10 Backcountry Recipes for Your Next ENO Inspired Adventure

Before, during and after a long day of backpacking, paddling, climbing, exploring or adventuring, it’s absolutely necessary to eat right, eat well, and eat a lot! Food tastes a thousand times better out on a trip anyways, so you might as well put in a little extra work and make your trip meals the bomb! Trying to cook or prepare decent food in the backcountry can sometimes be a complete and total disaster, and anyone who has experienced horrible trip meals in the past knows how disappointing this can be.  These 10 meal ideas might take a little more time to make and might cost a bit more, but they are so worth it and can of course be adjusted! Hopefully after reading these meal ideas, you and your fellow trip buddies wont have to suffer through a gross or boring recipe ever again.

All Meals Below Feed Approx. 8-12

Recipes 1- 3: Breakfast

Recipes 4 and 5: Lunch

Recipes 6-10: Dinner

BREAKFAST

Fruit Glop Galore!

Definitely not the most appealing name, but this all time favorite breakfast recipe is second to none. Quite simply, Fruit Glop is a super deluxe parfait that everyone will LOVE!

Ingredients:

• 2 tubs of vanilla yogurt
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Honey Crisp Apples
• Any other fruit you can get your hands on! (kiwi, blackberries, raspberries, peaches)
• Crunchy Granola
• -Secret Ingredient: Vanilla Wafers or Graham Crackers!

Cooking Directions:

1. Super simple, just chop up all the fruit to your liking, mix everything together and enjoy!

Scrambled Oatmeal Pancakes

This is one interesting and yummy breakfast that can easily be adjusted to your liking.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of pancake mix
• 2 packets of instant oatmeal, choose your flavaJ
• Butter/Pam non-stick spray
• Dried Blueberries
• Chocolate Chips
• M&M’s
• Peanut Butter
• 3/8-cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Syrup
• Water

Cooking Directions:

1. Start by mixing the pancake batter with water and oatmeal packets. Find the sweet spot, not to thick and not to runny.
2. Heat up pan and spray with a nonstick spray or butter
3. You can make normal pancakes if you desire but scrambling them is amazing!
4. Don’t let the batter sit (if you desire)
5. Scramble batter, move it around the pan until golden brown.
6. Add as many extras as you wish! The more the better J
7. Eat and enjoy!

Dutch Oven Hash Browns

Need some energy in the form of carbs to start your day off right? This is the meal for you.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 bags of frozen hash browns
• Canola/Olive oil/Butter
• Sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• Spinach
• 1 white Onion
• 1 Tomato
• 2 Green peppers
• Salt & pepper + your favorite spices

Cooking Directions:

1. Place Dutch oven (or cooking pot) onto the fire (or stove)
2. Heat up oil or butter and add hash browns
3. Cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally, you may need to add more oil/butter if they start to stick.
4. Add cheese and extras
5. Cover until cheese is melted.
6. Stir and serve

LUNCH

Baja Wraps!

Quick, easy, and delightful trip lunch on the go.

Ingredients:

• Tortillas
• 1 jar of Nutella
• Peanut butter, 1 jar creamy, 1 jar crunchy
• Honey
• Granola
• Shredded Coconut
• Banana Chips

Cooking Directions:

1. Spread Nutella, Peanut Butter and honey onto a tortilla
2. Add extras, wrap up and chow down

Adult Lunchables

This one is a classic. Don’t you miss those incredible pizza Lunchables from the good old days?

Ingredients:

• Pita/flat bread
• Pizza squeeze sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Peperoni
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Mushrooms, Green Pepper, Onion, chopped
• Spices (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano…)

Cooking Directions:

1. Spread pizza squeeze all over bread
2. Layer with peperoni, cheese and veggies
3. Spice up the top and reminisce on how much better these are than middle school lunches back in the day.

DINNER

Pleasing Pesto Pasta Plethora

My personal all time favorite trip meal! This is a legendary recipe that I first learned as a young boy at the wilderness camp I attended for several years. I’ve also fine-tuned this meal throughout my time spent leading backcountry wilderness trips across the United States. Also known as “Pesto Carb,” this delight will fill your belly up right!

