Plenty of typical backpacking staples are missing in my food bag. No salami or pepperoni. No bags of beef jerky. Not even pre-packaged beef stroganoff or chili mac. As someone who follows a pescatarian diet (I eat fish about once a week when I’m off trail), my diet has a lot more in common with vegetarians or vegans than it does with most long-distance backpackers.
Of course, adhering to this lifestyle creates a ton of questions from well-meaning friends and family members. They’ll ask how I get enough protein or nutrients to hike 20+ miles each day. How can I possibly replenish 3,500-4,000 calories a day without eating meat? Aren’t fruit and vegetables heavy? Do I just eat loads of protein bars on trail?
One easy answer for my curious inquisitors is simply pretend that I survive 100% on junk food. Then I whip out the old photos in front of the Pine Grove Furnace. And I regale them with the story about how I once devoured 2,600 calories of ice cream for breakfast as part of the from the “Half Gallon Challenge” on my Appalachian Trail thru-hike.
But all kidding aside, finding calorie-dense vegetarian foods that provide plenty of protein is much easier than you’d think. Sure it takes a little more preparation. But once you find your groove, and build a stable of foods that work for your body, you’re money!
Here’s my top 10 favorite vegetarian meals that keep me going strong on my backpacking adventures. Most of them can be found in your average grocery store during a resupply. And you won’t find a single meal replacement bar on the list. So enjoy!
BREAKFAST
#1 – OATMEAL
Plenty of hikers eat instant oatmeal for breakfast, so this morning choice is a no-brainer. But if you want to really up the ante and start your day with a bit of extra protein, swap out your regular oats with one of the high-protein instant oatmeal alternatives. Sure this is a bit more expensive than ordinary instant oats. But you’re also getting far more grams of protein to start off your day on the right foot.
If you want to increase the nutrition even more, try adding some dried cranberries, dried blueberries, or nuts to your oatmeal. Here’s a few of my top high-protein oatmeal choices.
- Quaker Oats Protein Instant Oatmeal (10 grams/serving)
- Kodiak Cakes Oatmeal (10-12 grams/serving)
- Think Thin Farmers Market (10 grams/serving)
- Nature’s Path Organic Oatmeal (8 grams/serving)
Tip: If you can only find cardboard cups of these brands during your resupply, just dump your oatmeal into a small baggie instead. It’s lighter and far less bulky to carry in your food bag.
#2 – CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS & COFFEE
My hiking buddy Luna used to make fun of me for this morning combo. He’d joke that he hadn’t seen anyone drink their breakfast since leaving the teenage realm of dieting cheerleaders and high school wrestlers. Yet, I know this beverage is a great way to get a morning calorie boost, and it adds up to 13 grams of protein to my morning coffee.
For best results, heat 10-12 ounces of hot water in your cook pot, then add in one packet of instant coffee (Starbucks Via is my preferred coffee) and stir until the coffee is fully dissolved. Once you have a steaming cup of joe, add a packet of powdered instant breakfast mix and stir. The chocolate-flavored mix results in a backcountry mocha, while the vanilla-flavored one makes a vanilla latte.
Tip: This combo doesn’t taste nearly as good if you try to mix the ingredients with cold water. So, if you’re not a coffee drinker, you can still make make this chocolate mix on it’s own with hot water. It will just be more like a hot chocolate than a mocha. Another option is to bring along chai tea bags and mix them with the vanilla flavor for a protein-packed chai latte. Just make sure you steep the tea fully before adding in the vanilla packet.
#3 – BAGELS & CREAM CHEESE
I never considered carrying bagels or cream cheese in my food bag until I was on the Appalachian Trail. I was getting mighty tired of flour tortillas and looking for an durable alternative. As I stood in the grocery store’s bread aisle with a vacant stare, I suddenly realized bagels were a logical choice. They wouldn’t going to get mushed or turn to crumble like a loaf of sliced bread. And, I’d get the chewy satisfaction that a tortilla can’t quite replicate.
Once I started eating bagels on trail, I began craving its quintessential partner – cream cheese. If you’re the same way, just make sure to store your cream cheese in the center of your food bag where it’s less prone to fluctuating temperatures. My all-time favorite bagel breakfast combo is Dave’s Killer Bagels (11-13 grams protein) and Tillamook Very Veggie Cream Cheese (2-3 grams protein).
