Best Foods to Bring on Motorcycle Camping Trips

• Table of Contents
• 1. Healthy Motorcycle Camping Food
• 2. Why cook proper food on motorcycle camping trips?
• 3. Best Foods to Bring for Motorcycle Camping
• 4. 10 Essential Foods for Motorcycle Camping
• 4.1 Trail mix, nuts, and bars
• 4.2 Instant mac & cheese or cup noodles
• 4.3 Dehydrated foods
• 4.4 Stews & chili
• 4.5 Beef jerky
• 4.6 Instant coffee packs or tea packs
• 4.7 Sandwich ingredients
• 4.8 Frozen fruits
• 4.9 S’mores ingredients
• 4.10 Bagels
• 5. How to Keep Motorcycle Camping Food Cold?
• 5.1 Freeze the food first
• 5.2 Use two coolers
• 5.3 Keep your coolers cool before packing
• 5.4 Use ice packs or block ice
• 5.5 Use frozen water bottles
• 6. How to Prevent Cross-Contamination on a Road Trip?
• 6.1 Store all foods separately
• 6.2 Carefully pack the food
• 6.3 Pack cooler tightly
• 6.4 Keep cooler in the shade
• 6.5 Don’t open the cooler often
• 6.6 Don’t drain your cooler
• 7. Conclusion

Planning to go on a motorcycle camp in the coming spring? Don’t forget to eat healthily. You might be wondering how eating healthy relates to camping. Generally, riders don’t consider following a good diet and prefer just to eat at whatever local restaurants they come across.

A motorcycle camping trip doesn’t have to be only greasy or unhealthy snacks. It is possible to collect healthy food from the supermarket before leaving for a camping trip.

1. Healthy Motorcycle Camping Food

Riders usually take dehydrated or canned food rich in flavors but often not fresh.

Canned or dehydrated foods supply your body with proteins or carbohydrates but don’t boost electrolytes. It is best to bring healthy camping food along with dehydrated ones.

Healthy motorcycle camping food can include vegetables, fruits, meats, cereals, etc..

2. Why cook proper food on motorcycle camping trips?

Cooking proper food on a motorcycle camping trip will help make it memorable. Many riders love to experience new things such as cooking while on the road

To cook food, you only need to pack simple cooking utensils and containers to store the food.

Make sure to bring and cook food appropriate to the type of trip you are going on. If you are going on a one-day tour and camping for only a few hours, you only need to pack canned and dehydrated foods.

3. Best Foods to Bring for Motorcycle Camping

Before compiling a list, it is often best to take food that doesn’t require refrigeration. Luckily, there are plenty of foods that have long expiration dates and don’t spoil easily.

These are the food categories you can bring on camping trips:

• Dry Foods
• Fuel Foods
• Tinned Foods>
• Jars
• Condiments
• Beverages 

Dry Foods

Dry foods are dehydrated consumables with high calories and sugar content, offering a more effective energy boost than other snacks.

Dry foods can be beneficial to your health as they can improve the immune system, reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, improve bone strength, reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes, etc.

Here is the list of top-rated dry foods you can bring on a motorcycle camping trip:

• Cereal
• Pasta
• Rice noodles
• Couscous 
• Ramen 
• Bread
• Powdered milk 
• Crackers
• Mac and cheese 
• Refried beans
• Hummus
• Instant potatoes
• Instant rice
• Powdered milk 
• Protein powder 
• Cheese powder 
• Dried fruits
• Dried vegetables
• Stuffing mix 
• Instant oatmeal 
• Instant grits
• Peanut butter powder 
• Powdered eggs 
• TVP (Textured vegetable proteins)
• Quinoa
• Real bacon bits
• Jerky

Fuel Foods

• Meat 
• Poultry
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Fruits 
• Vegetables 

Tinned Foods

• Beans
• Tuna
• Soups
• Vegetables 
• Fruit 

Jars

• Sauces

Condiments

• Sauces
• Jam
• Peanut Butter
• Sugar

Beverages

• Milk
• Tea
• Coffee
• Hot chocolate

The items listed above are basic raw foods that can be used as ingredients to make dishes.

4. 10 Essential Foods for Motorcycle Camping

Here is the list of the top 10 foods you will need to bring while going camping:

• Dehydrated foods
• Trail mix, nuts, and bars
• Instant mac & cheese or cup noodles 
• Stews & chili 
• Beef jerky 
• Instant coffee packs or tea packs
• Sandwich ingredients
• S’mores ingredients 
• Frozen fruits 
• Bagels 

4.1 Trail mix, nuts, and bars

Trail mix, nuts, and bars are easy to pick, carry, and mix with other snacks. While hiking, you can bring these foods with you to provide an instant boost of energy.

4.2 Instant mac & cheese or cup noodles

It is easy to make instant mac and cheese, cup noodles, or ramen. As these food are already pre-cooked, all you need to do is cook them in hot water. These instant foods are best suited for individuals with little cooking experience.

