page on backpacking food for ideas for backpacking meals.

Trying to pack light? This will play a big role in the food you decide to bring. If you need suggestions for lightweight backpacking food, visit our page on that to get some insight and ideas.

Make your own food! I prefer to make my own meals. If you’re interested in seeing some of the recipes we use, check out our backpacking recipes page.


A Sample Menu

Your menu will depend a lot on the type of backpacking trip you’re taking. For instance, if you’re backpacking for a week, the amount of food you’ll need for that length of trip is going to be different from a weekend trip.

When planning my own backpacking menus, I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack for every day of the trip, plus extra meals depending on the length of the trip. While I want to keep my food as light as possible, I also want to be prepared and make sure I have enough food in the event of staying out longer than expected or an emergency.

Below is an example of a backpacking menu for a three day backpacking trip. Click on the hyperlinks to access the recipes.

  Backpacking
Breakfast
Backpacking
Lunch
Backpacking
Dinner
Backpacking
Snack
Day 1 AT HOME Tuna Wraps Creamy Chicken and Rice Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
Day 2 Instant Oatmeal Southwest Chicken Wraps Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
Day 3 Instant Cereal Tuna Wraps AT HOME Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
Extra   Tuna Packet Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice Trail Mix/Dried Fruit



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