Discover Irresistible Healthy Dehydrated Meal Recipes Perfect for Backpacking Adventures!

Backpacking and outdoor adventures demand careful planning, especially concerning food. Ensuring your body receives adequate nourishment during strenuous activities is crucial, making dehydrated meals an appealing option. This article explores the world of healthy dehydrated meal recipes, offering insights into preparing your own nutritious and delicious meals for the trail and beyond.

Why Dehydrate Your Own Meals?

While the convenience of pre-packaged freeze-dried backpacking meals is undeniable, they often come with limitations. These include high costs (ranging from $10-$15 per meal), limited options for those with dietary restrictions (such as soy, gluten, or high sodium content), and the inclusion of preservatives and additives. Dehydrating your own meals offers several advantages:

Cost Savings: Significantly reduces meal costs compared to store-bought options.
Customization: Allows you to tailor meals to your specific taste preferences and dietary needs.
Ingredient Control: Ensures you're consuming fresh, whole ingredients without unwanted preservatives or high sodium levels.
Reduced Waste: Minimizes packaging waste compared to commercially prepared backpacking meals.
Lightweight and Compact: Dehydrated meals are lightweight, making them ideal for backpacking, and dehydrating your own meals enables you to control the weight and what you bring on the trail.

Essential Equipment for Dehydrating Meals

While you don't need much beyond a standard knife and cutting board to start, certain equipment can enhance your dehydrating process:

Food Dehydrator: Essential for removing moisture from food. Look for one with adjustable temperature settings and multiple trays. A simple stackable dehydrator is great for beginners.
Parchment Paper or Silicone Mats: Prevents food from sticking to the dehydrator trays and makes cleanup easier.
Storage Containers: Silicon bags, Mason jars, Mylar bags or compostable bags are suitable for storing dehydrated ingredients and meals.
Other Useful Kitchen Items: Pots and blenders can be helpful for preparing ingredients.

Choosing the Right Ingredients

Not all ingredients dehydrate equally well. However, with proper preparation, you can dehydrate a wide variety of foods:

Proteins: Lean meats like chicken, ground turkey, and low-fat ground beef, as well as beans, TVP and tofu, are excellent choices.
Vegetables: Most vegetables can be dehydrated, but blanching them beforehand helps preserve their color, flavor, and nutrients.
Fruits: Many fruits dehydrate well and make for great snacks or additions to meals.
Sauces: Dehydrating sauces like curry sauce, pasta sauce, peanut sauce, and BBQ sauce separately can add flavor to your meals.
Carbohydrate Base: Almost every backpacking meal uses an easily rehydratable carbohydrate base as its staple ingredient, many of which are available at certain grocery stores and readily available online. Instant Rice: Minute Instant White Rice rehydrates well in around 10 minutes after adding boiling water and is available practically everywhere. Couscous: Regular couscous never has to be boiled. Instant Potatoes: Cheap and quick. Instant Noodles: Ramen noodles have been a backcountry staple of thru hikers for years.

Ingredients to consider

Coconut Milk Powder: Use coconut powder as a sauce base anytime you want a delicate balance of sweet and savory spices.
Peanut Butter Powder: Add it to oatmeals, create a peanut sauce for noodles or just snack on a spoonful of rehydrated peanut butter.
Freeze-Dried Fruits: Most recipes incorporate additional ingredients that will arrive in a day or two if ordered from Amazon Prime, but a few - such as those that use my favorite instant penne pasta base - require ingredients only available from select online suppliers.

The Dehydrating Process

Each dehydrator is different, so consult your dehydrator's guide for specific temperature and time recommendations. However, here are some general guidelines:

Prepare Ingredients: Cut ingredients into small, uniform pieces to ensure even drying. Blanch vegetables to preserve their quality.
Arrange on Trays: Spread food in a single layer on the dehydrator trays, avoiding overcrowding.
Dehydrate: Set the dehydrator to the appropriate temperature (usually around 135°F or 57°C) and dehydrate for the recommended time. Timing will vary based on size and shape of the items you’re dehydrating. Use lean meats to prevent spoilage.
Check for Dryness: Test for dryness by letting the food cool and then checking if it’s brittle or leathery.
Cool and Store: Ensure food is completely dry and cool before storing to prevent mold and spoilage.

