Vegan Backpacking Food
It isn't as difficult as you might think to find vegan backpacking
food. For years that is essentially what I brought on my trips,
although I wasn't on a vegan diet. In fact, I just liked to keep
it simple, and the simplest meals on the trail happen to be vegan.
Some examples follow.
First of all, I don't like to cook or carry a stove, so I
have always mostly relied on ready-to-eat foods. These include
nuts and whole-grain crackers. I also love corn chips and I often
bring sunflower seeds. As you can see, if you're not cooking,
it is easy to avoid animal products. Here are some other options:
Raisins
Prunes
Pumpkin seeds
Granola
Candy bars (some dark chocolates don't use milk)
Bread
Peanut butter
Jams and jellies
Potato chips
Vegetable chips
Papaya (dried)
Pretzels
Tortilla chips
Vegan Backpacking Food - Cooked Meals
What if you are one that needs at least one hot meal daily?
Here are some vegan backpacking foods for you:
Soups
Some of the soup mixes sold in regular grocery stores are
actually vegan even though they don't advertise themselves as
such. For example, there are some good black bean soups that
come in a cup and only need boiling water added to them. They're
very convenient, and though they take a bit of space in the pack,
they are light for the calories you get.
Pasta
Get the finest angel-hair pastas for faster cooking. You can
bring olive oil and spices to mix in, as well as dried mushrooms
and other vegetables. Let the vegetables soak in water while
you set up camp, so they cook faster once you get the pasta started.
Veggie Burgers and Hot Dogs
Although veggie burgers and dogs need refrigeration, you can
still have them for dinner the first night on the trail. Just
put them in your pack frozen, wrapped in some clothing, and they'll
slowly thaw all day. The hot dogs are the most convenient if
you plan on a fire, because you can skip the pan and cook them
on a stick. Check ingredients though. many of these products
are vegetarian but not vegan (they typically have milk products).
Rice
Instant rice is one of the easier meals to cook while backpacking,
and is even available in whole-grain varieties. Again, you can
spice it up with dried vegetables.
Mashed Potatoes
Instant mashed potatoes don't really milk or butter to taste
great. Just add olive oil, garlic powder and salt (and some Italian
seasoning perhaps). Then pour boiling water into the mix and
stir it up. That's easy and delicious vegan backpacking food.
|
