How to Cook a Succulent Hiking Pad Thai 

While other millennials are going out for Michelin-starred dinners on a Saturday night, Kate is grabbing her Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L, throwing a few ingredients into her pack, and heading for the mountains.

 

People have this idea that hiking meals need to be dehydrated or freeze-dried. And sure, 2-minute noodles have their place, but a weekend overnighter isn’t it. 

If I’ve got the space in my pack, I’m cooking something that tastes good, and I mean really good. Hiking Pad Thai is my current obsession. It’s ridiculously easy, genuinely delicious, and it’s my go-to for introducing friends to what hiking food can actually look like. 

Heck, I’ve even made it at home in my Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L while unpacking from a trip, purely because I couldn’t be bothered getting out a fry-pan.

A meal so good Kate’s cooked it at home? Tell us more

Hiking Pad Thai Recipe

Serves: Two hungry hikers

Tip: The meal kit says it serves four, but they obviously don’t take into account kilometres hiked or elevation gained. If I’m hiking solo but still want to make Pad Thai, I bring a couple of ziplock bags and rubber bands and only cook half the ingredients. That way I can save the rest for another night or even have a hot lunch the next day.

Total cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Pad Thai meal kit (I use the ‘Marion’s Kitchen’ brand from Woolworths)
  • This includes rice stick noodles, Pad Thai sauce, and peanuts
• 1 bag of fresh bean sprouts (or canned if necessary)
• 1 egg
• 1 lime
• Optional protein: smoked chicken, Chinese sausage, or tofu (I like the pre-flavoured ‘Soyco’ firm tofu)

Tip: I keep a few of these Pad Thai meal kits in the pantry so they’re ready to go when I get invited on a last-minute overnight hike. It never fails to impress when I show up ready to cook hiking Pad Thai with only 10-minutes warning.

Look, I’m rarely this organised

Equipment Needed to Cook Hiking Pad Thai

• Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L
• Gas Canister
• Fork/Spork/Knife (avoid metal that can scratch non-stick coatings)
• Mini Chopping Board (or anything to cut on really)
• Optional: serving bowls (we usually just eat straight out of the cooking pot)

Tip: Jetboil canisters typically use a fuel mix of isobutane/propane, which performs much better in the cold. Propane still vaporises at lower temps, whilst isobutane performs better than regular butane, so you get a stronger, more stable flame when it’s freezing cold outside. 

These are my pick for gas canisters when I go snow camping.

Before You Leave Home

Take a photo of the cooking instructions on the back of the Pad Thai meal kit box, then ditch the packaging to save space and weight. I’d also suggest saving or screenshotting this article!

I usually pack my ingredients into the Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L pot, making a little nest for my egg (I wrap it in a chux cloth for extra cushioning!). It keeps things organised, stops your food getting crushed, and keeps everything a bit cooler. You’ll thank me when you get to camp tired and hungry and don’t have to dig through your pack looking for half the ingredients.

No space left unfilled!

How To Cook Hiking Pad Thai

1. Connect and secure the fuel canister to the stove itself.

2. Rotate the regulator dial to the lightning symbol and you’ll hear a click to ignite. This will light the burner on the highest heat.

The knob igniter and new handle are such a great features of the Jetboil TrailCook

3. Bring 500mL of water to the boil in the Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L pot

Tip: Don’t forget to take the stove’s bottom cover off!

4. Add rice noodles and cook for 7-8 minutes until soft 

Don’t overcook the noods!

Tip: Don’t overcook the noodles, they’ll keep cooking once you add everything back in, so slightly under cooked is better.

5. Drain water and set the noodles aside in the stove’s bottom cover (it doubles as a bowl and measuring cup, so handy!)

6. At the same heat, cook your protein (I used tofu for this one) until lightly browned, stirring constantly. The ceramic-coated Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L pot is completely non-stick, so no oil needed!

Not having to bring oil is a plus (it always spills somehow?)

7. Push the protein to one side and crack the egg straight into the pot 

8. Stir until scrambled lightly, then mix with the protein and any veggies you’ve been stir frying.

9. Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the noodles back into the pot, plus the Pad Thai sauce 

Tip: Go easy on the sauce at first. You can always add more, but once it’s in, you’re committed to the full flavour.

10. Stir for 1-2 minutes until mixed well.

Tip: Keep things moving once the sauce goes in. You want to distribute the sauce evenly and avoid anything burning to the base. This is easier to avoid with a stove that can simmer well, like the Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L.

11. Remove from heat. Add the bean sprouts, top with peanuts, and add a squeeze of lime to serve

Difficult: resisting eating it long enough to take a photo

Clean-up Tip: Boil a bit of water in the pot after eating. You can add a splash of vinegar if anything gets really stuck to the base, but honestly, hot water straight after cooking usually does the job. The Jetboil’s ceramic coating is non-stick, which makes life a lot easier.

My partner Josh loves drinking the water as a delicious Pad Thai flavoured tea… gross, I know.

What Makes the Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L so Good for Gourmet Camp Cooking?

Once you move beyond just boiling water, the shape of your pot really starts to matter. The shorter, wider JetBoil TrailCook 1.2L pot gives you more surface area to work with, so things cook evenly instead of clumping at the bottom. It’s big enough to comfortably cook for two, without having to cook everything in multiple rounds or risk spilling half your dinner on the ground (yes, I’m one of those people).

They’ve also updated the lid, which is far more user friendly when you’re removing it frequently to cook on lower heats, whether that’s gently scrambling eggs, reducing a sauce, or just making sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Combined with the flame control that comes from Jetboil’s regulator tech, the simpler knob igniter dial, and the new self-centring pot support that makes it easier to remove the pot from the stove, the benefits add up.

The self-centring pot support is so easy to use!

When you’re cooking gourmet food in the backcountry, the little things make a huge difference.

When are you making Hiking Pad Thai?

This recipe works so well because you can tweak it to include whatever you’ve got on hand at home; swap proteins, add extra veg, or just keep it simple with the meal kit. 

It’s an easy way to prove to non-believers that hiking food doesn’t have to be boring. If you give it a go on your next hike or bikepacking trip, tag @we_are_explorers on socials. I’d love to see just how far this Hiking Pad Thai recipe travels.