9 Best Dehydrated Meals for Backpackers & Paddlers
So much to eat, so little time!
This summer, we had a lot of time to sample the culinary delights of the dehydrated meals. From small and local dried meals, to DIY, to popular brands you can find at REI, here are the best dehydrated meals for backpackers, paddlers, and everyday adventurers!
9 Best Dehydrated Meals for Outdoor Lovers:
Backpacker’s Pantry
Chicken Alfredo anyone? Blueberry Peach Crisp? Curry? Backpacker’s Pantry objectively makes some of the best dehydrated meals for variety, including an array of vegetarian options. Generally, a Backpacker’s Pantry meal is enough food for one person, while some other options are plenty for two paddlers.
Mountain House:
Specifically, the biscuits and gravy. Objectively, Mountain House makes some of the better dehydrated meals on the market, up there with Backpacker’s Pantry. The pictured chicken noodle casserole was also a winner.
Camp Chow:
Camp Chow is a local Northern Minnesota dehydrated meal! You can find it throughout the Northern Minnesota Arrowhead. Camp Chow is awesome for pancakes over the fire or beef stroganoff on the MSR Whisperlite, but these meals do not easily rehydrate in their packages.
Wild Edge Keto:
We first found Wild Edge Keto in Powell River, British Columbia. Wild Edge is local to Powell River, and they make meals like Venison Chili and Cajun Jambalaya rich in protein. Wild Edge meals were extra awesome with a tortilla or some naan bread, and were a meal to look forward to for those of us craving meat.
Alpine Aire:
Great meals? The Santa Fe Beans & Rice and Hearty Beef Stew. One to skip? The Forever Young Mac & Cheese. Alpine Aire is a little cheaper than some of the other dehydrated meal brands while often providing enough food for two. That being said, we consistently had a harder time getting meat to rehydrate with Alpine Aire, and while the food was good, it was trail good— ie, good for when you’ve been paddling or backpacking long days, but you wouldn’t ever choose it if fresh food were available.
Peak Refuel:
Peak Refuel has delicious meals, but is more expensive than some of the other meals and not necessarily more food or better quality.
Knorr’s Pasta:
Grocery Store favorite Knorr’s Pasta is also a large group trail favorite! These meals cook well over a camp stove in a pot, and are easy to spruce up with diced onion, bell pepper, mushroom, bacon bits, and my trail favorite of naan bread. Typically, one Knorrs sides packet will feed about one hungry paddler.
For our 70 day trip, I prepared several of these meals in advance by sealing Knorr’s Pasta sides with dehydrated bell peppers, zucchini, onion, and garlic powder.
Bear Creek Soups:
Bear Creek Soups are my favorite meal for groups of 3+ on shoulder season paddles. One soup feeds roughly 3-5 people, depending on appetite and group. With larger groups you can always add a packet of flour to thicken, or have tortillas as a bread on the side for extra calories.
At-home Backpacker & Paddler Meals:
Looking to do it yourself? Here are some easy meals you can prep in in a ziplock bag before your trip and enjoy on trail!
DIY Bean Tacos:
The king of all trail meals— beans and rice! Beans and rice are great for long paddling trips because they simply never go bad and provide both protein and carbs. They do, however, take a moment to cook.
You can either boil water in the morning, and soak your beans all day while you paddle, or cook and dehydrate before your trip to allow for simple hot water dehydration on trail. Either way, beans and rice is a staple.
For us, the Bean and Rice Taco was our first day out of resupply meal. We would take our beans and rice, add naan bread, bell peppers, an avocado, salsa, and whatever other delicious fixings needed! As we moved away from civilization and fresh food, our beans and rice got decreasingly luxurious.
This summer, we spent 70 days sea kayaking the British Columbia coast, and this was pretty much what our meals looked like— a lot of rice and beans, even more (think 4 times a week) Knorr’s Pasta, Bear Creek Soup, and various dehydrated meals. Oh, and quinoa bowls.
DIY Quinoa Bowls:
Soak and cook quinoa as directed on your camp stove. Add fresh or dehydrated vegetables (if dehydrated, wait till quinoa is half cooked then add dehydrated vegetables with a little more water).
This meal is gluten-free, vegetarian, and protein rich.
I like mine smothered with soy sauce and bacon bits, and wrapped in a tortilla. Cut up summer sausage makes a great addition as well. A quinoa bowl is awesome because its protein rich, but after the third meal of 40, it is no longer delicious.
Other improvised meals:
Trail peach crisp anyone? For this, we took a prepackaged, store-bought peach cobbler recipe and just threw something together on trail. I was hungry enough that I found it delicious— the others did not. Oh well, more for me!
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