How many different ways can you make potatoes on trail? There are dozens of potato flavors, but even these can become exhausting to eat. Adding ramen to make a famous ‘ramen bomb’ (what it sounds like, mixing ramen and potatoes together) is not the exact seasoning I need to make them more palatable. That being said, we can’t deny that potatoes are a light and inexpensive resupply option.

Riveter and I had an aversion to instant potatoes when we started the AT. We had done our time either packing out left-over potatoes or gorging ourselves on the whole pot to avoid the earlier option. Something that did not occur to us until we heard another hiker say it: You do NOT have to eat the whole potato packet in one sitting. We never thought about splitting the package over multiple meals. This was a game changer! We started exploring the potato isle more and found these three potato meals we enjoy:

Yammy Goodness

What you will need:

Betty Crocker Instant Mashed Sweet potatoes

BBQ pork/Chicken packet

You can use any type of protein option available, but we found the BBQ paired nicely with the sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes can be a little harder to find than the normal potato flavors. We have found good success at larger grocery stores, such as Walmart.

Ranch-tastic

What you will need:

Ranch flavored instant potatoes

Choice of protein

This one may sound a little more boring than the two options, but trust us when we say the Ranch flavor slaps! It is not an overwhelming Ranch flavor and is a good mix up from the ‘herbed’ or ‘cheesy’ mashed potatoes. 

Another Spud

What you will need:

Instant Hash browns

Buffalo chicken packet

Again, you can use a different protein option as desired. The hash provides a different texture than traditional mashed potato. These can be bought in a carton or microwavable cups and come in a couple different flavors. We found these at most grocery stores, and even some of the smaller resupply stores on trail.

Our ultimate favorite was the Idahoean triple cheese potato shreds. We would typically eat two containers in one sitting. These come sold in microwavable containers, but can be cooked on your stove or even cold soaked.