Sourcing Ingredients for Making Your Own Backpacking Meals
Updated 09/02/2025
This is a list of dehydrated or freeze-dried ingredients that can be used for making your own backpacking meals – a great way to control the quality and eliminate the additives and preservatives found in most commercial meals.
While we prefer to dehydrate as many of the ingredients as possible that are used in our recipes, there are some ingredients that are not suitable for dehydrating at home, including:
- butter, milk, sour cream, coconut milk, and heavy cream (all are available as dried powders)
- cheese powder and freeze-dried shredded cheese
- lemon and lime juice
This list is our preferred resource for these products. You may be able to find some of these items in local grocery stores, including bulk food sections, but most are only available online. And if you don’t have time for dehydrating vegetables, fruits, or grains, you could purchase dehydrated or freeze-dried ingredients instead. The overall cost of the meals will be higher, but it will definitely save time.
When purchasing dried items, pay attention to the ingredients to avoid items with preservatives and artificial ingredients. We try to buy from smaller companies that specialize in preservative-free and organic options whenever possible.
Sourcing Ingredients
Anthony’s Goods (anthonysgoods.com)
- butter powder
- whole milk powder
- heavy cream powder
- buttermilk powder
- cheddar cheese powder
- organic coconut milk powder
- almond protein powder
- organic cornstarch
Bob’s Red Mill (bobsredmill.com)
- instant potato flakes
- cornstarch and potato starch
- dried beans and lentils
Harmony House (harmonyhousefoods.com)
- vegetables (dehydrated and freeze-dried)
- fruit (freeze-dried)
- beans (dehydrated)
Meat Shredz (meatshredz.com)
Minimus (minimus.biz)
- travel size packets of condiments
Mother Earth Products (motherearthproducts.com)
- beans (dehydrated)
- vegetables (dehydrated and freeze-dried)
- fruit (freeze-dried)
North Bay Trading Company (northbaytrading.com)
- vegetables (dehydrated and freeze-dried)
- fruit (freeze-dried)
Oberto (oberto.com)
- dried meats and jerky
Packit Gourmet (packitgourmet.com)
- vegetables (dehydrated and freeze-dried)
- fruit (freeze-dried)
- beans & grains (dehydrated)
- cheese powders, egg powders, dairy powders
- instant coffee, tea
- condiments
- crystallized lemon and lime powders
Savory Spice (savoryspiceshop.com)
- high quality dried spices and seasoning mixes
True Lemon (truelemon.com)
Ingredients from grocery stores
Save money and time by purchasing ingredients at regular grocery stores. Many stores carry dried foods, often in a bulk section. And frozen foods work well for dehydrating – and save on prep time.
We use all of these items in the our recipes:
- fire-roasted peppers and onions (frozen – dehydrate at home)
- fire-roasted corn (frozen – dehydrate at home)
- artichoke hearts (canned – dehydrate at home)
- black olives (canned – dehydrate at home)
- sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil – dehydrate at home)
- various nuts and seeds
- coconut oil (available in jars and individual packets)
- freeze-dried berries
- dried fruit
- canned salmon (dehydrate at home)
- mushroom powder
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