If you’re taking a longer hiking trip through a remote area, cold-soaking is definitely something you should experiment with. It’s ridiculously easy, and it’s a great way to pack light.
That said, it’s not for everyone.
It’s a very different experience from a hot, fresh meal. The textures are different, too. If you’re willing to try it, though, it can save you a good amount of weight and a lot of effort.
I hate always eating the same thing day after day, so I like to pack a few meal options. Between rice, couscous, quinoa, and ramen, you should have no problem finding the hiking meals that suit you.
How to Cold-Soak Instant Rice
To cold-soak instant rice, simply add 1-3/4 cups of water to every cup of rice. Add the additional recipe ingredients, like freeze-dried veggies, then let it soak for about 2 hours before eating.
It’s really that simple. The nice thing about cold-soaking is that you can’t really oversoak like you can overcook food.
Well, technically you can oversoak anything, but the point is that you could soak it for several extra hours and you won’t notice much of a difference.
It’s really important to give the instant rice at least two hours to soak, though. It always takes longer to soak rice than other things like couscous, which usually only takes about 20-30 minutes.
Honestly if you start soaking in the morning and eat the rice in the evening, it’ll turn out as good as it gets.
A quick note on cold soaking: It’s not likely that your food will completely absorb all the water. This is actually a pretty tricky balance, to not end up with soup. That’s why I usually try to plan meals that are supposed to be saucy anyway. It’s just easier.
How to Cold-Soak Couscous
Couscous is really my favorite thing to cold soak. I think it’s hands-down the most beginner-friendly meal, especially since it still tastes “normal”-ish when it’s at room temperature.
At least, it’s the most similar to what you’d expect.
To cold soak couscous, just add 1 cup of water to 1 cup of couscous and let it soak for at least twenty minutes to half an hour before eating.
To be clear, the texture of cold-soaked couscous is not the same as regular cooked couscous. It’s much more dense, especially compared to well-cooked, fluffy couscous that you can do on a camp stove.
I’d recommend trying it at home before you commit to an entire week of this stuff in the woods. It is one of the most normal-ish foods to cold soak, though.
Either way, I like it.
How to Cold Soak Quinoa
To be honest, I’m not crazy about quinoa. It’s one of those things that I pack because I know it’s nutritious.
So for a five-day trip, I might use it for 1 or 2 meals.
Some people love it, though.
To cold-soak quinoa, add 1-3/4 cups of water to 1 cup quinoa. I like to let it soak for around an hour at minimum.
Expect this to be a bit crunchy though. For best results, look for freeze-dried quinoa. It’s not common, but it’s not impossible to find.
How to Cold-Soak Ramen Noodles
Since it’s already so conveniently packaged, this is a really easy one to start with.
To cold-soak ramen noodles, add half the amount of water directed on the package and let it soak for at least half an hour before eating.
Ramen noodles aren’t the same as regular noodles, so this doesn’t apply to other kinds of pastas.
Why You Need Instant Ingredients vs Regular
The reason that you need to use instant foods for cold soaking instead of regular ingredients is that instant foods are precooked.
Cold soaking in no way cooks the food, it just slowly rehydrates it.
So this is a common theme across all cold soaking recipes: The food has to be previously cooked, then dried out.
Things to Add to Cold Soaked Meals
If you’re looking for recipes, you can check out what I’ve posted for cold soaking in the menu.
I like playing around with recipes and flavors. Here are a few other ingredients that can go well in a cold-soaked meal:
- Dehydrated refried beans (works great for burritos)
- Freeze-dried broccoli, carrots, peas, red pepper, celery, onions… almost anything freeze-dried
- Powdered veggies
- Soup mixes
- Powdered coconut milk
- Tuna packets
- Lentils
Just a quick note on ingredients to add to your meal:
There’s a difference between dehydrated and freeze-dried veggies.
Dehydrated veggies are done by warm, dry air, and they’re generally not pre-cooked. Freeze-drying is done in a cold vacuum.
Freeze-drying is more expensive, dehydrating is cheap.
Freeze-drying rehydrates more quickly than dehydrated food, although they’re a bit bulkier. They also retain more of the nutrients, like vitamins A and B.
So basically, freeze-dried veggies are better and faster, but dehydrated veggies can technically work too, although they generally need heat to re-hydrate properly.
ALSO…
I haven’t had great success with corn and peas with cold soaking. I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing something wrong, or if I just don’t like them. I’d stick to other veggies instead.
Cold Soaking Staples
Rice itself isn’t really all that full of nutrients, so I tend to not rely on it too heavily. It also takes longer than most other foods to rehydrate. I mostly use it for the sake of variety.
Most people I know tend to primarily use couscous, with ramen as the convenience option.
Another GREAT option for cold soaked meals is instant potatoes. These barely need any time to soak at all, it happens literally in minutes. If you can do a decent job of flavoring them then they’re a really solid meal.
One other food to try is instant oatmeal. It rehydrates really easily and it’s usually ready in about 20 minutes. Great for breakfasts and snacks.
Note: Don’t cold soak regular noodles. Wheat needs to be cooked to be properly digested. If it’s not precooked (like ramen noodles) then you might get stomach cramps, and your body won’t properly break down the nutrients.
Cold Soaking Tips
Flavor packets/mixes/seasonings are really important. You might be fine with eating plain foods on the camp stove, but cold-soaking needs all the help it can get.
Also, cold soaking doesn’t really let the seasoning flavors come out the way that cooking does, so you’ll need considerably more in a cold soak to make it taste like something.
Try it at home first. It might seem obvious, but I know very few people that actually did this.
There is literally nothing worse than being on day 5 of a two-week trip and coming to terms with the fact that all the food that you brought for the entire trip is completely inedible.
You don’t need to do anything extravagant. Just try a cold-soaked meal or two at home before you pack your bag.
If you can eat it at home, then you’re fine for the trail.