Best Bikepacking food: Eat well even when travelling light

Range Meal Bar
(Image credit: Range)

Bikepacking is very much like a puzzle. Solving the puzzle requires you to make the best of what little space you have. Then there's the gear part but that's quickly solved after you find what works for you - gear is a very personal subject in any case. The bigger challenge, however, involves establishing what food you need and working out how much space to assign as you don't want to fall short when it comes to calories.

Not only do outdoor meals need to deliver enough calories, be packable and easy to prepare but they must also be palatable. A lot goes into finding the right meal which has resulted in a whole industry that's dedicated to creating meal solutions for every type of adventure, whether you are packing light (and leaving the stove behind) to multi-day meal plans in a box. We took a look at all the best bikepacking food options and put together a list to keep you fueled and ready to tackle the path ahead. 

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Best bikepacking food

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UnTapped Mapleaid Athlete Fuel Drink

(Image credit: Untapped)

UnTapped Mapleaid Athlete Fuel Drink

Simple ingredients that taste good and help keep you hydrated

Specifications

Calories per serving: 80
Servings per container: 19.5 or available in single serving packets
Carb Per Serving: 21g
Protein Per Serving: 0g
Fat Per Serving: 0g

Reasons to buy

+
Natural ingredient list
+
Not too much caffeine 

Reasons to avoid

-
 Low calorie count per serving 

Getting enough calories to keep you going means looking at every option available. Eat often but adding calories to your water help keep you fueled. Untapped is the brainchild of gravel racer extraordinaire Ted King. It's a simple idea to get high-quality carbs and electrolytes without a long ingredient list. The Lemon Tea Mapleaid product is the option if you're looking for a bit of caffeine. It's a relatively low amount but there's enough to help when you need it. There's also salt to help replenish what you lose and a crisp lemon flavor that helps balance other incoming sugars. 

GU Energy Gel Multipack

(Image credit: GU Energy)

GU Energy Gel Multipack

There are a lot of energy gels on the market but GU has consistently high quality flavors with lots of choices

Specifications

Calories per serving: 100
Servings per container: Sold in packs of 24 but individually wrapped
Carb Per Serving: 20-25g
Protein Per Serving: 0g
Fat Per Serving: 0-2g

Reasons to buy

+
Lots of flavors
+
Roctane version available for harder intensities
+
Widely available

Reasons to avoid

-
The traditional gel format is thick and can be hard to swallow 

There's a reason that gels are a mainstay in the sports marketplace. They work really well at delivering fast carbs when you need them. When you are really working hard, a gel is easy on the stomach and fast to consume. GU supplies a full range of flavors to meet most tastes including a toasted marshmallow flavor. There's also Hoppy Trails for when you want something a little less sweet. For the longest and hardest trips, switch to the Roctane gels to get more sodium and amino acids.  

GU Roctane BCAA Capsules

(Image credit: GU Energy)

GU Roctane BCAA Capsules

Simple to pack, simple to take, and it gives more flexibility with other food choices

Specifications

Calories per serving: 0
Servings per container: 60
Carb Per Serving: 0
Protein Per Serving: 0
Fat Per Serving: 0

Reasons to buy

+
Inexpensive
+
Easy To Pack
+
Vegan-friendly, gluten-free, kosher

Reasons to avoid

-
No nutritional value

Your body consumes amino acids as part of the fuel it needs to keep going. In many situations, you have plenty of reserves but when you run out your body starts to pull the reserves out of the muscles. That means muscle destruction at a cellular level resulting in more fatigue and less power. Bikepacking is a situation where it can be impossible to eat enough fuel to replace what you are burning. Taking BCAA capsules gives extra insurance to help protect your muscles. While it's possible to also get amino acids from food, having an easily packed capsule allows more flexibility in the food you eat. 

Trail Butter Maple Syrup & Sea Salt Blend

(Image credit: Trail Butter)

Trail Butter Maple Syrup & Sea Salt Blend

The convenience of a sports gel with a real food ingredient list

Specifications

Calories per serving: 200
Servings per container: Individually wrapped and sold in packs of 6 or 12 depending on size
Carb Per Serving: 8g
Protein Per Serving: 5g
Fat Per Serving: 18g

Reasons to buy

+
Convenient 
+
High in fat and protein
+
Calorie dense

Reasons to avoid

-
Harder to digest at high intensity

It's hard to argue when it comes to the convenience of a gel. It's easy to eat while moving and it's a fast way to get energy into your body. It's also easy to take them on a trip - just in case you need it. The biggest criticism against gels is that they aren't "real food." It's less convenient to carry a burrito while riding but Trail Butter products solve this problem. They take the form factor and convenience of a gel and pack it with real food instead. No matter your stance when it comes to on-the-bike food, Trail Butter provides an alternative. Think of it as a fat-and-protein-focused gel option.  

