How To Choose the Right Food for a Multi-day Hike

The Best Hiking Foods

When choosing food for a multi-day hike, you’ll want to look for nutrient-dense meals. Here’s why:

These foods provide sufficient nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruit, non-fat and low-fat dairy, nuts, legumes, etc. – you get the picture. When you eat these types of foods, the calories aren’t “empty” and give your body the energy it needs.

Nutrient-dense food will provide you with sustained energy without experiencing a feeling of your food “weighing you down.”

Do’s and Don’ts

Choose food with complex carbohydrates and proteins. This mix will ensure a slow release of energy throughout the day.
Avoid foods that are fatty or contain refined sugar. While this food might be tasty, it will give you a quick boost of energy that will inevitably result in a drop of energy.

So, What Is the Best Food for a Multi-Day Hike?

Meals that contain beans or legumes are always an excellent nutrient-dense hiking meal (take a look at our tasty Chilli Con Carne and Beef Burrito Mix hiking meal options).

Starchy vegetables are also a no-brainer when you’re heading out on a multi-day hike (we definitely recommend our Beef & Barley and Red Lentil Dhal if you love your veggies!

Whole grains are ideal for a hiking trip where your body needs sustained fuel over several days, making our Beef & Barley, Chicken and Lentil Curry, and Red Lentil Dhal hiking meals the ideal choice if you want to pack the right hiking food.

Lentils

Lentils offer these benefits:

Complex carbohydrates
It’s a rich plant protein source
Low GI

Barley

Barley is a great hiking food option for the following reasons:

Complex carbohydrates
It contains niacin, which is a B vitamin the body uses to convert food into energy.
Low GI

Things to Consider on a Multi-Day Hiking Trip

We know that planning for a multi-day hiking trip requires a lot of planning and that you might feel a bit overwhelmed with all the logistics. Here are our tips to help you with your food planning.

Choose lightweight and compact food so that it doesn’t weigh you down.
Your meals need to be easy to prepare and easy to eat on the go (just imagine having a delicious meal for lunch on the trail). And, of course, healthy!
Always consider the quantity, quality, variety, and simplicity of your hiking meals. The Trail Food Company ticks all these boxes. We offer medium and large meal sizes, with no additives or preservatives, and various lightweight meal options individually packaged.
Plan your meals according to the location where you’ll be hiking. If you’re expecting cold weather, comfort food with additional calories might be necessary. If you’re heading to an arid location with loads of steep inclines, you’ll need all the carbs you can get, so be sure to look at the nutritional breakdown of the meals you plan to take.

Before You Go

Now that you know what to look out for to choose the right hiking food, we hope your backpack will be full of nutrient-dense meal choices.

If you need any help putting together your meal kit for a multi-day hike, take a look at our convenient curated Packs. We know that the body requires proper fuel on a multi-day hike and our meals have everything to sustain you. Have fun on your next adventure!