Whether you are heading out for a short two-day trek or a long-distance hike, planning your meals is essential. After a long day on the trail, your body needs to recover from accumulated fatigue. To achieve this, several foods should be prioritised to replenish your energy stores. However, you need to choose them carefully: they must not be too heavy or bulky, and they must keep well. Explore our tips and meal ideas to choose your bivvy food wisely.
Key takeaways:
- Bivvy food consists of items rich in protein, carbohydrates and pulses.
- Freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups are a great alternative to foods that require cooking.
- Daily calorie requirements are almost doubled during a hike.
- On a bivvy, you must plan food for breakfast, cold meals, hot meals and snacks.
- Choosing bivvy food comes down primarily to nutritional value, light weight and ease of preparation.
How to distribute your calorie intake across a bivvy day
Knowing your total requirement is not enough: you also need to distribute it properly throughout the day. On a bivvy, the classic mistake is under-fuelling at breakfast and snack times, then relying entirely on dinner. Here is a baseline breakdown, based on 3,500 kcal carried per day, which corresponds to around 800 g of dense food.
| Timing | Share of intake | Estimated kcal | Suitable format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 25 % | 850 to 900 | Rolled oats, powdered milk, dried fruit |
| Morning snack | 10 % | 350 | Nuts and seeds, energy bar |
| Cold midday meal | 25 % | 850 to 900 | Sandwich, wrap, tinned fish |
| Afternoon snack | 10 % | 350 | Dried fruit, fruit jelly, fruit puree |
| Hot evening meal | 30 % | 1,000 to 1,100 | Freeze-dried meal, starches, soup |
If you can carry more weight, keep the same proportions and increase the quantities. To estimate your actual requirement based on your route, check out our article on what to eat when hiking.
Choosing your bivvy food wisely
Freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups
What food should you take hiking? If you are setting off on a trek with a bivvy, your diet will mainly consist of foods rich in protein, carbohydrates and pulses. Freeze-dried meals are perfect for this. These are dehydrated prepared meals packaged in pouches. To eat them, simply add hot or cold water depending on the dish, and enjoy.
Just like dehydrated soups, freeze-dried meals offer many advantages. They take up little space in your bivvy gear, are lightweight, offer a variety of flavours, and are complete and packed with nutrients. You can enjoy pasta carbonara, chicken tikka, aligot with tomme cheese, Savoyard tartiflette, or lamb with rice and lentils, all without having to unpack your cooking gear. The only drawback of freeze-dried meals, however, is their relatively high price for quality options.
These meals require hot water, hence a stove and fuel. To calculate how much fuel you need, see our guide on gas cartridges for hiking.
Starches and pulses
Other bivvy food essentials are starches and pulses. They represent the most consumed foods when hiking. The reason: they cook quickly, taste good, are inexpensive and, above all, provide plenty of energy thanks to their high carbohydrate content.
Just like freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups, starches and pulses are fairly lightweight and easy to carry. Pasta, rice, grains, couscous or lentils can be cooked in many ways and with various toppings. This allows you to vary your meals while using minimal ingredients.
Dried fruit, nuts, seeds and treat foods
Finally, dried fruit, nuts, seeds and treat foods make up the third category of food to take on a bivvy. Dried fruit—raisins, apricots or figs—is rich in sugars and fibre, providing quickly accessible energy. Nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts, provide fats with an unbeatable energy density of around 6 kcal per gram. Both can easily be slipped into a pocket or a corner of your pack and eaten throughout the day.
Treat foods like chocolate, cheese or biscuits are not the most space- or weight-efficient. However, they are essential for boosting morale. Nothing beats a piece of chocolate after a tough day battling the elements. To add more flavour to your meals, you can also pack your favourite spices.
Understanding nutritional requirements when hiking
Daily calorie requirements
Hiking is an activity that demands intense effort. The body therefore requires more energy than usual. Eating well at your bivvy spot is essential to recover, both physically and mentally. To achieve this, you need to take your daily calorie requirements into account.
Under normal conditions, an adult man requires an estimated 2,400 to 2,600 calories per day, while a woman needs 1,800 to 2,200 calories. When hiking, these requirements are almost doubled. They are estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 kcal per day. However, these figures vary depending on your profile, walking duration, elevation gain, physical effort and hiking backpack weight. All these factors influence your daily calorie needs.
