The unlucky folk who can happily survive on pretty much nothing but muesli bars and scroggin day after day after day can skip this and all the rest of our cooking posts! Otherwise read on!

Man reaching into a day pack gettign out food whilst suitting on top of a rocky outcrop overlook a large rocky cliff face in the background — You’ll know by now that Geoff and I enjoy our food! For longer hikes especially, variety is essential.

For a through-hike such as ***the Bibbulmun*** where we made 60+ dinners, a range of different healthy foods maintains inner fitness.

A lot of people look purely at calories, choosing energy dense protein or nut bars, GORP/scroggin and other classic hiking foods. But this way of eating is very different to our normal pattern – Geoff and I often have a snack late afternoon but we don’t graze during the day. However, on our long distance hike, we realised we needed regular, high protein snacks in a way that doesn’t happen on shorter hikes. I sometimes wonder how much hiker hunger is influenced by energy dense food that supplies calories but doesn’t actually fill your tummy, is unbalanced in carbs and protein, or that releases its energy all at once rather than slowly over several hours.

Man sitting on ground in foregrounds leaning against tree on the side of a narrow foot track through shrubby vegetation. A lake can be seen trough the gap in the vegetation — *Lunch in the shelter of a Billy Pine,*

*Walls of Jerusalem*

As slow hikers, we like to actually stop for lunch, sitting down somewhere nice with a view, or sheltered if it’s raining. We have a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner, but our am and pm snacks also have to be nutritious and calorie dense on multiday hikes: tasty little treats aren’t enough.

When planning backpacking meals, most of us are careful about the weight of our dinners, but snacks and lunches add up if you’re not mindful about their water content. Salami, cheese, tuna and peanut butter are great and energy dense, but your pack gets heavy fast. If you include or exclusively use dehydrated or dry food, your total carry will be much lighter. We never take wraps or bread anymore – Geoff’s seeded crackers are lighter, yummier, and last longer.

Two people sittin g on a sandy slope covered with groundcover looking out over the sea with a small island just a little way off shore — *Crusty bread, view and locally smoked fish on a day walk in Lincoln National Park.*

Consider planning differently for overnight or short hikes, than for long ones where you have to carry food for multiple days. Ideally include fewer or no heavy options for the latter, and choose anything you like for short hikes.

Two people with their backpacks next to them sitting amongst low coastal vegetation near the edge of a cliff looking along the rocky cliff shoreline at waves crashing into the rocks — *Lunch with friends on the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.*

For longer hikes, we eat the heaviest lunches first. The first day can even be something picked up from a town. In Europe on popular routes, there will be a rifugia or town where you can buy lunch each morning or even lunchtime – a crusty baguette with a locally produced cheese and salami is pretty hard to beat when it’s eaten on a mountain with views across the alps!

Geoff sitting on a timber bench seat with a post and rail fence in front looking across a grassy area with patches of snow on it towards a deep valley below and a rugged snow capped mountain range in the background — *Baguette with view - Dolomites*

But you rarely find such cafes on remote Australian mountaintops, so you’ll be packing your own food. When there are two of you, always combine both portions into a single bag or package to save on space and packaging weight.

We try to include slow release carbs such as pulses (in the dips), oatmeal (in smoothies) and wholegrain flour (the latter in the crackers), plus protein in the seeds, tuna, jerky, salmon, dips and cheese. We have been caught by including insufficient protein on long distance hikes, so be sure to add plenty in either vegetable or meat derived sources.

Two hikers with their packs next to them sitting on top of a partially grassed sand dune looking across at the beach and waves below. — *On this hike on the* *Investigator Trail, Lincoln National Park, we packaged all *three* lunches together to save space.*

Here are the kinds of lunches that work well for us.

Crackers

Geoff makes different seeded homemade crackers for lunch, which we have with different toppings and dehydrated dips (recipes to come) that I make. Crackers are one of the easiest ways to save weight in food – about 80g for two of us, plus various toppings. Numerous kinds of crackers are available in every supermarket and health food shop, so choose different ones for longer hikes to improve variety.

Dips and Crackers

Dips include white bean, beetroot, carrot and coriander, hummus, and baba ganoush, but almost any dip can be dehydrated as long as it is low in fat. And these dips are light: 60-80g for two.

A close up of two cracker biscuits with dip on each, sitting on a granite rock — *Geoff’s crackers with my dip:*

*a team effort!*

Five tins of mixed beans and peas stacked in a pyramid shape — *Add beans, chickpeas or lentils to dips that normally don’t have them, such as pumpkin, beetroot or baba ganoush dips.*

*This will improve their texture and nutritional value.*

We also carry a tiny bottle of olive oil and add a teaspoon to each when rehydrating so it’s less pasty; olive oil is one of the most calorie dense foods you can carry, so it’s equally useful for boosting dinners. Package 2-person dip portions in snack-sized ziplocs. Add a little water and olive oil, close, squish around, and cut one corner of the bag. Squeeze onto crackers. Or open and scoop out dip with the cracker.

