• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

TotalHiker

Your Hiking Guide

  • Apparel
  • Gear
  • Hikes
  • Info
Total Hiker > Hiking Info > Food & Water > 5 Easy To Prepare No Cook Hiking Meals

5 Easy To Prepare No Cook Hiking Meals

No-stove hiking meals are perfect for those wishing to avoid the weight (extra 1-lbs or more) of carrying a stove, pot, and fuel combination.

Why go stoveless?

A no-cook hiking trip can provide a variety of benefits over the alternative of packing a stove, fuel, and related supplies for cooking a warm meal.

A major benefit is the simplicity factor. There is no need to be concerned with a cooking pot, setting up a stove, measuring fuel, etc. Just eat or hydrate the prepared food.

Make sure the food is nutritious and filling to keep the energy levels up while out exploring on the trails.

Other great reasons to go stoveless include:

  • Burn bans
  • Environmentally sound
  • Less need to carry water
  • Logistics
  • Weight saving

Top 5 No Stove Hiking Meals

Here are five no-stove meals to experience out on the hiking trails:

Chia porridge

A delightful on-the-go trail meal is chia porridge. While it won’t be warm, the chia porridge is able to get into a cold form which just needs reviving with water and 2-3 minutes.

Extra taste is achieved by adding cinnamon (carry in a zip-lock bag) or dried fruit.

Crusty bread roll

Make a delicious crusty bread roll with cured meat and a hard cheese (slices of provolone or cheddar are great). This trail meal is easy to prepare and won’t crumble in your backpack even after walking for several hours.

Use bagels as an alternative to the crusty bread – and bagels are less likely to leave crumbs behind. Plus, if hiking in an area common to bears, a zip-close bag or similar can be used to conceal the smell.

  Hiking & Backpacking Lunch Ideas - What food for a day hike?

Hummus

Add a plain hummus to tortillas or pita bread for an instant snack on the trails. Extra taste and flavor is possible with the addition of radish sprouts, mustard greens, cress, or similar greens, as well as dried tomatoes and olives.

Nut Butters

Add the pouch or squeeze packets of nut butter to celery or banana chips for a quick and simple snack on the trails. Alternatively, use any other base for the butter that travels well. Use the pouches (in place of the glass jars) to keep the weight down in the backpack.

Tuna and Crackers

Tuna and crackers are a quick trail meal to prepare and easy to stow in your backpack. Tuna or chicken makes a simple shelf-stable food that will last on the trails without a problem.

Alternatively, for those not too keen on crackers, it can easily be replaced with crusty bread or make a tortilla. Extra taste is possible with dried tomatoes and slices of cucumber.

Lentils can go well with crackers and a pack of dressing. All of these items are long-lasting and perfect to pack as part of a no-cook trail menu.

Tools

Even though there is no need for a stove, pots, and pans with the no-cook recipes it can still benefit to have a variety of useful tools, such as utensils, ice, sealable bags, tin foil, and can opener. Other larger items could include cutting board and cooler.

Matt

Matt Green, is an avid hiker and lover of the great outdoors. He is always planning his next big trip or hitting the trails for a solo hike.

  Hydration While Hiking: How to Find Alternative Sources of Water

He’s traveled extensively to many remote regions and has plenty of experience exploring various terrains, and stories to tell.

Contents

  • 1 Why go stoveless?
  • 2 Top 5 No Stove Hiking Meals
    • 2.1 Chia porridge
    • 2.2 Crusty bread roll
    • 2.3 Hummus
    • 2.4 Nut Butters
    • 2.5 Tuna and Crackers
  • 3 Tools

May 22, 2021

Primary Sidebar

Hiking Foods for the Trail

10 Lightweight and Nutritious Hiking Foods for the Trail

DIY Jerky Recipes

6 Home Made Jerky Recipes for Hiking and Camping Energy!

Hiking Food Tips

Hiking Food Tips: 4 Useful Tips for the Hiking Trails

How to Find Sources of Water

Hydration While Hiking: How to Find Alternative Sources of Water

Essential Hydration Safety Tips For Hiking

Essential Hydration Safety Tips For Hiking

Types of Hiking Stove

What Are The Types of Hiking and Camping Stove?

More on Hiking and Camping Food >>

Footer

  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • About Total Hiker
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • Sitemap

Copyright © 2023 Total Hiker

Affiliate Disclosure

We believe in being as transparent as possible when it comes to this site. With this in mind, please be aware that we may receive remuneration for some of the products we review on this site.

Total Hiker is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com (and other Amazon programs).

We will also list ads from time to time. You should be able to see these as text links or blocks of ads which have a small notation indicating “Ads by Google” or “AdChoices”.

Our mission is to help our visitors, but this is also very clearly a for-profit site and you should realize as much. We include only those products that we believe could benefit you, some of which we may get a commission if you purchase them. However, we also provide links on the site to information resources for which we receive no compensation.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please contact us using the "contact" option on the site menu and we will be happy to answer any questions.

Being Social

FaceBook

Twitter

Trademark Dislosure

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.

In addition, any other trademarks and logos we mention on this site are also the property of their respective owners.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
SAVE & ACCEPT