Storage and Shelf Life

Proper storage is crucial for maintaining the quality and safety of your dehydrated meals:

Airtight Containers: Store dehydrated meals in airtight containers or vacuum-sealed bags to keep out moisture and air.
Cool, Dark Place: Store containers in a cool, dark place to prolong shelf life. Avoid areas with fluctuating temperatures.
Label and Date: Label each package with the contents and date to keep track of your meals.

Expected Shelf Life:

Meats and Proteins: Generally last 6 months to 1 year.

Rehydrating Your Meals on the Trail

Rehydrating your dehydrated meals is simple:

Add Boiling Water: Place the dehydrated meal in a container or bag. Add boiling water. For the PERFECT rehydration, weigh your meal in grams before and after dehydrating. The difference in weight will be the amount of water you add in milliliters.
Cover and Let Sit: Cover the container or close the bag tightly to retain heat.
Wait: Let the meal sit for 10-20 minutes, or until the food is fully rehydrated.
Adjust Water Amount: Start with a smaller amount of water and add more as needed to achieve the desired consistency.

Tips for Optimal Rehydration:

Pre-Soak: For tougher ingredients like beans or meat, consider pre-soaking them in cold water for a few hours before adding boiling water.
Use Insulated Containers: An insulated container or cozy can help retain heat and speed up the rehydration process.

Delicious Dehydrated Meal Recipes

Here are a few recipe ideas to get you started on your dehydrated meal journey:

Asian-Style Stir-Fry: A sticky and flavorful stir-fry with rice or noodles, featuring a delicious sauce, high protein content, and unique texture.
Vegetarian Braise: A rich and hearty vegetarian braise with carrots, mushrooms, leeks, celery, onion, and lentils for protein and carbs.
Fiery Curry: A flavorful curry with a traditional meat base or a vegetarian version with chickpeas, paired with brown rice.
Savoury Soup: A lightweight umami bomb with fish, miso, tofu, mushrooms, and seaweeds, ready in minutes.
Chili Mac: Dehydrate chili and macaroni separately, then combine for a hearty and satisfying meal.
Pasta Salad: Dehydrate your favorite pasta salad ingredients, such as vegetables, protein, and dressing, for a flavorful and refreshing meal.
Minestrone Soup: A vegetable, bean, and noodle-packed soup, perfect for a warm and comforting meal on the trail.
Quinoa Porridge: A nutritious and filling alternative to oatmeal, customizable with your favorite toppings.
Red Curry Rice: A flavorful combination of red curry, coconut, peanut butter powder, rice, dried veggies, and freeze-dried chicken.
Apple Crisp: A simple and delicious dessert made from store-bought dried apples and granola.
Backcountry Sloppy Joes: A tangy and sweet meal made with lean ground beef, roasted peppers, tomato, and a flavorful sauce.

Other recipe ideas

Trail Tacos: Cook taco meat as normal on the stove. Drain then dehydrate. On the trail, use 1 portion water to 1 portion of meat. Pack tortillas and any toppings.
Pasta Primavera: Dehydrate chosen veggies. Create a mix of butter powder and seasonings. Throw it all in the pot and cover with water and boil until cooked.
Couscous with Vegetables: Dehydrate chosen vegetables. Use one cup of water with one cup of vegetables and boil until rehydrated. Add in couscous and let sit for 5 minutes!

Tips and Tricks for Success

Start Simple: Begin with easy-to-dehydrate foods like vegetables and pasta.
Use Fresh Ingredients: Fresh ingredients will yield the best results.
Uniform Slicing: Slice ingredients uniformly to ensure even drying.
Don't Overcrowd: Spread food in a single layer on the dehydrator trays without overlapping.
Experiment with Flavors: Don't be afraid to experiment with different seasonings and ingredients.
Be Patient: Dehydrating can be a time-consuming process, but the results are worth it.
Think Ahead: Consider how things will have to be cooked including how many pots and pans the recipe will take versus how many you can carry. Also think about how much water each recipe and each piece of the recipe needs.
Parchment paper is your best friend: Use parchment paper to keep your food off the cooking sheet.
Separate meats and fruits: Take time to plan out your dehydrating schedule based on how many shelves you have, every item you need to dehydrate, and how long each will take to dehydrate.
Use Sauce: The best way to have flavorful meals at camp is to use lots of sauce.
Rehydrate at Home: Before hitting the trail, practice rehydrating your meals at home.

Read also: Healthy Eating on the Run

Read also: Mobile Dining Revolution

tags: #healthy #dehydrated #meals #recipes