Thanksgiving backpacking dinner
Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, 2026. If you're spending it on trail, you can still eat stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries and pie, all from grocery-store boxes that weigh a few ounces. This page builds a one-pot Thanksgiving dinner from foods in our index and gives the real numbers from each label.
The one-pot dinner below comes to 888 kcal and 26 g protein for 10.2 oz of food, or 87 kcal per ounce.
11 foods · tap a column to sort · 125+ kcal/oz is light to carry
| Food | kcal/oz ↓ | protein g/oz | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken and Mashed Potatoes Mountain House · Freeze-Dried & Backpacking Meals | 121 | 11.5 | 9.6 | $27.15 | 460 | 44 | 108 |
| Frosted Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries Pop-Tarts · Candy & Sweets | 112 | 1.2 | 1.1 | — | 198 | 2.2 | 50 |
| Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Turkey Kraft · Meals, Noodles & Sides | 111 | 4.0 | 3.6 | — | 110 | 4 | 28 |
| Buttery Homestyle Mashed Potatoes Idahoan · Meals, Noodles & Sides | 111 | 2.0 | 1.8 | $4.45 | 110 | 2 | 28 |
| Mashed Potatoes & Gravy with Beef Backpacker's Pantry · Freeze-Dried & Backpacking Meals | 106 | 5.2 | 4.8 | $24.21 | 330 | 16 | 88 |
| Mashed Potatoes Great Value · Meals, Noodles & Sides | 103 | 2.6 | 2.5 | — | 80 | 2 | 22 |
| Poultry Gravy Mix McCormick · Meals, Noodles & Sides | 101 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 25 | 0 | 7 |
| Signature Russets Mashed Potatoes Idahoan · Meals, Noodles & Sides | 99 | 2.5 | 2.5 | — | 80 | 2 | 23 |
| Craisins Original Dried Cranberries Ocean Spray · Trail Mix, Nuts & Salty Snacks | 92 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 130 | 0 | 40 |
| Premium Cut Turkey Jerky, Original Jack Link's · Jerky & Shelf-Stable Meat | 81 | 13.2 | 16.3 | — | 80 | 13 | 28 |
| White Chicken Pouch Swanson · Protein Add-ins | 27 | 4.6 | 17.1 | $27.71 | 70 | 12 | 73.7 |
One-pot Thanksgiving dinner
- Kraft Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Turkey × 2 servings: 220 kcal, 8 g protein, 2.0 oz
- Idahoan Buttery Homestyle Mashed Potatoes × 2 servings: 220 kcal, 4 g protein, 2.0 oz
- McCormick Poultry Gravy Mix × 2 servings: 50 kcal, 0 g protein, 0.5 oz
- Swanson White Chicken Pouch: 70 kcal, 12 g protein, 2.6 oz
- Ocean Spray Craisins Original Dried Cranberries: 130 kcal, 0 g protein, 1.4 oz
- Pop-Tarts Frosted Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries: 198 kcal, 2 g protein, 1.8 oz
Total: 888 kcal · 26 g protein · 10.2 oz · 87 kcal/oz.
How to cook it: boil water, stir in the gravy mix first, pour off a cup of gravy into your mug, then stir the stuffing and potato flakes into the pot, cover and let it sit a few minutes. Fold in the chicken and Craisins, pour the gravy over the top, and save the Pop-Tart for dessert. Follow each package for water amounts. Prefer turkey? Swap the chicken pouch for Jack Link's turkey jerky, torn into the pot.
The components, ranked
The table above ranks every component and swap by calories per ounce. In the pot, the densest parts are Pop-Tarts Frosted Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries (112 kcal/oz) and Kraft Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Turkey (111 kcal/oz); the least dense is Swanson White Chicken Pouch (27 kcal/oz, since it's packed wet), but it brings the most protein (4.6 g/oz). Turkey jerky carries more protein per ounce (13.2 g/oz) at a fraction of the weight. If weight matters more than tradition, a freeze-dried pouch like Mountain House Chicken & Mashed Potatoes is in the table too.
Friendsgiving overnight menu
A 2-day, 3,500 kcal menu from our planner, with the Thanksgiving pot as day 1's dinner and the rest of the day topped up to target. It averages 3,516 kcal a day and weighs 2.9 lb in total.
Day 1 · 3,519 kcal · 161 g protein · 26.0 oz
Breakfast
- Stowaway Gourmet Sausage And Eggs581 kcal · 33 g
Snacks & lunch
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Chopped Macadamia Nuts × 2460 kcal · 6 g
- Justin's Classic Peanut Butter Squeeze Pack × 2420 kcal · 14 g
- Justin's Classic Cashew Butter Squeeze Pack × 2420 kcal · 10 g
- Snickers Bar130 kcal · 2 g
- Justin's Almond Butter Covered Almonds180 kcal · 3 g
- Snickers (fun size)80 kcal · 1 g
Dinner
- Kraft Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Turkey × 2220 kcal · 8 g
- Idahoan Buttery Homestyle Mashed Potatoes × 2220 kcal · 4 g
- McCormick Poultry Gravy Mix × 250 kcal · 0 g
- Swanson White Chicken Pouch70 kcal · 12 g
- Ocean Spray Craisins Original Dried Cranberries130 kcal · 0 g
- Pop-Tarts Frosted Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries198 kcal · 2.2 g
Drinks & add-ins
- Bio Chem 100% Whey Protein Powder (chocolate) × 2180 kcal · 40 g
- Organic Valley Whey Protein Powder (chocolate)140 kcal · 26 g
- Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix40 kcal · 0 g
Day 2 · 3,513 kcal · 161 g protein · 21.1 oz
Breakfast
- Stowaway Gourmet Spiced Creamy Oatmeal with Pear588 kcal · 12 g
Snacks & lunch
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Chopped Macadamia Nuts × 2460 kcal · 6 g
- Justin's Cinnamon Almond Butter Squeeze Pack × 2400 kcal · 12 g
- Justin's Almond Butter Covered Almonds × 2360 kcal · 6 g
- Snickers (fun size)80 kcal · 1 g
Dinner
- Peak Refuel Chicken Alfredo830 kcal · 48 g
- Long Weekend Thai Coconut Curry Instant Soup × 2400 kcal · 10 g
- McCormick Poultry Gravy Mix25 kcal · 0 g
Drinks & add-ins
- Met-Rx Whey Protein Powder (vanilla) × 2240 kcal · 44 g
- Met-Rx Whey Protein Powder (chocolate)130 kcal · 22 g
Open the Friendsgiving menu in the planner →
Feeding a group? Multiply the dinner servings by the number of people; a 6 oz box of Stove Top is 6 servings. This is label data, not a meal plan or medical advice.
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