This is my go to food on or off the trail. The only reason I don’t eat it more on the trail is because it feels to normal.

There are so many types of lentils out there. Instead of going through them all, I’m just going to focus on RED SPLIT LENTILS. In my opinion, not the most superior of all the lentils in flavor or texture, but for hiking they are amazing.

Recommended soaking time only 20min (this reduces cooking time) which means you don’t have to soak as you walk, saving weight or wait around too long in camp. The cooking time varies for quantity and soaking time, but it’s a quick meal which doesn’t use up all your gas. Can be made easily on a open fire or a stove.

So starting with the lentils themselves.

Nutrition per 100g (McKenzie’s Split Red Lentils):

332 Cal, Protein – 25.4g, Carbohydrate – 43.5g, Fat – 2.4g, Dietary Fibre – 15.9g

So in peanut butter terms it’s half the energy/g but the same protein and a more of a carb than fat based food. They aren’t the lightest food to energy food and I often aim to eat my lentils base meals towards to beginning of my resupplies.

As they are totally dry, they keep fine so if you’re packing up your food months in advanced this isn’t a concern.

But once you’ve decided you’re going to eat lentil for every meal how do you mix it up