What's your favorite backpacking breakfast that ISN'T oatmeal?

I like Cream of Wheat.

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Rice with some type of vegetable. It’s easy to carry and cook.

You can carry dehyrated vegetables and powdered eggs. Just add a little of your water and you got scramble with peppers and onions.

You can make your own “instant” cereals and soups if you have a dehydrator and one (or more) of those sheets that fit on the tray (I think they’re intended for making fruit leather). That will cook faster and probably be lighter than carrying the raw grain or cereal. Make your favorite and dehydrate it before your trip, and pack into a zip-lock bag. (Make it very thick so it doesn’t run off the sheet, then spread it on the sheet and dehydrate.) Then just mix it in boiling water to the consistency you like and let it simmer a minute.

I know my lentil soup (cooked in the crockpot, recipe here) works great dehydrated, then just heated to boiling with a little water for a few minutes. Very light to carry, and easy and tasty on the trail.

I rock pancakes when I camp. But it is some powder and water to make them. They can take a few tries to get right on a campfire. But it is worth it.

froot loops…er thats oatmeal… so rice krispies… some people like potato salad… I like mine with egg and very little potato’s mixed with mayo and mustard… if your strapped for supplies you could take an energy bar with water and a replacement drink like boost or ensure…and some beef jerky

There is always breakfast tacos made from dehydrated eggs, tortillas, and cheese if you have it.

However, my favorite backpacking breakfast is hot chocolate and a granola/energy bar.

Bacon Sandwich! Has to be. Maybe even add some mushrooms and tomato.

Couscous is my go-to backpacking item. It’s light to carry, cooks quickly and takes on any flavor you prefer from sweet to savory. I like boiling up a packet of dry miso/veggie soup for the liquid.

Potato cakes. You’ll need to prepare the dough in advance but it will keep for carrying, wrapped up in foil, and just heat it through on a skillet or even just toasted on a stick over a campfire. I eat them with just butter and a little salt, none of this jam or syrup rubbish like the recipe suggests. They’re very filling – will keep you going for a long hike before lunch.

Thanks for all the ideas, folks! I’ve heard some of them and tried a few (I bring couscous for dinner, so I don’t know if I’d want to have the same thing for breakfast). Now I’ve got more to experiment with – here’s hoping for the opportunities to try them soon.

Scrambled eggs, cheese, onion. Real eggs, they do not need refrigeration. Maybe not the easiest cleanup, though.

@jaytkay Thanks – do you have any trouble bringing in eggs by backpack? (I do like to have them when car camping.)

@perg – there are super-cool little plastic boxes that are made for carrying deviled eggs, and they snap together in such a way that you can remove the insert from the bottom and put blue ice there (in case you do want to keep them cool). Excellent protection, keeping the eggs from bouncing together!

Personally, I wouldn’t put raw eggs in my pack no matter how nifty the carrying case. I would really rather not spend the trip having everything I own smelling of rotten egg if one of them breaks, which, IMHO, is pretty likely. This is even more of a concern if you are in bear country.

Potatos and scrambled eggs with veggies like mushroom, onion and pepper.
Rice with a can of salmon, onions and wild greens

In scouts we always brought either oatmeal or sandwich making stuff. We tried pancakes and even cinnamon rolls, which worked pretty well but were a bit hard to make and to clean up afterward. My personal favorite is scrambled eggs. Our family’s had one of those “nifty carriers” since the 80s and it’s never let us down. You might think your eggs will break, but they never seem to. You could also pre-mix the eggs in a airtight plastic bottle and bring them along that way. And of course, you’ve gotta bring along a little salsa and cheese to make your eggs really flavorful.

I don’t carry things that have to be cooked. My backpack would have only homemade breakfast bars, similar to brownies, with nuts and extra protein powder.

I love nut, and jerkey, and dried fruit. Granola bars are good. Yep. that’s what I would eat.

@perg …do you have any trouble bringing in eggs by backpack? ...

I put eggs and most anything else that could make a mess in ziploc bags. And I put the ziplocced eggs my coffeepot so they don’t get crushed.

Well, it’s…. no wait. It really is oatmeal.

(really)