5-day backpacking menu
Looking for some great ideas to keep you fuelled up on a multi-day hiking trip? Here is a complete 5-day lightweight backpacking meal plan that we have used in our own treks.
This menu will feed one hiker with an average appetite. It includes three main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 3 snacks providing 2455 calories from 465 g/16 0z of food per day. Total weight of food: 2.33 kg/5.1 lb
You can easily add another 1-2k calories to daily plan by double up on the snacks or by increasing portion sizes.
Day 1
540 g / 19 oz / 2599 kCal
Breakfast: Cappuccino Oatmeal + Really Hot Chocolate
Lunch: Crackers with Instant Hummus
Snack 1: Smoky Beer Beef Jerky
Snack 2: Puffed Quinoa and Peanut Butter Bars
Snack 3: Cajun Spiced Nuts and Seeds
Dinner: Sardine Pasta with Crunchy Garlic Crumbs
Day 2
399 g / 14 oz / 2414 kCal
Breakfast: Coconut Millet Porridge + Pina Colada Latte
Lunch: Easy Sausage and Cheese Platter
Snack 1: Smoky Beer Beef Jerky
Snack 2: Puffed Quinoa and Peanut Butter Bars
Snack 3: Cajun Spiced Nuts and Seeds
Dinner: Backcountry Feijoada
Day 3
454 g /16 oz / 2237 kCal
Breakfast: Brown Rice Cereal + Matcha Latte
Lunch: Tuna With Crackers
Snack 1: Smoky Beer Beef Jerky
Snack 2: Puffed Quinoa and Peanut Butter Bars
Snack 3: Cajun Spiced Nuts and Seeds
Dinner: Mixed Vegetable Sabji
Day 4
451 g / 16 oz / 2361 kCal
Breakfast: Crunchy Peanut Butter Oatmeal + Pina Colada Latte
Lunch: Raspberry Peach Breakfast Smoothie
Snack 1: Smoky Beer Beef Jerky
Snack 2: Puffed Quinoa and Peanut Butter Bars
Snack 3: Cajun Spiced Nuts and Seeds
Dinner: Trail Chili
Day 5
481 g / 17 oz / 2662 kCal
Breakfast: Fruity Dream + Peanut Butter Cocoa
Lunch: Easy Sausage and Cheese Platter
Snack 1: Smoky Beer Beef Jerky
Snack 2: Puffed Quinoa and Peanut Butter Bars
Snack 3: Cajun Spiced Nuts and Seeds
Dinner: 3 Mushroom Risotto
Want to get this plan in pdf ? Click on the image below to download your 5-day backpacking menu.
We also prepared the shopping list of all ingredients used to create this lightweight and delicious backpacking meal plan.
Both plan and shopping list were created with our Online Backpacking Meal Planner.
Thank you so much for creating this! I found it really helpful that you’ve thought to add the estimated calories, the weight of the food per day, and then total weight of the total weight of the food per the trip. I love how you broke up the menu per day, and type of meal/snack/drink, and then how it was detailed below. I love the links to the recipes. This is a great website, especially for the beginner backpacker.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Can you estimate the total cost of all this food?
It’s a hard work. I can say only that homemade snacks and dehydrated meals are definitely cheaper than store bought freeze-dried food.
Thank you so much for these wonderful recipies! I am just starting to create my own backpacking foods as I don’t want to stuff myself with rubbish just because I am in the middle of nowhere. Loving the soup recipes in particular.