LUNCHES
Let me begin by admitting that I don’t like to cook lunch. At all! I’d much rather spend my time relaxing with my shoes off than breaking out my cook pot or stove. So I’ve made the informal rule that all my lunches have to be things I can forage from my pack and put together on the fly. If you’re someone who likes to cook, scroll down to my dinner options for a bevy of warm meals to consider.
#4 – NUT BUTTERS
One of the most versatile lunch options out there, in my opinion, is nut butter. Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter. Whatever you prefer. But I’m not a big fan of carrying a big, heavy jar of peanut butter. I’d much rather pack small single serving packets so I only have to take as much as I need.
My absolute favorites brands are Justin’s Nut Butters (I love the maple cashew) and Trail Butter. You can spread it on tortillas, pita, naan, or bagels – and then add some additional toppings to your lunchtime wrap/sandwich. Some of my top nut butter combos are:
- Almond butter, banana chips, and some chocolate chunks/trail mix
- Cashew butter, sunflower seeds, and the contents of a honey packet or honey stick
- Peanut butter & jam (usually from extra jam packets I’ve squirreled away during restaurant visits)
- Any nut butter and crushed potato chips – sweet and salty deliciousness
- Almond butter with slices of apple or celery freshly carried out from town
- Peanut butter on a soft bakery pretzel
- Cashew butter in plain oatmeal (for breakfast)
#5 – HUMMUS
Another great lunchtime food is hummus. It’s probably something you’ve never considered on trail, for fear that it would make a horrible mess inside your food bag. But, I’m here to tell you hummus is a great option. I’ve taken small single-serving hummus cups and entire tubs of hummus on the trail. It pairs well with a wraps, chips, pretzel, bagels, pita bread, etc.
If you prefer single size hummus cups, you’ll often find Sabra single serving hummus cups in the deli section of the grocery store near the pre-made salads and sandwiches. In the alternative, Keebler Townhouse makes single serving hummus and pita chips combos too. You can usually find this brand in the cracker aisle at Walmart.
One of my all-time favorite hummus combos is a sandwich with hummus, hard cheese, and arugula on an jalepeño cheese or everything bagel. Both spinach and arugula hold up well on trail for several days without refrigeration. Plus they are super light options when carried in a quart- or gallon-sized baggie.
Tip: If you’re planning to carry an entire tub of hummus, make sure to have a rubber band on hand. Sliding a rubber band over the top and bottom of the tub will help make sure the lid stays secure while you’re hiking and avoid a the perils of a gooey, sticky disaster inside your pack.
DINNERS
Before I get into the various warm meals I enjoy at dinner, there’s one food I have to talk about. Cheese.
Cheese is one of those staple items I carry on EVERY hike. I absolutely LOVE cheese!! Adding a few chunks to any meal is great for a boost of protein and fat. And to switch it up, I tend to rotate between sharp cheddar, pepper jack, colby jack, and mozzarella during my longer hikes.
Most hard cheeses will last for 4-6 days in your food bag without any issue. Some of my fellow hikers carry a giant block of cheese and a sharp knife. And while I will occasionally do this to, more often than not, I prefer to grab individually wrapped cheese sticks. This method keeps my cheese contained, where I can just pull out a stick or two, as needed.
#6 – DEHYDRATED REFRIED BEANS
All my absolute favorite, go-to dinners involve dehydrated refried beans. They’re lightweight, satisfying, protein-packed, and fairly inexpensive. Refried beans are simply the perfect trail food (after cheese, of course). There’s only one downside. You’ll rarely find this product in the grocery store, Dollar General, or any convenience stores along the trail. So, this staple item is something you will need to purchase in advance, and/or send to yourself in a resupply box. That said, it’s 100% worth the effort!
One of my favorite brands is Santa Fe Bean Company. They have sell 7.25 ounce packages of black refried beans, vegetarian refried beans, Southwest style refried beans, and fire roasted chipotle refried beans. I find that each pouch is good for two dinners. And you can buy a 8-pack of them for on Amazon around $25. That’s 16 meals’ worth of beans for about $1.56 per meal!! And if you live in Texas (or you’re just visiting), you can almost always find this brand on the shelf in your local HEB store!
Santa Fe Bean Company isn’t the only brand of dehydrated refried beans out there though. For example, there’s a farmers market I frequent in Oregon that sells 1-pound bags of dehydrated refried beans for a reasonable price. And they have chorizo-flavored and chipotle refried beans that are simply sublime. So, its just a matter of looking around to see what’s available in your local area or online.