Yumbutter Organic Peanut Butter

(Image credit: Yumbutter)

Yumbutter Organic Peanut Butter

Truly just peanut butter or nut butter of your choosing, in a convenient pouch

Specifications

Calories per serving: 180
Servings per container: 6
Carb Per Serving: 7g
Protein Per Serving: 7g
Fat Per Serving: 15g

Reasons to buy

+
Lots of calories in a container
+
High in fat
+
Calorie dense

Reasons to avoid

-
Harder to digest at high intensity

Yumbutter caters to all tastes with its comprehensive range of nut butters. There are options for almond, cashew, peanut, macadamia, sunflower, and pecan and the composition is simpler. Choose the peanut butter and you've pretty much got the peanut butter without needing to carry a jar. The delivery method is a little bit different too with no option for a small serving. Instead, 6.2oz containers house a little over 1000 calories that will help you go all day long. 

Patagonia Provisions 2-Day Camp Meal Kit For 2

(Image credit: Patagonia)

Patagonia Provisions 2-Day Camp Meal Kit For 2

The absolute simplest way to pack the food you need

Specifications

Calories per serving: 2400 calories per day
Servings per container: 2 days of food for 2 people
Carb Per Serving: 45–65% daily calories
Protein Per Serving: 10–35% daily calories
Fat Per Serving: 20–35% daily calories

Reasons to buy

+
Just add water
+
Shelf stable
+
Fully planned

Reasons to avoid

-
Low on calories

Planning the food you need for every day of your trip can be a serious undertaking. You've got to go through each meal and figure out what to bring and how much, not to mention source each item. Patagonia is offering a do-it-all item - the Provisions 2-Day Camp Meal Kit For 2. All the pieces are shelf-stable, meals only require the addition of water and there are snack options, too. The company has even considered where the food is sourced and the future implications and recyclability of the packaging.  

Good TO-GO Thai Curry

(Image credit: Good TO-GO)

Good TO-GO Thai Curry

Someone else still does the planning but you get more calories and more flexibility

Specifications

Calories per serving: 380
Servings per container: 2
Carb Per Serving: 56g
Protein Per Serving: 10g
Fat Per Serving: 14g

Reasons to buy

+
Just add water
+
Shelf stable
+
Lots of Options

Reasons to avoid

-
Even the meal packs need supplemental snacks

Consider the Curry listed here as a placeholder for the whole product line. Good To-GO has options for carnivore, gluten-free, pescatarian, vegan, and vegetarian. It also carries breakfast as well as entrees and it sells kits with enough food for various lengths of time. There are options with double servings or single servings to tailor the calories you need per day or make packing for two easier. Just add water and everything is ready in minutes, so while you get plenty of flexibility there's still all the convenience you want. Just make sure to pick up some snacks to go with the meals.

Wild Planet Albacore Wild Tuna Single Serving Packet

(Image credit: Wild Planet)

Wild Planet Albacore Wild Tuna Single Serving Packet

High protein and low weight in a fast to consume single serving

Specifications

Calories per serving: 120
Servings per container: 1
Carb Per Serving: 0g
Protein Per Serving: 21g
Fat Per Serving: 4g

Reasons to buy

+
Edible out of the packet
+
Shelf stable
+
Lots of Options

Reasons to avoid

-
You probably want two servings to a pouch

Along with nut butters, Tuna is another old-school classic backcountry food. The reasons are obvious, it's a super-concentrated protein in an easy-to-consume format. Another good reason for choosing Tuna is that you don't need to cook it. You don't even need to add water. If you want to get a little fancier, use condiment packets to dress it up. Wild Planet packets is the easiest possible way to carry tuna as part of your meal plan.  

