One of our favorite pastimes is traveling. We love venturing out to new cities and countries and seeing what kind of keto goodies we can find along the way. However, our real passion is adventure traveling like hiking, backpacking, kayaking, etc. On a keto or low carb diet this can be intimidating if you don’t have solid keto backpacking food options.
So, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to share with you our go-to keto backpacking food that we bring along on hikes, treks, or even just walking the neighborhood (just kidding… sort of).
Before we start, a quick story…
While visiting the South Island of New Zealand we decided to go on a hike that was about 12 miles round trip. We didn’t eat breakfast (morning fasters) and just decided we would eat in a little “town” right by the mountain afterwards. So we arrived early in the morning excited and ready to go. We even might have started in a slow jog up this mountain, that’s how excited we were.
Well, imagine doing Stairmaster for about 3 hours by choice. That was us. On top of that, somewhere along the way we realized we didn’t bring snacks. But, mind of matter, we made it to the top of the mountain. And then we realized we had to go back down.
That caused a minor meltdown for Sonja, who was over it at this point. But we made our way back down the mountain eager to grab a quick bite to eat. At this point, we weren’t even hungry, we just wanted some good comfort food as a reward for completing the hike.
Well, we arrived at the only restaurant around, only to see that it was closed for the afternoon (yay us!). We decided just to drive 3 hours to our final destination to get a solid meal. Not very successful as far as keto hiking lunches go. But, let me tell you, we probably could have won some eating competitions that night!
By the way, check out the view at the top.
So, what’s the point of this story?
Fat Adaptation
So many of you have heard the word fat adapted being thrown at you from every which way. “Once you’re fat adapted” then this or “this helps you get fat adapted.” We have done some research on this term and there not much supporting it as a real physiological state..
You are fat adapted as soon as you deplete the 100g of glycogen in your liver which can be achieved with less than a day of fasting and working out. If you don’t have a glycogen in your liver to burn, your body is going to start generating ketones. So, in our opinion, as soon as you start burning ketones for fuel (like we were hiking) you are technically fat adapted.
If humans as a species took time to be fat adapted we would have died out long ago, so don’t worry about becoming fat adapted. It’s more about getting over your sugar and carb cravings by finding delicious alternatives that are going to allow you to find long term success. I mean eating one hard boiled egg, a slice of cheese, and deli meat for every meal is going to be hard to sustain for many people out there.
We can’t emphasize enough the importance of finding enjoyable, convenient and delicious foods to eat on your keto journey–whether it ls “Clean Keto”, “Dirty Keto”, “blah blah blah keto”–just find the products that work for you!
People love claiming that products and foods aren’t “keto” or something’s not keto because it’s not all natural (this isn’t Paleo). The only real guideline for eating keto is consuming a low enough amount of carbs to keep glycogen levels low in the liver and muscles. Also, you need to keep your protein intake moderate based on how much muscle you’re packing. And, of course, all these factors vary from person to person, body to body.
But let’s move on to why you really came to this post…
On a hike or backpacking trip, you want to keep your body running off of ketones and fat. Anything that spikes your insulin (like sugar and carbohydrates) will inhibit the generation of ketones.That means, we need to the keep the carb count low and provide a good amount of fat.
Note that if you actually eat this stuff while hiking or backpacking, you’ll most likely burn all of that carbohydrate up quickly. So there is a higher ceiling for carb intake when you’re doing some cardiovascular activity. However, your body can run on ketones indefinitely, so you don’t actually NEED to intake any carbs. So, it’s best to keep your carb intake lower to reduce insulin and keep your body efficiently generating ketones.
Our Go-To Keto Backpacking Food List
Nuts
We can’t go anywhere without our macadamia nuts. They are our go-to snack all day, everyday. They have the highest fat content out of all the nuts, so if you have limited space in your pack, these are a really great option. A little goes a long way in keeping you full and satiated.
We have tried many different brands but our tried and true is Costco Kirkland Signature Macadamia Nuts. They have the roasted to saltiness ratio down and there’s always a pleasant tropical sweetness to them!
Nut Butters
There are various nut butters making it super easy and convenient for hiking and backpacking.
