easy to cook dinner options

yknpdlr · Mar 21, 2025

jdeerfoot said:
We always take a few bags of ready-to-eat cabbage salad mix on trips and use them in the early days of the trip. Cabbage holds up much better than leafy salad mix which goes slimy quickly.

A cabbage salad actually denydrates and rehydrates quite well, remaining criispy. Add a small bottle of dressing of your choice after rehydrating.

ErktheRed · Mar 21, 2025

I think I saw someone mention NOLS, maybe it was a different forum or topic but they’ve been making a book for years called Cookery. They’re on a newer edition now but it’s a great book for recipes, packing, measurements, solo to groups sizes. You can download an earlier edition but the book is nice to have and easy to pack

NOLS Cookery, 7th Edition

With over two million meals prepared in the wilderness, NOLS speaks with authority on the art of backcountry cooking. This seventh edition includes classic NOLS favorites, such as pizza, cinnamon rolls, and super cocoa. In addition to the favorites, both new and updated recipes are also...

store.nols.edu

Microtus · Mar 22, 2025

Thanks for the link, just ordered it.

LostCaper · Mar 22, 2025

recped said:
These days there are lots of vegetarian options for freeze dried meal in a bag

For example

https://www.rei.com/c/backpacking-dinners/f/f-vegetarian?ir=category%3Afood&r=category%3Afood%7Cbackpacking-food%7Cbackpacking-dinners%3Bf

Can't get any easier....boil water, add to bag, wait 15 minutes, enjoy!

If you haven't used them before take note that the 2 serving versions are really only good for a single person, if you do split them between two people then you probably want some supplement with something like wraps of one sort or another. Some brands are now producing single serving versions which are usually a little bit more than half of the traditional 2 serving versions.

My favourite brands are Backpacker Pantry, Alpine Aire & Mountain House. Happy Yak is a Canadian brand that are very good, kind of pricey and maybe not easily available in the USA.

We used the Mountain House freeze dried meals and they are delicious and quick. I like oatmeal in a package for breakfast if we are planning to get on the river quickly but I love having lots of time to cook bacon and eggs on my cast iron frying pan on my wood burning rocket stove. Dinner is usually trout that we catch. Supper is sometimes a freeze dried meal but mostly it's moose burgers, deer steak, or bear sausage. My buddy makes October Fest sausage from a spring bear he usually gets and god are they good. He usually put about 15 percent pork in with the bear meat. Around 1 a.m. in the morning we are usually into the whiskey and we put on a couple of more bear or moose sausage on the grill. We eat and drink really well. 5 days on the Cains River, NewBrunswick, Canada.

Tryin' · Mar 23, 2025

Gamma1214 said:
The trick to chicken is to use canned. I can my own with a pressure canner (1 lb boneless= 1 pt canned) and it dehydrates very well.

Can confirm.

Find some neutral canned chicken that you like, drain well, shred, season, and dry. We have also had luck pressure cooking (basically canning) chunks of whole breast meat and then drying.

guntharwoller8 · 2025-08-01T08:45:27-0400

Gamma1214 said:
Depending on her reasons, you may not have to rule out all meats. Cooked bacon will (in my experience) store at room temperature for 6 weeks & I do mine "al dente" and can fry further in the field if desired.

Break it up & throw some in a package of 7 minute wild rice of something like Knorr side dishes and you're good to go. Lightweight too.

Around here, Dollar Generals are popping up like dandelions and they carry small bags of Clover Valley real bacon bits. I'll sprinkle 1/3 - 1/2 a bag in the water that I'm boiling for Idahoan instant potatoes & mix as per directions. Everything is better with bacon.

(note: In both above scenarios, I usually add subway menu with prices it to the boil so maybe that kills bacteria. I just Googled this and found a bunch of websites that claim you cannot leave bacon unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours. Now, I've been doing it for years so I think they're being overly cautious but you'll want to stay within your comfort zone)

Yes i see this

MichaelMerry · 2025-08-01T17:26:37-0400

Other people here have mentioned dehydrators. Nearly all of our backcountry meals are made at home and dehydrated. In fact, we eat many of the same meals in the backcountry that we eat at home. Often, we dehydrate our leftovers. We double ziplock, label and throw them in the freezer. When we pack for a trip, we are never scrambling for food; just pulling it from the freezer. Rehydration is simple. Dump the food in a pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, let sit 5 minutes and enjoy.

Our favorite dishes are omelettes or frittatas for breakfasts, lasagna, various pasta dishes, veggie stir fries with beans and rice for dinners. We even dehydrate cobblers and fruit crisps for desserts.

We have packed up to three weeks of food for two this way. We also do this for our weekend backpacking trips. Convenient, tasty and nutritious.

easy to cook dinner options

Similar threads