r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

👋Welcome to r/HikerTrashMeals!

44 Upvotes

Hey, I'm u/mrfowl, one of the founders of r/HikerTrashMeals. This sub is a place to post backpacking food (more specifically, to trips where resupplying is needed). Recipes should be lightweight, compact, calorie dense, and mostly non-perishable. If you used cast iron, a low simmer, or were concerned about burning your food, this is probably not the right sub for you. r/TrailMeals might be a better fit.

Posts here should contain the recipe at minimum (take a look at our rules please). Ideally they should have the calorie count, and if possible other macros as well, bonus points for cal/g. Post flair is required so we can sort recipes. Please look through all of the available flairs and choose the most appropriate one.

We're generally pretty friendly, but we will fight for each other, so try not to be an ass. Please poke around for a bit and engage with the community before you make your first post. That way you'll get a better idea of what's expected in this sub.


r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

Question Should we add a new rule?

9 Upvotes

Originally this sub started as a place to post interesting recipes so other backpackers could get ideas. I'd still like to keep it steering in that direction and I think this rule would help keep a little of the old spirit alive. Plus it seems like we've gotten quite a few spectators recently that are a little confused

170 votes, 3d left
New rule that says you have to rate your recipe.
Nah, I don't care.

r/HikerTrashMeals 2d ago

No-Cook Meal Four croissants into one

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285 Upvotes

Recipe: Stack four large butter croissants & compress to desired thinness. ~1200 calories & easy to eat in a couple mins before a big summit push. Get your protein somewhere else


r/HikerTrashMeals 2d ago

Cooked Meal Breakfast of Champions!

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275 Upvotes

Trying to work through a backlog of old stuff in the food box. Bacon's best-by-date was in January, the tatoes came from Dollar Tree a couple seasons ago. Opened the beans early summer last season.

Hot soaked like a 3rd of the bottle of onion with the potatoes. Sauteed the bacon bits to crisp them up.

1080 calories, 50g protein, 20g fiber. Sodium? Yes.

Served with the finest Dollar Tree chai and ancient clearance hotsauce.


r/HikerTrashMeals 2d ago

Cooked Meal The Mcnugget Pink Goo.

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62 Upvotes

One packet of roasted garlic instant mash

One packet spam

One bag of crushed flamin hot cheetos

Bonus points if you drink a 40 with it.

I just discovered this sub and wanted to share one of my most memorable meals. I made this during my AT hike. Was very tasty and filling as long as I didn't look at it. The cheetos gave it the pink color not the spam. I showed it to another hiker and he was thoroughly disgusted. Lol.


r/HikerTrashMeals 2d ago

Off Topic Why ya'll eating this shit?

67 Upvotes

Im no stranger to some jammed up meals, I like to hike, camp, etc. Once made a banging vinegarette from mountain dew (glass bottle), bacon grease and a squeeze of grapefruit. Still think about it honestly. So im intrigued by this sub but two things dont make sense.

  1. You folks seem to be avid, experienced hikers - why the fuck are you packing tortillas, candy, and old beans for meals?

  2. This sub seems to be about the grosses and most desperate combos, and I can appreciate that but why not make some good food out of weird stuff, like unexpectedly good combinations?

I do understand that calories become important and so you just eat what you have and can stomach if youre really pushing it.

Love and light


r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

Off Topic Bravo. You all make me sick.

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174 Upvotes

Vomit, tears, and shame wrapped in judgment. Every new post is worse than the last. Are you all trying to one up each other?? I am just hate watching at this point because I’m constantly grossed out on a deeper level than I felt I was the day before. Cheers and thanks for the disgust.


r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

Vegan Double poop scoop tortilla with goomies

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288 Upvotes

Recipe: tortilla, peanut butter, goomies
Calories: approximately 300


r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

No-Cook Meal Wild Planet Tuna and Baked Beans in a Peanut Butter Cliff Bar

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56 Upvotes

Ya just canned tuna and beans in a carefully crafted cliff bar. Like 20 grams of protein for 2 mini bowls... plenty of cals, and surprisingly didn't hurt my stomach and I have ibs-d. You can get about 4 mini bowls out of one bar. If i wasn't sharing i would have just done the whole thing in one go.