In complete self-sufficiency, it is rare to be able to carry your full requirement: 800 g of dense food represents around 3,500 kcal. A slight deficit over a few days is therefore generally accepted, which makes choosing calorie-dense foods all the more crucial.
Protein, carbohydrate and fat requirements
To meet higher-than-normal calorie targets, you need to include foods rich in carbohydrates, fats, protein and fibre. Carbohydrates are the main energy source for athletes. On the other hand, protein aids muscle tissue repair and growth.
Fats provide necessary energy, aid the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and play a role in hormone regulation. Vitamins and minerals are essential when hiking. They are involved in energy metabolism, bone and muscle health, and immune function. Finally, you should avoid foods that are too fatty, sugary or salty, as they take much longer to digest. Bulky, heavy, perishable foods, items with low calorie density, and alcoholic beverages should also be avoided.
To kit yourself out before setting off, check out our:
Selecting the perfect meals for a bivvy
Breakfast
After a good night's rest, bivvy nutrition begins with breakfast. For the first meal of the day, you should focus on foods rich in complex carbohydrates, protein and fibre. For example, your breakfast can include:
- Rolled oats, powdered milk, dried fruit and chocolate.
- Bacon and eggs with dried fruit.
- Wholemeal bread, peanut butter or cheese.
In any case, you can then round off your meal with fresh fruit. For hydration, tea, coffee or powdered milk are a great way to start the day and warm up. For your hydration requirements, see how much water to take hiking.
Cold meals
If you are heading out on a multi-day hike, some of your meals will be cold, especially lunch. So, what bivvy food should you choose without a stove? The simplest option is a mixed salad, a sandwich or a wrap. To get all the nutrients required for physical effort, you can choose one of these five options:
- A sandwich made with wholemeal bread, cured ham, mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Country pâté and rocket on toast.
- Bread with tinned fish like sardines, mackerel or tuna.
- A grilled chicken wrap with raw vegetables and yoghurt dressing.
- A mixed salad with greens, tomatoes, tuna and tinned olives.
To round off your cold meal, you can have Comté cheese, peanuts or cured sausage. For dessert, opt for fresh fruit like a banana or an apple puree pouch.
Hot meals
Hot meals make up a large part of your bivvy nutrition. They are ideal to warm you up, boost morale and help you regain strength after a long day. Looking for bivvy meal ideas with a stove? First, you can start your meal with a dehydrated soup. Then, opt for a freeze-dried meal or cook a wholesome dish yourself. Here are five meal options with a stove:
- Pasta mixed with tomato sauce and tinned tuna.
- Rice with lentils and spices.
- Couscous with dehydrated vegetables and chickpeas.
- Instant mashed potatoes with tinned chicken.
- Stir-fried noodles with vegetables.
Finally, your meal can be rounded off with cheese, fresh fruit, a fruit puree pouch or some chocolate.
Snacks
In addition to breakfast, cold meals and hot meals, your walking days should be punctuated by frequent snacks. Do not forget to take regular breaks to rehydrate and eat a snack. For this, dried fruit, nuts and seeds are hikers' favourites. Alongside raisins, apricots, dates, walnuts, peanuts or hazelnuts, you can eat fruit jellies, energy bars, fruit purees or biscuits. A great way to regain strength while boosting your calorie intake.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should you plan per day on a bivvy?
Your actual requirement ranges between 3,000 and 5,000 kcal per day depending on your build, elevation gain and pack weight—almost double that of an ordinary day. In practice, carrying around 3,500 kcal is standard, accepting a slight deficit. Spread this intake across five portions rather than three meals.
What food should you take on a bivvy without a stove?
Opt for wholemeal bread sandwiches, wraps, salads made with tinned food, as well as hard cheese and cured sausage which keep without refrigeration. Complete with dried fruit and nuts or seeds, which are highly calorie-dense for minimal weight.
How much does food weigh for a three-day bivvy?
Plan for 700 to 900 grams of food per day in complete self-sufficiency, or around 2.5 kg for three days. This weight drops significantly if you opt for freeze-dried meals, which are more expensive but much lighter for an equivalent calorie intake.
As you will have gathered, preparing your bivvy food properly is essential to make the most of your hike. Remember to choose lightweight, nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods such as freeze-dried meals, dehydrated soups, starches and pulses. Do not forget to pack nuts, seeds and a few sweet treats for morale. By understanding your calorie and nutritional requirements, you ensure you stay strong and fully enjoy your time in the great outdoors.
