Cheesy Bacon Taters – Backpacking Recipe

When it comes to backpacking meals it’s important to pack meals that are lightweight to pack, taste great and are easy to cook. In preparation of hiking the John Muir Trail this summer, we’ve been testing easy backpacking meals in our Campsite Cooking Meal Series. We’ve tried backpacking recipes with rice, quinoa and pasta. In the below video we tested out a really easy backpacking meal called Cheesy bacon Taters.

As you can see, this lightweight backpacking meal is easy to cook in the backcountry. Follow these instructions to try it on your own.

At Home:

Mix the following ingredients in a plastic bag.

1/2 cup of instant dry milk

1/2 cup bacon bits

1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 1/2 tablespoons dried onions

a dash of salt and pepper

On the Trail:

Boil 2 cups of water. Remove from heat, add one package of instant potatoes and stir. Add the contents of the spice bag you mixed at home then add two sticks of string cheese. Be sure to cut the string cheese into small disks about the size of a dime, that will help them melt quicker. We used string cheese because it can go a day or two without being refrigerated. Stir all of the contents until the cheese has melted and blended in with the other ingredients. Then enjoy.
If you liked this recipe, be sure to try our other campsite cooking meals? Our previous backpacking and car camping meals include: Trailside Chicken & Rice, Sausage & Mash, Backcountry Pizza, and Dutch Oven Breakfast Burritos.We found this backpacking recipe to be really easy, inexpensive and very packable for a backpacking trip. We recommend you give this meal a try on your next trip to the backcountry. If you do try it out, leave a comment below to let us know what you think of this recipe.

by Andy Hawbaker