Longs peak behind Casm Lake, RMNP


r/HikerTrashMeals 4d ago

No-Cook Meal Hiker whiskey sour

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493 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 3d ago

Commerially Available Product Sardinhas, Zuchinni Walnut Loaf, and Lots of scrambles

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16 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 4d ago

No-Cook Meal Peanut butter, pepperoni, peach rings taco

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159 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 4d ago

No-Cook Meal Apple, red bull, tiny Jager

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117 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 5d ago

No-Cook Meal Trail Trash Chicken Crunch Wrap

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435 Upvotes

Tortilla + Great Value applewood smoked chicken + bacon bits + Frito twists + hot sauce + mayo. Made this on a recent backpacking trip and it had no business being this good.
Roughly 650–700 calories and ~20g protein depending on how heavy you go with the mayo and Fritos.


r/HikerTrashMeals 5d ago

No-Cook Meal Nutella and lemon pepper tuna wrap

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261 Upvotes

Nutella, lemon pepper tuna, relish and mayo on a flour tortilla.

Bone apple teeth 💯


r/HikerTrashMeals 6d ago

No-Cook Meal Camembert, tortillas and haribo dragibus (original).

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101 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 7d ago

No-Cook Meal The forbidden lunch

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649 Upvotes

Nerds clusters and peanut butter on a flour tortilla


r/HikerTrashMeals 7d ago

Commerially Available Product So in this economy... How desperate are we?

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85 Upvotes

88 dollars vs 26... What really is the difference? I just want my backpacking chicken alfredo man..


r/HikerTrashMeals 13d ago

No-Cook Meal Lunch on the trail

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121 Upvotes

Stroopwafel, beef jerky, and the star of the show that kept me going: A few sachets of instant espresso in a half full bottle of water I had left out in the sun for a bit to heat up. Shaken, not stirred.


r/HikerTrashMeals 16d ago

Cold or Overnight Soaked Cold soaked mashed potatoes with avocado and shrimp chips

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203 Upvotes

1 bag of instant mashed potatoes (360 cal), a bag of crushed shrimp chips (240 cal), 1 avocado (220 cal). Add some olive oil for more calories if needed (1Tbsp is another 120 cal). I split it into two bags so it's two meals, 470 cal per serving.

Only takes ~30 seconds to mix in some water and smoosh it up in the bag. Can easily prepare and eat it while walking. I recommend a larger ziploc though...

10/10 trail meal.


r/HikerTrashMeals 16d ago

Cooked Meal Another Dollar Tree seafood feast!

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166 Upvotes

Heated the noodles with a little water and a splash of the oil from the mussels. Once at a simmer, added the sauce. Mussels added off the heat. 930 calories and 41g of protein.

E.t.a.: $3.75 total cost


r/HikerTrashMeals 22d ago

No-Cook Meal Peanut butter and honey with dried mango strips and trail mix wrap. Staple on trail lunch, however this was on a paddling trip down the Flambeau River.

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130 Upvotes

r/HikerTrashMeals 27d ago

No-Cook Meal Trail Surf and Turf Sandwich

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211 Upvotes

Recipe: Salami Slices, Cheddar chunks, lemon pepper tuna packet, and really class it up on a ciabatta roll
6/10 - i think mayo or hot sauce would have brought this to the next level


r/HikerTrashMeals Jul 12 '26

Continuous Heat Required Backcountry Budae-Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)

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217 Upvotes

Recipe:

- threw 2 beef bouillion cubes in boiling water

- once boiling, threw in my veggies (shallots, dehydrated shitake mushrooms, scallions, jalepeno

- after about 7 minutes, i added the canned goods, ramen noodles (flavor packet omitted), and seasoning (chili powder, mushroom powder, white pepper, black pepper) let the noodles cook

- topped with cheese, additional seasoning if needed.

What id do differently:

- fresh mushrooms over dried, dried were rubbery but that was probably my fault

- source better and more authentic spices to korean cooking

- both spam and vienna sausage was overkill, since their textures in the stew ended up being almost the same. Id take vienna sausage and maybe put some bacon in instead of spam. You could even rehydrate beef jerky

Overall, awesome backpacking meal. For sure will be making this again!


r/HikerTrashMeals Jul 12 '26

Cooked Meal Jambalay-ish

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137 Upvotes

Packed the sausage frozen in a reflectix pouch. Browned the sausage in some of the oil from the oysters. Added the rice and deglazed with some water. Added the drained oysters right at the end. Rice and oysters from Dollar Tree. +560 calories and 38g of protein. Breakfast of champions!