Our favorite is Noosh Keto Almond Butter. They have a couple of flavors, but our favorite is the Birthday Cake flavor. (Here’s a link to the Coffee flavor).
Chocolate
Chocolate can get messy depending on the weather. But if you are in moderate to cooler climates, you can definitely bring along a few chocolate bars.
We still have a decent sweet tooth being on keto, but it’s easily satiated with our favorite chocolates including Choc Zero. We aren’t necessary die-hard dark chocolate lovers so we stick with milk chocolates BUT everyone we know LOVES their Dark Chocolate blends 😀
Here’s our favorite: ChocZero Milk Chocolate Squares (<–10% off with code CONVENIENTKETO)
Bars
Keto Bars are great for dark chocolate lovers. And they have awesome nutritional stats: 20g fat (12g saturated), 3g net carbs, 6g protein.
You can check out our video review for Keto Bars on our keto bars roundup post.
Granola Cereal
Sola
Sola
Check out a more in-depth video review on our keto cereal post!
Elan
Elan is also super convenient for traveling because they come in single serving size shot packaging! Perfect for portion control and travels!
Oatmeal
Trail Mixes
New to the keto game is Keto Farms. We have had the opportunity to try their 3 flavors of snack mixes and they are delicious. It’s a great blend of sweet, savory, and crunchy. Really the perfect option for any kind of traveling, whether it be on a plane, train or automobile!
They’ve added MCT oil to their mixes which adds higher fat content, keeping your body satiated longer. Plus MCT oil is ketogenic, so they’ll likely be converted to ketones. So if you’re hiking or working out, that will definitely help keep your energy levels high!
Check out our full video review of Keto Farms Snack Mixes here.
Jerky
Normally jerky contains tons of sugar! But there are a few brands out there that are sugar-free and also don’t taste like bark! Nothing is more convenient and easy to store than some jerky on a trip! One of our favorites is Tillamook jerky
Meat Bars aka Keto Slim Jims
Similar to jerky, meat bars fill your body’s protein needs (which will be higher after a strenuous hike). These tend to be a little juicier than jerky and come in a wider variety of flavors.
A super low carb and flavorful option is the Epic Chicken Sriracha bar, coming in at only 1g net carb per bar!
MCT Oil Products – Coffee and Teas
There are so many keto instant coffee products on the market these days and everyone has their favorites so we are just going to share ours with you based on ingredients and taste. Here are our top picks:
Keto Road Trip Snacks?
(If you are taking a road trip and have more space we would be the following keto road trip snacks in addition to the above (and yes we bring all of this!)
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- Solo Carb Bread – grilled cheeses, sandwiches, toast, you name it
- Good Good Jam – PB & J Sandwiches, toast
- Sola Sweetener – For any desserts you might create like cobblers etc.
- Eden Organic Black Soy Beans – great over campfire!
- Check out our full review of these 1g net carb beans!
- Keto BBQ Sauce – you know why 😀
- Low Sugar Condiments
- No Sugar Added Heinz Ketchup
- Sir Kensington’s Avocado Mayo
- Yellow Mustard
- Zevia Sodas – our favorite keto soda option!
- Low Carb Tortillas – for campfire tacos, quesadillas, etc
- Low Carb Pasta & Sauces
- Keto Cookies – Fat Snax Cookies and Alyssa’s Oatmeal Cookies
- Milkadamia Macadamia Milk for granola/cereal
- Vietnamese Iced Coffee Supplies (yes, we do bring this along :D)
- Also string cheese, eggs, butter
Dining Out
We do eat out on our travels as well, but if you are going somewhere remote, you can’t trust that you will have more than a McDonald’s. And let me tell you when you don’t have solid keto options, those Doritos at the gas station start looking REAL GOOD! 😀
Check out some of our favorite fast food restaurant guides.
What about chips…
If you ever do have a Doritos craving (which Sonja gets on all our road trips 🙂 Quest Chips have two great flavors that will hold you over. They have both of the familiar Cool Ranch & Nacho flavors! Each is only 4g net carb per bag!
Check out our video review here:
Got any other cool products or tips for keto backpacking food? Let us know! As always, happy keto trails!
Hello, just wanted to say, I enjoyed this article.
It was funny. Keep on posting!