Building the day

Breakfast. Something warm and quick sets up the morning. Porridge is the classic choice because oats give slow-release energy, and powdered milk keeps it light. If a young person would rather not cook first thing, a bar or a pain au chocolat eaten in the tent works just as well.

Lunch. This is usually eaten on the move, so it should need no cooking. Wraps and pittas travel better than sliced bread, filled with hard cheese, nut butter, or a tuna or chicken pouch. The key is food that survives being squashed in a rucksack.

Dinner. The evening meal matters most for warmth and morale after a long day. Pasta, rice or couscous with a sachet sauce is simple and filling, and a boil-in-the-bag meal is the easy option where budget allows. A warm pudding or a hot chocolate is a genuine lift on a cold night.

Snacks. Steady grazing between meals is often where young people take on most of their energy, because it needs no stopping or cooking. Nuts, dried fruit, flapjacks and chocolate that does not melt all work well. Keep them in a hip pocket so they actually get eaten rather than left in the pack.

When a young person will not eat

If a teenager goes off their food on expedition, the answer is variety, familiarity and ease, not pressure. Pack a few things they already know they like, keep snacks constantly within reach so grazing is effortless, and lean on foods that are easy to eat when appetite is low rather than meals that take effort to prepare and chew.

This is the single most useful thing a parent or leader can plan for. The broader approach is covered in what to eat when appetite is low, but on expedition specifically, avoid relying on one big evening meal a tired young person has to cook, because that is the meal most likely to be picked at and abandoned. Softer, simpler foods tend to go down when a dense meal will not. A bar that can be eaten as it is, or stirred into hot or cold water to make a high-calorie porridge, gives a tired young person an easy way to take on real energy without much effort. The method is set out in how to make a Phoenix Bar into porridge.

Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free

Dietary needs are common on youth expeditions, and they should never mean going short on energy. Many boil-in-the-bag ranges now offer vegan and gluten-free options, and a lot of snacks are naturally suitable. Phoenix Bars are both vegan and gluten-free, which makes them a straightforward way to cover a young person who cannot eat standard camp food without packing something separate for them.

A simple way to pack it

The approach experienced leaders recommend is to split food into one waterproof bag per day, labelled, and shared across the group so no one carries everything. Plan each day with a breakfast, grazing food for the move, an evening meal and snacks, then add a little extra simple food as a buffer in case a meal is skipped or the day runs long. The same packing discipline applies to any wild camping trip.

For schools, groups and expedition leaders

If you are organising food for a group rather than one young person, the priorities shift toward simplicity, dietary coverage and predictable energy across a mix of eaters. Our high-calorie nutrition bars come in bundles suited to this, and we can arrange bulk supply for schools, groups and expedition providers. Get in touch through the contact page to discuss group pricing.

Where Phoenix Bars fit

To be straight about it, no single product solves expedition food, and most of a young person's pack will and should be ordinary supermarket food. Where Phoenix Bars earn their place is as the easy-energy item: vegan and gluten-free, up to 557 calories in a 120 gram bar, a two-year shelf life so a spare can live in the pack, and the option to eat them as a bar or make them into porridge with hot or cold water when a young person is too tired to face a full meal. The Starter bundle is a sensible way to try them before a first expedition, and the Essential bundle suits a longer trip.

Frequently asked questions

How much should a young person eat on a multi-day expedition? More than on a normal day. A multi-day expedition is physically demanding, so the practical aim is to pack more food than usual, spread across breakfast, grazing food, an evening meal and snacks, and to make sure meals are not skipped. Eating enough to stay warm and alert matters more than hitting any exact figure.

What food is best for a first expedition? Food that is light, needs little or no cooking, survives being squashed, and is easy to eat when tired. In practice that means porridge or a bar for breakfast, wraps or pittas for lunch on the move, a simple pasta or rice dinner, and accessible snacks such as nuts, dried fruit and flapjacks.

What if a teenager will not eat camp food? Pack familiar foods they already like, keep snacks within easy reach so grazing is effortless, and rely on easy-to-eat foods rather than meals that take effort when appetite is low. Softer or simpler foods, including a bar or a porridge made from one, often go down when a heavy cooked meal will not.

Is dehydrated or wet food better for a youth expedition? Wet boil-in-the-bag meals are heavier but pre-hydrated and often taste better, which suits shorter expeditions. Dehydrated and freeze-dried meals are lighter and pack smaller, which matters more on longer expeditions where food is carried for several days. Many groups mix the two.

How do you keep expedition food light? Avoid tins and anything wet you do not need to carry, and choose dried and concentrated foods that provide more energy per gram. Sharing group items like sauces, packing per day, and including a few high-energy, low-weight items keeps total pack weight manageable.

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix. James developed Phoenix Bars after more than 150 conversations with people who struggle to eat enough or to fuel long days outdoors, and has supplied bars to ultra-endurance athletes and expedition teams. Read more on the my story page.