4.3 Dehydrated foods

There are many dehydrated meal kits available at markets. Contrary to popular belief, dehydrated foods are full of flavor. They are popular because they are easy to pack, require little cooking time, and require little cooing skill.

4.4 Stews & chili

If you have any secret family recipes you want to make, bring the ingredients necessary to make chili or stew. Just make sure to bring the ingredients and research the recipes you want to cook before leaving home for camping.

4.5 Beef jerky

Beef jerky is packed with protein, is easy to pack, and requires no prep, cooking, or cleanup.

4.6 Instant coffee packs or tea packs

If you are a coffee or tea person, don’t forget to pack instant coffee packets and tea bags. These are a few examples of powdered energy drinks that boost your electrolytes. All you need to do is pour them into a cup, stir, and sip. They help minimize trash, take up little room or weight on your motorcycle, and can be drunk from the same cup throughout your camping trip.

4.7 Sandwich ingredients

Sandwiches are easy to make, store, and carry whether complete or with their ingredients separate. It is possible to make sandwiches with different combinations that suit your taste.

4.8 Frozen fruits

Fruits are easy to prepare, making them the perfect snacks in warm weather. When packing, and prepping your foods, cut and freeze fruits at least the day before leaving for camp. When it is time to embark, pack them in a cooler with ice to keep them cold and fresh.

4.9 S’mores ingredients

Almost all riders love to have S’mores on camping trips. There are many S’mores snack mix recipes available in the market and online to pick from before going on your next camping trip.

4.10 Bagels

Bagels are easy to pack and can be covered with different condiments. You can easily make them into a fancy breakfast sandwich or cover them with cream cheese. Bagels are also a good source of carbohydrates, giving you the energy boost needed for long hikes.

5. How to Keep Motorcycle Camping Food Cold?

Bringing healthy food on a camping trip can make for a more enjoyable and healthy experience. But if you don’t know how to keep food cold while camping, it can spell disaster. To ensure the hours spent planning a camping menu, shopping for food, and prepping meals don’t go to waste, it is important to carefully pack your food.

Here are the ways you can keep motorcycle camping food cold:

5.1 Freeze the food first

A great way to keep the temperature inside your cooler low is to fill it with frozen foods which slowly defrost as you travel to and spend time at camp. To reduce the risk of food poisoning, it is better to wash, cut, and then freeze the food during transport and then heat them up using a camping stove before being cooked.

5.2 Use two coolers

If you have the budget, then try to get two mini coolers, one for the drinks and one for the food. The drinks cooler will often be opened more than the food one. Just make sure that there is enough room to carry two coolers on your motorcycle.

If you are going with a pop-up camper, then organize the pop-up camper in a fine manner and place coolers carefully.

5.3 Keep your coolers cool before packing

Before filling up the coolers, make sure to place them in a cold place to help them retain their low temperatures. Keeping food in this cooler will help them stay fresh longer as it ensures the interior does not warm up quickly.

5.4 Use ice packs or block ice

It is best to use ice packs instead of bags of ice for the following reasons:

• Better freezing capacity
• Food doesn’t become soggy after melting
• More economical
• Durable

5.5 Use frozen water bottles

Freeze any water you bring to keep them cool and serve as extra ice packs to keep the inside of the coolers from heating up.

6. How to Prevent Cross-Contamination on a Road Trip?

Follow these steps to avoid food contamination:

6.1 Store all foods separately

Use tightly-sealed plastic bags to store your food. Don’t keep all the food in a single pack. Make sure to store your food in different packs based on category.

6.2 Carefully pack the food

Never leave any food bags open. If you place food in bags separately but didn’t close the zipper or lids, you risk cross-contamination.

6.3 Pack cooler tightly

Packing the cooler tightly will prevent particles from traveling in the air between food.

6.4 Keep cooler in the shade

Direct sunlight can cause your cooler to heat up and make your food spoil faster. If you haven’t placed the cooler under the shade, the ice inside will begin to melt and cause your food to become soggy and mix with each other.

6.5 Don’t open the cooler often

Constantly opening the cooler will cause the cold air to escape and gradually result in the internal temperature warming faster. If you notice an unpleasant smell coming from the cooler and the food starts to taste funny, it could be because the food got cross-contaminated due to opening the cooler so often.

6.6 Don’t drain your cooler

If the ice starts to melt, don’t drain the water. Cold water will also help keep the internal temperature low if there are still ice cubes remaining. Just make sure all the food is packed in sealed bags to prevent them from getting soggy.

7. Conclusion:

Now you know the best foods to bring on a motorcycle camping trip. Wherever you go camping, bring foods that are easy to pack, minimize trash, are easy to clean up, and satisfy your hunger. To customize your motorcycle you can install a crash bar, sissy bar, handlebar, and backrests and to increase storage, you can install saddlebags, sissy bar bags, tour packs, and tank bags.