When planning for a longer canoe camping trip, I would go as far as to say that nothing is more important than food and meal planning. A boat stocked with generous supplies of delicious grub can make the difference between a fantastic outdoor experience, and one that leaves you longing for the comforts of home.
So today I want to give you a sample meal plan for a 5-day canoe camping trip with multiple portages. My advice for planning meals on a canoe trip could be something that you can use as a baseline reference. Adjust it and personalize it to make your canoe trip a success.
Packing food for an extended canoe camping trip
Before you get underway, there are a few environmental factors that will dictate how you should pack for a canoe camping trip. For example, does your route entail a lot of portages or is it mostly long paddles between campsites?
One of the benefits of a canoe trip over a kayak or a backpacking adventure is that you can chuck in a lot of bulky and bonus items. However, if you need to repeatedly lug all of that overland, then that prior advantage becomes more of a nuisance.
Multiple portages means lighter foods
So if your trip does involve multiple portages, I recommend sticking with lighter, more packable foods. If you're set up to predominantly paddle, then go nuts with those luxury foods and bonus treats.
Weather is important for food planning
Another environmental factor to consider when canoe camping (as best as you can in advance) is the weather. Namely, how hot will it be? This will determine the shelf-life of different foods. If it's a scorching hot summer trip, then maybe scale back on the packaged meats. But if it's a cooler area or time of year, then you can get away with a lot more.
As a general rule, I like to pack more fresh foods for the first 2 days, and then I'll switch over to pre-packaged and dehydrated stuff, just to be on the safe side.
Calories you burn on a multi-day canoe trip
And a final thing to consider is how many calories you and your crew expect to burn. Is this a poke along and smell the roses kind of affair, or is it an ambitious, cover a lot of ground type deal?
In the case of my reference 5-day canoe trip, my buddy and I planned to do a lot of hard paddling, in cold and windy conditions, while also banging out several challenging portages.
4000 calories a day per person
Taking all of this into consideration, we determined that we would need about 4,000 calories per day per person.
What should I eat on a canoe camping trip?
Now that we've covered some general considerations, let's dive into a 5-day sample meal plan. For this trip, our campsites all included firepits with those built-in grill grates, and so we planned to do a lot of our cooking over open flame (particularly in the evening). But we also packed lots of fuel for our classic camping stoves.
Meal Plan for Canoe Camping Day 1
Breakfast: Consumed on shore before pushing off
Lunch: Pre-made sandwiches, chips, and a piece of fruit (classic school lunch)
Dinner: 4 frozen/wrapped steaks, baked potatoes, and mushrooms
Meal Plan for Canoe Camping Day 2
Breakfast: Bacon (wrapped in vinegar-soaked cheesecloth for preservation purposes), eggs (see note below), and fresh bread
Lunch: “Trail lunch” for anticipated portages (i.e. trail mix, cheese/crackers, granola bars, beef jerky, peanut butter/jam).
Dinner: Frozen beef chili sealed in Ziploc bags and wrapped in newspaper
Meal Plan for Canoe Camping Day 3
Breakfast: Instant oatmeal w/ dried fruit (raisins, blueberries, banana chips, etc.)
Lunch: Salami and cheese tortilla wraps (meat and cheese also wrapped in vinegar-soaked cheesecloth) + celery/carrots
Dinner: Dehydrated mac and cheese
Note: Although many camping meals say they are good for 2 people, in reality, after a day of hard paddling or trekking, most people seem to like a full package to themselves.
Meal Plan for Canoe Camping Day 4
Breakfast: Instant oatmeal w/ dried fruit
Lunch: Salami and cheese but this time on pita bread rather than tortillas + celery/carrots
Dinner: Dehydrated pad thai
Meal Plan for Canoe Camping Day 5
Breakfast: Instant oatmeal w/ dried fruit
Lunch: Same as day 4
Dinner: Dehydrated meal (whatever flavor is left after the group picks them over for 3 nights)
Extra Snacks throughout the trip:
Trail mix, cookies, brownies, fresh fruit (for the first few days), pepperettes, popcorn, tea/coffee
Can you bring eggs on a canoe trip?
You may have noticed my inclusion of eggs in the meal plan and wondered if that's ok to do. Eggs are a great source of protein, and they're super easy to cook up, so I love bringing them along.
The trick is keeping them protected, which can be done by getting one of those hard plastic egg cartons that you can find in any home/kitchen section of a big box store.
Our friends at Killarney Outfitters also blanched our eggs in advance, meaning they briefly dropped them in boiling water in order to kill all the bacteria on the shells. This helps extend the shelflife out in the wild.
Shout out to Killarney Outfitters!
All of these tasty and strategically planned meals during our canoe camping trip were laid out for us by Killarney Outfitters. I love working with them anytime I'm in the area, and since Killarney Provincial Park is one of my favorite places to paddle, we've gotten to know each other rather well over the years. They are so well-stocked and familiar with the area that you can essentially just show up with a toothbrush and a change of underwear, and they'll fix you up with the rest.
I hope all this talk of camping food has you chomping at the bit for your next canoe trip. Each person and each excursion is a little different, but this should give you some idea of what to pack, and what to skip over. For more paddling tips, gear reviews, and to share in the adventures, make sure to follow along with PaddleTV and subscribe to the In4Adventure newsletter.