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. Rigatoni noodles
• 4 packs of dried pesto mix
• 2 white onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 green peppers
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 1 lb. shredded Mozzarella cheese
• ½ pound Cheddar cheese
• ½ Pepper-Jack cheese
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes + your favorite spices
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese

Cooking Directions:

1. Boil water in a large pot, add a pinch of salt
2. Once water is boiled add tomatoes to boiling water.
3. Once tomatoes look like they are about to burst take them out and place them in frying pan.
4. Remove the skin from the tomatoes (this should now be really easy as the skin is most likely falling off from being boiled).
5. Dice all of the vegetables and sauté with tomatoes in frying pan with a lot of butter (sauté these until the noodles are done at least, the tomato juice will prevent any burning to the pan).
6. While veggies are sautéing place noodles in boiling water and cook till soft.
7. When finished, drain the noodles
8. Add butter, then the cheese, veggies and pesto into the noodles.
9. Stir extremely well and spice with red pepper flakes and garlic powder. 

Jammin’ Jambalaya Wraps

Explosion of flavor and super easy to make! Best part about this meal is there are hardly any dishes thanks to tortillas!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Packs of Zatarain’s (or alternative) Jambalaya Mix
• 2 cans black beans
• 2 onions
• 2 green peppers
• 3 cloves garlic
• Summer/Italian Sausage or Chicken
• 1 stick peperoni
• Franks Hot Sauce
• Cheddar cheese
• Tortillas!

Cooking Directions:

1. Heat water in a large pot and add Jum Mix
2. Chop all vegies and meat (sauté’ in butter/olive oil if desired)
3. Wait for Jum mix to finish cooking. Boil out extra water
4. Combine all ingredients in pot and stir
5. Add Jambalaya to tortillas (add cheese/hot sauce)
6. Chow down and enjoy no dishes (except cooking pot)

Gado Gado Gado

Peanut Butter Pasta. This delicious meal is seriously seriously seriously da bomb. Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs. of egg noodles
• 1 fist of peanut butter
• 3 cups of soy sauce
• 5 cups of vinegar
• sesame seeds
• 2 heads broccoli
• 4 large carrots
• 2 blocks tofu
• 1 red onion
•  

Cooking Directions:

1. Dice all the veggies and tofu and sauté them in a large frying pan in olive oil.
2. Pour all the vinegar and soy sauce into a small pot and heat.
3. Slowly add peanut butter and about two tablespoons of sesame seeds.
4. Whisk sauce while heating until the peanut butter is no longer grainy.
5. Cook pasta in boiling water.
6. Mix all together and enjoy.

Hobo Dinner

There are SO many options for this one. This super easy trip meal can be modified whatever which way you choose. Whatever direction you decide to take with this dinner, it’s guaranteed to satisfy! Don’t forget TIN FOIL!!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Potatoes (normal and sweet)
• Carrots
• Onion
• Green pepper
• Tomato
• Garlic clove
• Chicken breast
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Hot sauce
• Your favorite spices
• Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Chop up all vegies and chicken breast
2. Fold up tin foil into a square and smother in olive oil
3. Load up as many vegies as you can fit along with spices and hot sauce
4. Don’t add cheese till the very end!!!
5. Fold in the corners of your foil pack to seal shut.
6. Place on the fire for approx. 15 minuets each side or until ingredients are soft
7. Once fully cooked, carefully unfold and throw on cheese
8. Stir up and chow down!

Tai Green Curry

Another Fabulous camp inspired meal tat I remember eating on the trail growing up. Try it out!

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice
• Garlic
• 1 large head broccoli
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• 1 zucchini
• 1 onion
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 1 jar green curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Serrano pepper (if you like it spicy)

Directions:

1. Sauté garlic, onion, and Serrano pepper.
2. Add curry paste, broccoli, peppers, zucchini, and coconut milk and let simmer.
3. Add water chestnuts and serve on rice.

So much thanks to anyone who checked out this blog post! Hopefully you can utilize some of these recipes while your out on the trail, or just at home! Either way thanks for reading and please feel free to ask me any questions you might have or like/comment/share to spread the word!

By Grant Sachs – ENO College Brand Ambassador