I rarely eat my refried beans on their own for dinner. Instead, I use them as the base for a number of different recipes and meals. Here’s just a sample of some of my favorites. Common additions include: flour tortillas, tortilla chips, Fritos, cheese, minute rice, hot sauce packets, taco seasoning, and dehydrated/freeze-dried corn, onion, and jalepeño peppers.
- Bean and cheese burritos – Mix rehydrated beans, cheese, and hot sauce into a flour tortilla and fold.
- Frito Pie – Mix rehydrated beans and melted cheese in your pot, then stir in 1-2 handfuls of Fritos. This meal is especially good with the Chili Cheese Fritos!
- Cheesy beans & rice – Cook an equal portion of refried beans and minute rice. Then melt in some cheese. For some additional flair, add some dried corn or dried jalepeño – then garnish with crushed tortilla chips or Fritos.
- Chips & Dip – Melt cheese into refried beans, then eat with tortilla chips like you would with a dip/appetizer. I find adding a little extra water (to make the beans soupier) makes it far easier to scoop and eat.
Tip: Although you can easily rehydrate beans by cold soaking them, you’ll definitely want to heat the water if you want melted cheese or your meal includes rice.
#7 – MAC & CHEESE
I truly love homemade macaroni and cheese. And while you can’t fully replicate that dish on trail, a box of mac and cheese still is the ultimate comfort food after a hard day of hiking. I find that Annie’s Shells & Cheese are the easiest to cook on trail. The shells cook quickly and thoroughly. Plus, Annie’s is a bit healthier than some of the boxed mac and cheese options.
If you want to make this meal super tasty, throw two cheddar cheese sticks in on top of the shells and let them melt. The fat and oil in melted cheese acts like milk and butter and gives the shells and cheese a creamier texture.
#8 – CHEESE RAMEN
Any soldier, sailor, or airman who’s ever been stationed in Korea will know this meal right away. One of the common dishes you can get at the KATUSA snack bar on every military post is cheese ramen. It’s essentially a spicy, savory broth, with ramen noodles, and a slice of American cheese melted on top.
I make a similar dish on the trail by using one packet of spicy ramen (any brand will do – but the Japanese and Korean ones tend to be spicier). For best results, make sure to stir the seasoning pouch into the hot water so it fully dissolves before adding the ramen noodles. Then, as the noodles are rehydrating in the hot water, toss a stick or two of cheese in so it melts with the heat. Once the noodles are fully cooked and you stir everything together, you’ll get a dish that will take you right back to the DMZ!
# 9 – Beans & Rice
I don’t tend to purchase commercially packaged freeze-dried meals very often. That’s because they tend to be too expensive, a bit bland tasting, and many of the vegetarian meals are super skimpy on the calories. So the simplicity of a ready-made dinner is just isn’t worth the money, in my opinion. However, I do make one exception to this rule.
I love Backpacker’s Pantry’s Louisiana Red Beans and Rice. Not only is this meal nicely seasoned, but each pouch is a solid 600 calories and 24 grams of protein. In fact, this dinner is so plentiful that I often have a hard time finishing it on my own.
This meal usually retails for $5.95 (when it’s full price), but I can often find it on sale or buy them in bulk online as a 6-pack to get a discount. This Backpacker’s Pantry meal is a quick and easy option whenever I want to add something different into the mix or am resupplying at an outfitter on the trail.
#10 – Savory Rices
One of my newest additions for dinner is Twist’d rice pouches. This product is from the U.K., and I recently found it for sale in Walmart while stocking up for my Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike. Since then, I’ve also eaten it on several more long distance hikes, and it’s still a hit. It’s far better than any of the Knorr rice sides that long distance hikers tend to gravitate toward, yet still at the same price point.
Every time I’ve prepared one of these rice pouches, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The rice is savory without being super salty, and it cooks up perfectly in just 15-20 minutes in my pot koozy. The only downside it that it’s fairly low on the protein. However, I find that’s still a satisfying meal in terms of calories and flavor. The Twist’d brand has four different rice flavors, five couscous varieties, and two paella/risotto options. To see their entire product line-up, click HERE.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So there you have it. At least 10 meal ideas for the vegetarian backpacker trying to figure out what to pack for their next big adventure. All these items are fairly lightweight and they won’t add any unnecessary bulk to your food bag. Most of them are readily available in your local grocery store. And these meal provide enough calories and protein that you can eschew those dry, tasteless meal replacement bars.