My lunches are pretty simple no cook.

1. Meat/cheese stix, candy bar
2. Crackers/cheese pringles
3. Gorp/fruit candy bar
4. salami or other lunch meat/ cheese, tortillas, pringles

Those are some examples. Not healthy I know, but really does anyone have other ideas for lighter weight but still good calorie no cook lunches? I am always looking to shed food weight...couldn't hurt to ask.

T

I think the sausage/cheese/tortilla is a decent solution. Not to mention if you're laying over it can be transitioned to quesadillas. Can also do peanut butter/jam/tortilla. Don't see the point in pringles (high volume, extraordinarily processed, fragile, nutritionally vacant) or crackers. I add dried peaches and dried pears for dessert. I basically do the same lunch every day.

I have a Meal bar (ProBar, there are others) and some nuts. The bars are about 400 cal. and nuts have a high caloric density (170 cal. per oz.). Yeah, it's the basically the same every day, although they are mixed nuts, and sometimes I'll have 2 flavors of bars, though they taste pretty much the same. But I'm usually solo so nobody says anything about it. :)

I make granola to bring- easy to customize with different dried fruits, nuts, etc. Can have it by itself or bring powdered milk.

Summer sausage, cheese, crackers, dried fruit, and cho cc plate or cookies. Got a recipe here for fruit cake cookies - always a hit.

Cheese, Salami, Gorp, Granola bars and dried fruits. And occasionally fish fry.

Ramen is a great lunch
With a Jetboil these days you're able to make hot water in like 60 seconds
Eat right out of the package with no mess or cleanup

Not super lightweight but we always do a bagel & cream cheese and carrots on the first or second day. On all but the hottest August trips the CC lasts just fine until then. The carrots are durable and add some crunch. The cream cheese has good fat + protein. Plus having a bagel on a portage is just fun!

We started dehydrating hummus for some of our canoe trip lunches (as well as for appetizers while prepping dinners). Put enough of the powder into a zip-top snack bag for your group needs, rehydrate in the bag (adding water slowly!), then cut a slit into one of the corners and squeeze onto crackers, zucchini chips, etc.

TZ

Unless you have a nut allergy, definitely nuts and peanut butter should be on your pack list. Organic if possible (I’ve found that organic nuts and peanut butter do not contain the bad-for-you oils such as Canola, Sunflower, Rapeseed). Yes, it’s a bit more expensive. Protein powder is also something that I’ve brought in the past. Whey protein typically mixes very well with water and doesn’t leave a mess in my thermos.

I bring almonds, gorp, jerky, and dried apricots. I eat a handful of this and that every lunch. To me it's yummy!

Dave

Bagel or Tortilla sandwiches for me: Peanut butter, jelly, honey, foil packets of tuna or chicken, Prosciutto or other shelf stable meats, hard cheeses, etc. I always travel with Peanut M&Ms for a high boost of calories and sugar. I also bring fruit leather for dessert. I get a lot of the shelf stable meats at World Market. They usually have a good variety.

For years I have packed along several Coghlan squeeze tubes stuffed with peanut butter, Nutella, homemade maple syrup and homemade honey. If it’s all whipped together in a bowl, it thickens to the point that putting it into a tube is easy and less messy than just trying to put peanut butter alone into it. Spread on tortillas, or better yet Brownberry Honey Wheat thin sandwich bread, it is high in calories and protein, tastes great, and will not spoil over a long trip.



Brownberry sandwich bread

We really liked the flat packed Niman Ranch Sopresatta for a sandwich on the trail. It is a little overpackaged, but could probably be trimmed some. I only see the hot sopresatta on their website now, not sure if it is as good. I've seen other brands that look ok. We take lots of bread for sandwiches. I know it is bulky, but it doesn't weigh more than 2 tortillas and I like sandwiches. Everyone has heavy stuff they take like steaks, potatoes etc. It's a trade off. Some comfort food on the trail is mood elevating, even Pringles or Stacks have their place. They do provide salt and encourage water intake. We also take tubes of peanut butter and jelly, and pack premade turkey sandwiches for the first day with a frozen water bottle.
We stopped and cooked cheese tortillas for a real break on a really long day since we knew we would need some recharge time. As long as you gather all the stuff for quick access you can do whatever you want. That's what I like about traveling with all my food, when I've had enough we can stop, eat, regroup and keep going.