Meal time: Backpacking breakfast & dinner recipes

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These backpacking breakfast and dinner recipes have been extensively field-tested by me and by hundreds of clients on my guided backpacking trips.

Based on feedback, we’ve tinkered with the ingredient amounts and ratios until they’re just right. Or we throw out a recipe and try something new.

When creating these meals, I tried to make them:

  • Convenient
  • Inexpensive, and
  • Hearty

You will find that at-home preparation is fast and easy, that the ingredients are generally inexpensive and widely available, that common food restrictions (gluten, dairy, vegetarian) can be easily accommodated, that cook-time is minimal, and that the recipes are calorically dense and yummy.

Dinner Recipe: Backcountry Chili

By Andrew Skurka / December 6, 2019 /

A near weekly dinner at home for Amanda and me during the colder months is chili. It’s particularly gratifying to make with DIY elk meat and homegrown peppers and tomatoes. It seemed like my chili recipe could be converted for backcountry use, and I asked David last spring to develop a recipe. On its maiden…

Dinner Recipe: Coconut Cashew Curry

By Andrew Skurka / December 7, 2019 /

This was another new dinner for 2019, and it quickly became one of my favorite dinners. Here’s why: Meal Stats Ingredients The original curry sauce recipe called for several tricky-to-find ingredients including tamarind paste and green curry paste. The ingredients in the current iteration are easier to source, but don’t sacrifice flavor. Dried vegetables can…

Breakfast Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

By Andrew Skurka / December 14, 2019 /

This spin-off on the classic oatmeal breakfast is rich and decadent. Combined with our Coconut Chia version, we’ve taken oatmeal up a notch or two. Meal Stats: Ingredients The chief benefit of this recipe is that the ingredients are widely available and easy to assemble. You can find everything in a standard supermarket, and probably…

Breakfast Recipe: Fruit and Cream Porridge

By Andrew Skurka / December 22, 2019 /

The term “porridge” may not sound particularly appetizing, but we think this breakfast is pretty decent. It’s slightly nutty and not too sweet, and another great template that can be adjusted to your personal preferences. The most unique element of this recipe is the streusel topping, which bumps up its craveability factor. Meal Statistics: Ingredients…

Contest: Submit your favorite recipes, win a bidet

By Andrew Skurka / January 12, 2022 /

For the 2022 guiding season we’re looking for a new breakfast and new dinner recipe to replace two of our longstanding meals, the Coconut Chia Oatmeal and the Backcountry Chili. The two winners will be entered into a drawing, and the first chosen will have their option of taking the Plan Like A Pro online…

Dinner Recipe: Mushroom and Bacon Oat-sotto

By Katie Gerber / November 8, 2023 /

This dinner recipe is flavorful and filling, making it ideal for long days and late in a trip, when appetites are big. At home it would be best with the creamy and porridge-like consistency of risotto, but we use rolled oats because they cook much faster and provide a similar texture. I want to thank…

Breakfast Recipe: Cacio e Pepe

By Katie Gerber / October 14, 2024 /

This Italian-themed breakfast recipe is a refreshing savory alternative to the typical overly sweet trail breakfast. The oats give it a creamy pasta-like texture and the addition of olive oil and Parmesan provide satiation and lasting energy that you won’t get from a packet of sweetened instant oatmeal. Meal stats Those wanting more calories or…