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 have to have milk or butter to taste great. Just add olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Then pour boiling water into the mix and stir it up. That's easy and delicious vegan backpacking food.

The Ultralight Backpacking Site | Vegan Backpacking Food