Menu planning for a multi-day trip
Menu planning for a multi-day hiking or biking trip can be a challenge. The goal is to take enough calories without adding too much weight to your packs, while trying to make meals taste good. Sometimes that’s not so easy!
When I am out hiking or biking in the wilderness with friends, we often comment to each other when we are enjoying a piece of salami or a rehydrated pasta dish just how good it tastes when camping, but how we would never eat this stuff at home because it would taste terrible.
I think this is a nice benefit of getting lots of exercise–it builds up an appetite and makes otherwise unappealing food edible!
In this post, I outline a number of meal and snack ideas for a multi-day trips that are lightweight and have enough calories to fill you up. By starting with a few basics, you can add what you like depending on your taste preferences.
Remember that you are using a lot more calories when hiking or biking as compared to sitting at your desk at work. To consume enough calories during a trip, I plan for 3 meals plus 2 snack packs per day. And avoid fat-reduced or low-salt products—go for the full amounts of both!
Having just said all of this, if you want to take breaks from cooking and carrying all that food and stove fuel, there are many tasty, fresh food options listed in our apps. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, bakeries and grocery stores all along the trails. I personally take advantage of the available fresh food at every opportunity. Like these meals in Jarrahdale, Donnybrook and Albany below. They were huge country-style meals, but I ate every bite because I was riding the Munda Biddi Trail from end to end and I needed the calories. However, the lunch on a rock prepared by my husband was pretty tasty, too, again because I needed the calories! If you search “food” when in the apps, you’ll find a lot of information that will help with planning your adventure. Why cook when someone else can??
Food preparation
Several of my friends love to prepare all of their food. They’ll cook up batches of pasta sauce or chicken stew, and they will dehydrate fruit for days on end and vacuum-pack each meal or snack into one- or two-person servings. If you have time for this, it is a great way to ensure that you have tasty food in the exact portions you want.
But if you’re like me and find that is just too time intensive, then you can find everything you need at the grocery store. A number of basic items will form the foundation for planning a variety of tasty meals. Mix and match items to make up meals according to your tastes. Get creative!
Or if you really want to be time efficient, you can buy complete dehydrated meals from most outdoor stores, and when on the trails, some of the visitor centres and general stores in small towns stock a good selection. To prepare, you just add boiling water to the packet, stir and wait for it to rehydrate. There is a lot of choice out there now in terms of brand and flavour, and some are more palatable than others. If I haven’t tried one before, I will look up reviews online to get an idea of quality and taste.
Now, the next debate; cooked food versus uncooked food, what to do? I usually plan to have cooked dinners and hot breakfasts and a hot drink each morning and evening. My lunches and snacks are made up of food that doesn’t need cooking.
The staples
Pita bread, bagels and wraps keep well and are robust enough for a pack. As a bonus, pitas and wraps slide easily down the sides of your pack. Bread tends to get smooshed and is bulky.
Pumpernickel Rye Bread. The 500 g pack made by Van Der Meulen is small and very dense and will fill you up with just one or two slices.
Chicken noodle soup, Japanese ramen or Thai soup packets. These are great for replacing salts you’ve lost while hiking, hence I start each dinner with a hot soup.
Small pasta shapes such as shells or orzo, instant rice, cous cous, quinoa or vermicelli noodles are good at filling you up and they cook quickly, hence use a minimum of fuel. As a guide, I take 100 grams per person, but adjust this amount according to your appetite. Deb’s instant mashed potato packets are also a winner.
Freeze-dried foods such as peas, carrots, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes are lightweight. I personally cannot stand rehydrated carrots, but to each their own!
Look at the selection of dried, ready-to-cook meal ideas in the pasta & rice aisle and in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
Salt and pepper packets left over from your last venture into Maccas or Hungry Jacks are handy to have along.
A bulb of garlic (or garlic salt) is easy to pack, as are a few small onions.
Herbs and spices, such as basil and oregano, or cumin and chili powder.
A small travel-sized plastic bottle is good for carrying olive oil for cooking.
Tea bags, instant coffee, hot chocolate mix, chai tea powder, Milo, drink crystals (rehydrating, such as Gatorade or Staminade). Try making a mocha or a dirty chai to mix things up.
Additions
Ready-made spice and sauce packets are small and easy to pack.
Make your own curry or Mexican spice mixes.
Tuna or salmon. Buy the no-drain foil packages. Great for adding to pasta or for lunches.
Room-temperature-stable salami, if unopened, can be kept at room temperature for ages. Good for adding to the dinner pot or for lunches.
Room-temperature-stable cheeses.
Protein powders.
Powdered milk (full fat) for tea, coffee, oatmeal or desserts. To make sure you use the right amount each day, divide it up into small ziplocks. I make up one for using with hot drinks and others for meals and desserts as needed.
Breakfast suggestions
Instant oats with sultanas and/or cranberries and almond slivers or pepitas and a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and powdered milk is a high calorie, tasty start to the day. Weigh out and package together for each day to ensure equal portions.
A savoury option is seasoned instant mashed potato with peas, nuts, salami or tuna or salmon.
Whatever tasty baked goods you scored at the town bakery the previous day!
Lunch inspiration
Hard-boiled eggs. Eat these on the first day for lunch with some salt.
Pumpernickel rye bread, pitas or bagels.
Hard cheeses such as parmesan or romano are good choices as they don’t need to be refrigerated. Another option is the individually wrapped Laughing Cow cheese that does not need refrigeration.
Peanut butter, jam, honey, crackers.
Vegemite in individual-portions.
Salami and jerky.
Biscuits.
Dried fruit.
Muesli bars.
Chocolate bars.
The all-important snacks
The most important food of all is Trail Mix! I recommend splurging on your trail mix selection. For me, there’s nothing less satisfying than a mix full of plain old peanuts and sultanas. I suggest a combination of sweet and salty. I like M & Ms, almonds, macadamia nuts, cranberries, jelly babies, jelly snakes, cashews and dried fruit (mangoes, blueberries, cherries).
Your fellow hikers will be coveting your mix, and who knows, you may be able to gain a few favours in exchange—such as having your dishes cleaned that night!
Desserts
Instant pudding or custard powder, plus powdered milk for both as needed.
Muesli bars, baked goods, biscuits, candies/lollies, chocolate bars, etc.
More random ideas
Do not carry cans or glass containers. They are heavy and continue to take up an annoying amount of space in your pack when they are empty.
On the first day, I will often carry a frozen steak or chicken breast wrapped in newspaper and sealed in a ziplock bag, along with some Thai curry paste, vermicelli noodles or instant rice, a fresh capsicum, onion and powdered coconut milk. The meat will thaw by the time you have dinner. At least your first meal is more like being at home!
Packing food: The best strategy is to put each meal into its own bag and to label it and lay it all out so you can see each day’s food. This makes it super easy on the trail and also ensures that you haven’t miscalculated and missed a meal or two.
Food storage tip: There may be a few small, nocturnal critters out there that will love your food. So bring a few nylon stuff sacks along and a bit of thin rope to tie your food up off the ground on a tree branch. It won’t guarantee that mice won’t find your food, but if it’s out of your pack, then at least your pack won’t have a hole chewed in it in the morning.
If you’ve parked a car at the end of your hike, then throw in some food that is completely different to what you have packed on your hike. It will fill the gap until you can get to a proper restaurant or home to your fridge.
Happy hiking and biking!
