AMC's Real Trail Meals

Tired of ending a day on the trail with packaged meals full of preservatives? Kick your menu up a notch with AMC’s Real Trail Meals: Wholesome Recipes for the Backcountry. Drawing on the field experience of outdoor leaders, including AMC staff and hut croo, this compendium of trail-tested recipes delivers a buffet of lightweight and nutritious dishes. Adopting a practical, easy-to-follow approach, the cookbook shares recipes for breakfast, cold lunches and snacks, hot dinners, and desserts and sweet drinks, as well as the basic principles of dehydrating to create your own preservative-free and trail-stable foods. At-a-glance icons on every recipe indicate dietary preferences (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.), as well as which dishes should be made at home, in the field, or consumed on the first night out. Most important for backpackers and others looking to hike light, each recipe comes with a breakdown of nutrients to pack weight, giving you the most calorie-dense bang for your buck. Whether you’re planning a weeklong excursion in the wilderness or seeking healthy snacks for a day hike, this cookbook will serve up memorable outdoor meals for years to come.

  • 152 delicious recipes for backpackers, campers, and hungry hikers

  • Nutrition and pack-weight information for all recipes, including calories/ounce for backpackers needing maximum fuel at minimum weight

  • At-a-glance icons noting which recipes are vegetarian, vegan, dairy- and nut-free, etc., as well as which to make at home beforehand and which to make on the trail

  • Nutritionist-approved

  • How-to information on backcountry meal planning, food safety and prep, and cooking

  • LNT-friendly tips ensure cooks leave their campsites spotles

  • Detailed breakdown of water-treatment methods

  • Written by former AMC hut croo, with selected recipes from current AMC backcountry staff