Backpacking Food Budget Calculator

How much does backpacking food cost?

Food is one of the few backpacking costs you pay on every single trip. Commercial freeze-dried pouches are convenient but expensive; grocery-store staples and home-dehydrated meals cost a fraction as much. Most hikers spend somewhere between about $12 and $45 per person per day, depending mostly on how many packaged meals they buy.

This calculator multiplies your days, people and meals per day by a realistic cost and weight per meal, then adds snacks and drinks. You get a cost per person, a group total and the total food weight to pack.

How to use the calculator

1. Enter the trip length, people and meals per day. Many hikers plan three meals a day; some skip a hot lunch and snack all afternoon instead.
2. Choose a meal style. This fills in a typical cost and weight per meal. Change either number to match what you’ll actually buy.
3. Add snacks and drinks. These are per person per day. Snacks are often the heaviest part of a food bag, so don’t underestimate them.
4. Check the weight guide. The result tells you whether your plan falls inside the common 1.5–2.5 lb per person per day range.

How the cost and weight are calculated

Cost = people × days × (meals per day × cost per meal + snacks + drinks)
Weight = people × days × (meals per day × ounces per meal + snack ounces + drink ounces) ÷ 16

The weight shown is what you start with, in pounds, with the kilogram figure for UK and European hikers underneath the result. It drops every day as you eat, so your pack is lightest on the walk out.

Typical meal costs and weights

How much food should you carry per day?

A common rule of thumb is 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of food per person per day. Smaller hikers on easy terrain sit near the low end; bigger hikers, cold weather and long mileage days push toward the top. The number that matters most is calories: aim for dense foods that pack more than 100 calories per ounce, such as nuts, nut butter, chocolate, olive oil, cheese and tortillas.

Ways to lower your food budget

• Repackage. Bulk oats, couscous, instant potatoes and ramen cost far less per serving than branded pouches.
• Dehydrate at home. A dehydrator pays for itself quickly if you backpack often.
• Save pouches for dinner. Use cheap no-cook breakfasts and lunches, and keep one freeze-dried meal as the treat of the day.
• Share a stove and fuel. One cook kit per two or three people saves money and weight.

Going on a longer trip? The thru-hike budget planner adds resupply stops, town days and gear replacement to your food costs. For car camping meals, use the camping trip cost calculator.

Last updated September 24, 2026. All costs are in US dollars.