Range Alpine Start Meal Bar

(Image credit: Range)

Range Alpine Start Meal Bar

An entire meal in an easy to consume bar

Specifications

Calories per serving: 700
Servings per container: 1
Carb Per Serving: 88g
Protein Per Serving: 19g
Fat Per Serving: 35g

Reasons to buy

+
Simple ingredients
+
Shelf stable
+
Doesn’t freeze

Reasons to avoid

-
Not widely available

If you are going the no stove route that typically means a lot of bars and powders, which opens up the discussion of how to handle meals. You could go with cold water instead of hot for freeze-dried options but that leaves you with cold soaked food. Ryan from Range Meal Bars decided there had to be a better way. What he uncovered was a recipe for a bar the size of two decks of cards with the nutrition value of a full meal. The Alpine start flavor has about as much caffeine as a half cup of coffee plus honey, peanut butter, and dark chocolate flavors. 

Protekt Rest Enhanced Sleep Support

(Image credit: Protekt)

Protekt Rest Enhanced Sleep Support

A little help because no one sleeps well while bikepacking

Specifications

Calories per serving: 0
Servings per container: Individually packed and sold in groups of 10 or 30
Carb Per Serving: 0g
Protein Per Serving: 0g
Fat Per Serving: 0g

Reasons to buy

+
Simple ingredients

Reasons to avoid

-
Not widely available
-
Powdered would be more bikepacking friendly

Protekt made a name for itself with sun protection. It has a range of quality natural sunscreens but more recently it's branched out into supplements. The Rest formulation is an option of particular interest to bikepacking. There's nothing better for recovery than get a good night's sleep but, for some people, that's a challenge. If you have trouble sleeping restfully while bikepacking the Rest supplement might be a good option. The formulation doesn't make you drowsy. Instead, it's a collection of natural ingredients to help you relax and set the foundation for better sleep. 

Best bikepacking food: what you need to know about

Stove or No Stove

Due to the restrictive nature of luggage capacity on a bike, bikepacking shares many similarities to the ultralight backpacking movement. That movement is all about obsessively counting grams and optimizing every single thing that comes on a trip. As an extension, many ultralight backpackers choose to go without a stove. 

A stove is a luxury that adds weight on its own and also means heavier food. Go without and not only do you not carry the weight and volume of a camp stove but surviving on only ready to eat food is the absolute lightest choice. The question is do you want to make that choice?

If you've already made the choice to move as quickly as possible and as light as possible then go without the stove. If you aren't sure then consider how cold it's going to be, how often you might be able to supplement from a store, and above all else what your goals really are. It's definitely an easier experience with warm food but not everyone counts easier as a goal. 

Use a variety so that you don’t get bored

Cookies are delicious. If you spend an entire day eating nothing but cookies they are suddenly not so delicious. Food boredom is a very real problem that can quickly derail your plans. Make sure to keep a variety of different foods in rotation to keep from getting bored.

Even if you are living on simple carbs it's important to keep some variety. It could be as simple as using a variety of flavors or it could be more complex than that. You'll have to see what works for you but there are options. Rotate through different tastes and textures and make sure you are always able to keep the calories coming in.

How hard are you riding

Food is fuel and you need different fuel depending on how hard you are working. The hardest rides require carbs that are fast and easy for your body to process. It takes energy for your body to process food. When you are already putting every possible bit of energy towards riding the last thing you want to do is divert some to dealing with food. In those situations, stick with easy to digest carb-based nutrition. 

If you are riding at more of a party pace then you want slow-burning foods. Fast-acting carbs will spike your blood sugar. They might be good in an emergency but they shouldn't be your primary fueling strategy. In those situations, you are going to want to stick to higher fat and protein options. The fuel choice should be slow to digest so that you have a continual drip of energy. 

Make life easier by pre-portioning and unwrapping when it makes sense

Even beyond what fuel you need there are a lot of reasons to understand what kind of pace you will be riding ahead of time. If you are taking things slow and steady then it's an entirely different experience. You'll have time to slow down and think about what you are eating and how much. On the other hand, if you are bikepacking in a competitive framework then your brain is really not going to be working as well as you'd like. 

Whatever pace you like to take your trips, pre-planning at home can make life less complicated. Take things out of wrappers and pre-portion them so that they are ready to eat. You'll have less to carry and you won't have to think about how much to eat. Just pull out the next bag and eat when it's time. You might not be trying to beat the clock but it will still make life less complicated.

Josh Ross

Josh Ross was our US tech writer. He's most happy when talking about the finer details of how bicycle parts and components work, and enjoys putting his thoughts to words. He is a road cyclist at heart but can often be found taking the gravel road less traveled. Although he rarely races these days, he still enjoys a good Zwift session and race but will always choose the real world over pixels. Height: 5'9" Weight: 137 lb.