Making your own one pot backpacking meals is an essential part of any backcountry camping trip. Backpacking food is generally expensive if you buy it pre-packaged, but it is easy and inexpensive to make your own.
What to Bring On Your Trip
There are a few essentials you need on your backpacking trip to make your one pot backpacking meals.
- Single burner backpacking stove
- Propane
- Matches or lighter
- Backpacking aluminum pot
- Stirring spoon
- Water
- Backpacking pots
It is important to know what type and size backpacking pot you will need for your backpacking meals. The best pot for backpacking is a lightweight aluminum pot with a lid. A one-quart pot will be adequate for one person, and a one and half-quart pot for two people will work. If you have more people on the trip, go for at least a three-quart pot. Many backpacking pots are collapsible so they take up less space in your pack.
Breakfast
Potatoes and Egg
Boil one cup water in a pot. Add a pouch of dehydrated hash browns. Add 1/3 cup powdered milk, 2 tablespoons flour, powdered egg, bacon bits, dried onions, salt, pepper. Boil until hash browns are tender.
Rice Pudding
Boil water and add a pouch of instant rice in a pot. Add raisins, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, ¼ cup powdered milk, and nutmeg to taste. Boil for five minutes, turn off the heat, and let it sit for five more minutes.
Oatmeal and Raisins
Instant oatmeal packs are easy to carry while you backpack. Boil your water in a pot. Add raisins and an oatmeal packet.
Dinner
When you are backpacking, a great one pot meal will hit the spot at the end of the day. Here are few recipes to try next time you take a backpacking trip.
Chicken and Rice/Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 package of Chicken and Rice Dried Soup Mix (such as Knorr or Lipton)
- Chicken chunk packet
- Dehydrated broccoli (optional)
Read the chicken and rice soup packet and pour into the pot the amount of water indicated. Add the soup mix and the chicken chunks. Add dehydrated broccoli if you want. Boil the amount of time indicated on the packet.
Tuna Noodle Stew
Ingredients
- 1 box of Macaroni and Cheese
- 1 packet of tuna
- Dehydrated celery or other vegetables (optional)
- ¼ cup dry milk
In your pot, put one and a half cups of water and noodles from your macaroni and cheese box. Add dehydrated celery and vegetables if you want. Boil until the noodles are soft. Add the cheese packet, dried milk, and tuna packet. Cook a little longer until the tuna is warm.
Pizza Rice
Boil a cup of water. Add the following ingredients and boil until rice is soft:
- 1/3 cup instant rice
- 1 pouch of dried pepperoni
- 1 tablespoon tomato powder
- 1 teaspoon dried tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried mushrooms
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano and basil
- 1/3 cup powdered cheese
Spicy Tuna CousCous
Boil one cup of water in a pot. Add 1/3 cup couscous, ½ cup dried mixed vegetables and a five ounce package of sweet and spicy tuna.
One Pot Backpacking Meals
Your backpacking meals will taste better if you make homemade dehydrated fruits, vegetables, and meat. Buy a good quality food dehydrator and start making your own dried fruits and vegetables. After you know how to dehydrate fruits and vegetables, learn how to dehydrate meat.
Conclusion
For most of the one pot backpacking meals it is easier for you to combine all the dry ingredients at home in a zip lock bag. Label the bag so you know what meal it contains. When you get to your camping spot, boil the water, and pour in the bagged ingredients.
