While breakfast is not my favorite meal out on trail, one of my favorite pre-packaged backpacking meals is always the biscuits & gravy, with Pinnacle Foods and Peak Refuel being my favorite versions of this breakfast classic. This biscuits & gravy grocery store backpacking meal is not only delicious, but it’s also cheap and easy to make, both at home and out on the trail!

The Peak Refuel Biscuits & Gravy costs $14.95 at REI and the Pinnacle Foods version comes in at $16.49 when purchased online. Here’s how I make my own version of biscuits and gravy at home, with homemade biscuits for only $2.35 per serving.

Original recipe is from Tastes Better From Scratch

Grocery Store Backpacking Meal Recipe: Biscuits & Gravy

Ingredients

3-4 homemade, buttermilk biscuits I purposely made the biscuits on the small sized since I knew I’d be freeze drying them
1 lb pork sausage
2 tbsp and 1 tsp all-purpose flour
2.5 cups half and half
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

Brown sausage in a large saucepan. Use a paper towel to blot out most of the grease from the pan.

Add flour, butter and half and half. Cook on medium-low, stirring often, for several minutes until thickened.

Add thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes and black pepper.

Serve over warm biscuits.

Freeze-Drying Instructions

 On a freeze dryer tray, line with gravy into a thin layer and spread it evenly over the tray. 1 serving = 1 cup of gravy.

On a separate freeze dryer tray, cut up one biscuit into 8 pieces. Line the tray with3-4 cut up biscuits. 1 biscuit = 8 pieces. 1 serving = 3 biscuits

Load the trays into the freeze dryer, start the batch and wait anywhere from 20 to 24 hours for the batch to be complete.

After the batch has been completed, remove food trays from the freeze dryer and package up each meal into a single serving bag. 1 Serving = 1 Cup of Gravy & 3 Biscuits

Vacuum seal each bag to help preserve freshness and prevent spoilage and then store in a dark, cool place.

Weight Before Freeze Drying: 11 ounces
Weight After Freeze Drying: 4.9 ounces

Rehydrating in the Backcountry

  • Transfer the food into a food safe container that can withstand boiling water like a mylar bag, Stasher bag or a quart-sized Ziploc Freezer bag
  • Boil water
  • Add just enough boiling water to cover the food inside the bag. I don’t have exact measurements. I usually just eyeball this for each meal. When adding water, less is more to avoid the meal getting too soupy.
  • Stir and close the bag
  • Add food bag into an insulated food pouch or food cozy
  • Let food rehydrate for 10-12 minutes
  • Remove from the insulated food pouch (or food cozy) and stir
  • Serve and enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 Serving = 1 Cup of Gravy & 3 Biscuits
776 Calories per Serving
24 Grams of Protein
Cost Per Serving: $2.35
Recipe: Makes 5 Servings

Grocery Store Backpacking Food | Cheap & Easy DIY Freeze Dried Backpacking Meal Ideas

Learn how to make your own backpacking meals with some of other favorite grocery store backpacking meal recipes:

Chicken & Dumplings
Beef Stroganoff
Chili & Cornbread
Beef Stew
Hamburger Pie
Chicken Fajitas & Guacamole
Corned Beef & Cabbage

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