Chili Lime Peanut Noodles (Backpacking Meal) (2024)

This zippy, slightly spicy noodle dish isreminiscentof Pad Thai and is SO simple to make! It’s one of our favorite backpacking meals that doesn’t require a dehydrator.

The trifecta of backpacking meals is a high calorie to weight ratio, easy to make, and packed with flavor—and these Chili Lime Peanut Noodles knock it out of the park on all three.

No dehydrator or advanced cooking is required, and it takes about five minutes to cook in camp. This meal is lightweight at 5.5 ounces, but loaded with calories and nutrition to help you refuel after a long day of hiking. And, it’s delicious: the spicy but slightly sweet, slightly tangy sauce has us licking our spoons at the end of mealtime.

Ingredient Notes

Noodles: Cheap, store-bought ramen noodles work well (toss the flavor packet)

Brown sugar: Adds sweetness to the sauce

Ground ginger: A little goes a long way to add extra flavor

Chili pepper flakes: Adjust to your spice preference. You can also pack a single-serve Sriracha pack instead, or if you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, use their Sriracha Sprinkle seasoning!

Peanuts: Adds a great texture contrast to the noodles

Peanut butter packet: Single-serve packets are most convenient. If you backpack with a jar of peanut butter, use about 2 tablespoons.

True Lime: Don’t skip this! True Lime adds the citrusy tang that really makes this meal great. You can get it on Amazon. It’s great for adding flavor to all kinds of meals and water, too—so don’t worry that you’ll only use it once and have it sitting around your pantry forever 😉

Optional: For an extra nutrition boost, you can add some freeze-dried or dehydrated veggies

See Also

Backpacking Meal Plans for Multi-day Hikes | BackpackingChef15+ Easy No-Cook Recipes for Your Next Backpacking Trip - Outdoor Fact

The Soto Windmaster and the Jetboil MiniMo are our two top stoves for backpacking. See our recommended backpacking checklist here!

Step By Step

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for exact measurements and the printable recipe!

At home

Place the ramen noodles, brown sugar, ground ginger, chili pepper flakes, and chopped peanuts into a bag. Pack along the peanut butter packet and True Lime packet.

Here’s the bag we use–it weighs only 13g.

On trail

Remove the ramen and place it in your cook pot. Add water to just barely cover the noodles. You really don’t want a lot of extra water to deal with. Turn on the stove, bring the water to a boil, and cook the noodles for a few minutes until they are done.

Take the pot off the heat and remove of all but ¼ cup of the remaining water. You can either drink it (there are calories in there!) or dispose of it in a 6-inch deep hole (in accordance with Leave No Trace).

Then, you’ll make the sauce by adding the spices, peanuts, peanut butter, and True Lime to the remaining water and noodles. Stir until the sauce is creamy and the noodles are coated.

That’s it! Enjoy!