What We Eat on Multi-Day Hikes

January 24, 2026

There was a time when hikers cut toothbrushes in half, trimmed clothing tags, and proudly announced that their new titanium spoon was 0.5 grams lighter than their mate’s. These days? Our headlamps have more lumens than stadium lighting, our tents pitch themselves, and somehow… we’re still arguing about food weight while packing a full café setup and a coffee maker that needs a barista qualification to operate.

Food on a multi-day hike isn’t just fuel. It’s morale. It’s recovery. It’s the thing you think about all day while grinding uphill with a pack that definitely wasn’t this heavy at the car park.

This isn’t a “do it our way or you’re wrong” blog. This is a mega, share-with-your-mates, deep dive into what to eat on multi-day hikes — from planning and nutrition to packaging, ingredients, coffee snobbery, and why dinner tastes better eaten straight from a bowl.

Meal Planning: Count Days, Nights… and Calories

Before you even think about what brand or flavour, think how many days, how many nights, any resupply and do you burn calories like an elite athlete — or do you have some “built-in reserves”?

A rough guide is 3000 to 5000 calories per day is common on multi-day hikes. Steep terrain, cold temps, and heavier packs = higher needs and under-eating = fatigue, bad decisions, and hanger incidents 😬

Pro tip: Plan by day, not by meal or use an app like PAKU. Some days you’ll smash everything. Some days you’ll barely touch dinner.

Nutrition on Trail: Are You Elite or Just Hungry?

Not everyone hikes the same. You’ve got the fast movers & ultralighters with higher carb intake and faster digestion. Slow and steady walkers usually have balanced carbs, fats and protein.

Protein matters

Protein helps with muscle recovery and satiety (less snack-raiding at midnight) for that feeling of being human again the next morning.

Chest puffing - This is why we believe our fully cooked - then freeze-dried meals - outperform, powder-based component made meals when it comes to taste, nutrition, digestion and recovery.

Ingredients: Real Food vs “What Is That Number?”

Let’s talk about the elephant in the pouch. Is this a list of ingredients or a math equation?

Here’s a real ingredient list from a mainstream chicken hiking meal (not naming names, but… wtaf). The ingredients list shows the order of highest percent ingredient to the lowest. Interesting. So for this meal the ‘rice’ component is the biggest followed by the ‘powdered sauce’ adding weight and bulk, next ingredient is ‘chicken [chicken ingredients in brackets]’ Wait! Isn't chicken just chicken..?

Rice, sauce [Sugar, Thickener (1442), Rice Flour, Dehydrated Vegetables, Salt, Herb & Spices, Potato Starch, Coconut Milk Powder, Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (Maize), Maltodextrin (Maize), Flavours, Acidity Regulator (330)], chicken [chicken, salt, milk protein, stabiliser (450, 451)]…

So what do these numbers mean? Well none of these numbers are illegal - but they add weight, bulk, and digestion issues without adding real nutrition.

That’s why many hikers ask:

“Is this going to back me up on trail… or go through me like a laser beam and send me sprinting for the toilet paper?”

Freeze-Dried vs Dehydrated vs Wet Packs (some notes)

Freeze-Dried is the lightest option and has the best nutrient retention at around 97%. Due to the drying process freeze dried hiking food also has excellent texture and colour. Rehydration is super fast which means less gas required and no actual simmering or cooking as such is needed unlike dehydrated meals.

Dehydrated meals are heavier because the cell structure collapses (mush factor) during drying and not all the moisture is removed. They need a longer cooking time so more gas bottles will be required and used. If you are making your own meals this is the best bit as it is rewarding and you will know exactly what is in the meal. Downside is the process being super time consuming from menu planning to shopping, cooking, drying and packing - say goodbye to your weekends…

Wet Packs like the old army style MRE’s are heavy as you are carrying the actual weight of the meal. They have a shorter shelf life but do taste ok. The weight does add up fast so do the calculations.

Five dinners comparison:

Freeze-dried: ~500g = cooked weight 2kg. Lightest with the biggest yield
Dehydrated: ~700g = cooked weight 1.2kg
Wet packs: ~1.25kg 😬 = cooked weight 1.25kg. It is what it is…

“But What About First-Night Steak or Snags?”

Look, we get it and are guilty of doing it.

There’s romance in carrying a steak in for night one. Guess what? Quality freeze-dried meals now exist. Now some tracks (👋 Three Capes Tasmania) literally have BBQs so you can splurge for the first night and morning with a full English breakfast but ask yourself is this about experience — or tradition for tradition’s sake?

Lunches That Don’t Suck

Lunch shouldn’t feel like a punishment.

Here's a few ideas that work:

Wraps with slow-cooked pulled meats - Yep we now have these in our range.
Soft tacos using BBQ Beef Brisket or Chipotle Pulled Beef
Mountain Bread, tortillas, or flatbreads with freeze dried hummus
Freeze dried cheese or nut butters for calorie-dense, packable lunch snacks which don’t require cooking.

Snacks & Desserts: Don’t Skip Them

Snacks aren’t optional — they’re strategic. Sweet and salty, quick access and easy to eat while walking. Woolies has such a great selection these days and the brands are so competitive there is always something on sale.

Dessert matters more than you think. It’s a psychological reset as something to look forward to and a reason to forgive your legs for what they just endured or justify buying uber-light hiking gear so your food weight doesn't matter as much.

Tea & Coffee: Let’s Be Honest

Somewhere, probably in Melbourne, someone is packing: a digital scale, a hand grinder and a coffee maker that needs a two-day induction.
Meanwhile, boiling water = burnt grounds so don’t boil unless the water needs treatment. My ideal coffee water is 85°C which for me is when I can see the first steam off the pot? This is normally close enough for a simple coffee setup even with coffee bags that taste better with hot, not boiling water.

Eat from the Pouch v Eat from a Bowl

Eating from a food pouch means no bowl to clean and less weight carried. It’s quick, convenient and also has a second function as a rubbish bag for packing out waste.

Yes, that titanium bowl will look great on Instagram posts however we do believe it adds to the overall experience — it’s your call.

Packaging & Environmental Reality

Thin (you know the ones) zip-lock bags = no oxygen barrier which means Moisture + air = spoiled food. We sell our old food pouches online instead of adding to landfill. These pouches have proper light and moisture barrier properties so your food has longer shelf life.