A man and woman hikers sitting on and against a log with sunglasses smiling with thick vegetation as a backdrop — *Dip Ziploc on the ground. Cracker Ziploc in my hand.*

*Obligatory view is there but out of frame!*

Homemade dips are cheap and easy, and many require no cooking before dehydrating, but here are some commercial ones:

https://www.spicesaustralia.com.au/shop?page=3

Or more economically: https://www.spicesaustralia.com.au/product-page/gourmet-blend-special

Sustainably fished Tuna sachets and Crackers

Two sachets of tuna meals from the supermarket — *Tuna sachets are heavy but are so nutrient dense that they are worth including for at least a few lunches. Choose ones packed in oil rather than spring water for more calories.*

*One 75-80g sachet is enough for two of us when combined with high protein crackers.*

Two hikers sitting on a sloping limestone shelf looking out across low shrubby vegetation to the sea — *Tuna for lunch with a view of the tuna fishing capital of Australia, Port Lincoln.*

Soup and Crackers

You’ll need to factor in additional fuel but, in cold weather, a hot cup of soup (60g for two) with crackers is pretty darn good. You can make your own, like our homemade instant chicken and corn cup-a-soup , our homemade instant carrot, coconut and lentil soup, our homemade instant ham and bean soup or buy commercial instant sachets. Choose ones with the most calories.

Cheese and Crackers

There’s good old Laughing Cow brand shelf stable “cheese”, also available in cheddar, but we recently discovered 100% cheese freeze dried Australian feta. It’s expensive but, rehydrated and with a few drops of olive oil added, it is DIVINE on plain crackers, and a little – just 25g for two – goes a VERY long way.

processed shelf stable cheese — *Laughing Cow Cheese*

*21% cheese*

man pulling strange face after eating the cheese — *Geoff discovers the aftertaste of the 79% not cheese*

For shorter hikes in cooler weather, or on the first few days after resupply towns, hard cheeses such as parmesan are heavy but calorie dense and add variety.

Salami and Crackers

Aged unsliced salami – the sort you see hanging at room temperature in providores – is terrific in cool weather. Aim to finish within a few days of cutting. Like cheese, it’s heavy but calorie dense.

A woman hiker sitting on top of a grassy ledge with her pack beside her looking down along a long valley far below with snow capped mountains in the far background — *Baguette and salami picked up in the morning when we left from the local village, plus local view, Dolomites.*

Spreads and Crackers

We rarely use nut butters or Nutella – they are heavy but energy dense so, if you pair them with crackers rather than bread, the weight isn’t too bad. Make sure the jar is lightweight and the right size! And make sure you avoid the hot smoky paprika favoured crackers!

Hiker sitting on a log with his pack beside him at the shores of a Lake Adelaide looking across the lake that has small wavy ripples on it. A large dead tree is just behind the hiker on the very lake edge. — *Dips and crackers - tasting all the better for the beautiful views across Lake Adelaide,* *Walls of Jerusalem*

A packet of beef jerky — *Jerky and Crackers*

The very dry jerky brands are best eaten as snacks but the softer ones taste great on crackers, a bit like salami… and they’re relatively light. Choose a package size that will take the two of you no longer than two days to consume once opened.

Hiker in blue jacket with a backpack either side sitting on a volcanic ridge covered with small rocks over looking a wide volcanic ash plain bellow. Snow capped hills and pale green hills are in the background — Lunch in Iceland with the usual quality view. Eating dip here, but later we discovered an unusual dried fish jerky – light, high calorie, high protein and widely available. But taste before committing!

Smoothies

These smoothies also make excellent calorie dense lunches and because they have oatmeal in them you don’t need crackers as well. I adapt the recipes, adding coconut yoghurt, milk powder and oatmeal to increase the nutrition (I don’t dehydrate dairy products). A serve for two of us weighs 90g.

Alternatively, buy vegetable protein drinks, or sustagen meal replacement powders.

Dehydrated smoothies vacuum sealed and ready for storage. Each of the 8 packets is labelled with the contents and volume of water required for rehydration — *Smoothies for two;*

*vac-sealed and ready for the track.*

Salad and crackers

Deliciously crunchy dehydrated salads (marinated in vinegary flavoursome dressing before dehydrating) can be cold soaked and combine perfectly with crackers, or throw in some croutons. Salads like coleslaw are yummy but contain few carbs or protein for energy. Try adding couscous, precooked beans, lentils, quinoa, pearl barley, risoni or other carb. An oily dressing or mayonnaise such as found in little takeaway packets adds calories; add dehydrated feta, soy beans, freeze dried tofu or cheese for extra protein. You might like to try our Dehydrated Cold-Soak Bean Salad it’s one of our lightest, energy dense lunches and is particularly enjoyable on a warm day.