Rice is one of the ultimate backpacking staples. It’s lightweight, inexpensive, nutritious, filling, and endlessly versatile. The only problem? Cooking raw rice on the trail takes a long time and burns through precious stove fuel.

The solution is simple: make dehydrated rice at home before your trip. Once dried, it rehydrates quickly in camp (like almost instantly) and becomes the perfect base for hearty, flavour-packed trail meals. In this guide, I’ll show you how to make dehydrated rice, the best types of rice to use, how to store it, delicious add-ins, and ideas to keep it interesting on the trail. For more, visit my primer on how to make homemade dehydrated backpacking meals.

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Why Dehydrate Rice for Backpacking?

Dehydrated vegetable biryani with toasted cashes

Fast cooking – saves fuel and time at camp.
Lightweight nutritious – one portion of rice weighs very little once dried – 100g of dehydrated white rice has about 360 Calories.
Versatile – works as a side, a base for curries and stews, or even as breakfast.
Budget-friendly – much cheaper than buying freeze-dried rice or pre-packaged backpacking meals.

How to Make Dehydrated Rice: Basic Technique

You can use this technique for any type of rice – basmati rice and brown basmati rice are my personal staples, or have fun with a wild rice mix. It's really as simple as cooking the rice, then dehydrating it. See below for add-in ideas to make your rice more interesting. And if you don't know how to cook rice, read this!

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Rice However much you want!
Salt About half a tsp for every cup of rice

Method

Rinse the rice then cook with some salt using your usual method (I use a rice cooker but you can also just boil it it in plenty of water then drain – read this for different methods of cooking rice). Cooking time will depend on the type of rice you're using – basmati rice takes about 20 minutes, brown rice about 30-40 minutes. Cook until just done, not mushy. (See below for some add-in ideas to make your rice a bit more interesting.) Leave to cool then give it a good fluff.
Spread rice out on dehydrator trays lined with mesh inserts or parchment. Spread out in a single thin layer.
Dehydrate at 63°C / 145°F – Dry for 4-6 hours, stirring once or twice. Rice is done when grains are completely hard and brittle.
Cool completely – Warm rice will create condensation in storage.
Package for storage – Store it all in an airtight container, or portiion into freezer bags or vacuum-sealed packs for travel.

Notes

100g dried rice contains about 360kCal. Portion the rice out into servings appropriate for your personal calorie needs.

Two Approaches to Dehydrated Rice

When it comes to prepping rice for the trail, you have two main options. Both work well — it just depends on how much flexibility you want when you’re out there, and how much time you’re willing to spend at home.

1. Plain Dehydrated Rice

Cook and dehydrate the rice with nothing added. On the trail, you can mix and match extras depending on what you’re craving that day.

Pros: Endless flexibility; you can season it differently each night.
Cons: Requires carrying add-ins separately and doing a bit more mixing at camp.
Best for: Long trips where variety is key, or when you want a versatile base food.

Trail Add-In Ideas for Plain Rice

Indian: Turmeric, cardamom, dehydrated lentils and veggies
Mexican: Taco seasoning + dehydrated black beans + corn
Asian: Soy sauce packet + dried egg + fresh scallions
Mediterranean: Sundried tomatoes + oregano + fresh feta
Japanese: Miso powder + dried shitake mushrooms + nori seaweed

2. Flavoured Rice Meals (Cook First, Then Dehydrate)

This is my preferred method, and is more like making a complete meal at home, then dehydrating it. You cook the rice with add-ins, then dehydrate the whole thing together. On the trail, all you do is add water and wait.

Pros: Zero thinking required on the trail; more like a ready meal.
Cons: Less flexibility — if you get tired of the flavour, you’re stuck with it.
Best for: Short trips, or when you want to keep trail cooking simple.

Flavoured Rice Meal Ideas

Here are some things you can add to rice to make it more interesting. Quantities are for 100g uncooked rice.

Indian Curry Rice – Add a tin of cooked lentils, a handful of peas, 1tsp curry powder and 1/2 tsp turmeric + salt. Or get fancier with this wild mushroom pilau rice dehydrated recipe.
Mexican Rice & Beans – Add a tin of cooked black beans, 75g sweetcorn, 2 Tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, a handful of pickled jalapenos if you like it spicy.
Mediterranean Pilaf – Add a bunch of mixed vegetables (e.g. peppers, courgettes, onion), some sundried tomatoes, 1tsp oregano, a crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper.
Fried Rice Style – Add 75g peas, a diced carrot, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil. Feel free to cook up some scrambled eggs to add on the trail, either with fresh eggs or egg powder.
Miso Rice – Add 1-2 tsp miso paste and some grated ginger while cooking. Stir in some fresh spinach at the end. Add cooked or dried mushrooms to the mix if you’d like, and a shredded nori sheet. Delicious garnished with tamari toasted seeds.

What Types of Rice Work Best?

White rice (long grain, basmati, jasmine): Rehydrates quickly and keeps its texture.
Brown rice: Works fine, but takes longer to rehydrate; cook well before dehydrating.
Sticky / sushi rice: Great for Asian-style meals.
Wild rice blends: Earthy and chewy, but allow extra soak time.

Storing Dehydrated Rice

I love these single serving biodegradable packets from Jamo Solutions.

Short-term: Airtight container or zip-top bags in a cool, dark cupboard (up to 3 months).
Long-term: Vacuum-sealed or frozen portions (up to a year).
On the trail: Pack in single-serve portions for quick meal prep.

How to Rehydrate and Enjoy Rice on the Trail

Add dehydrated rice to your pot with just enough water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then cover and let sit 5–10 minutes until tender.
Stir in extras for flavour and texture.

More Trail Add-Ins to Elevate Your Dehydrated Rice

Proteins: jerky, tuna packets, dehydrated tofu, TVP, or powdered egg
Pulses: dehydrates beans or lentils – try my dehydrated black beans and red lentil dal, both easy and absolutely delicious with rice.
Vegetables: dehydrated peppers, peas, carrots, spinach, you name it
Crunch: tamari-toasted seeds, peanuts, cashews
Flavour boosters: soy sauce packets, hot sauce, peanut butter, miso paste, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, pickles, chutneys – I almost always have a small bottle of salsa macha or giardiniera with me.

Dehydrated Rice Food Safety – Avoiding the Dreaded Bacillus cereus!

Cooked rice can harbor spores of Bacillus cereus, a soil-borne bacterium that resists both cooking and dehydration. After cooking, any residual moisture lets the spores germinate and produce toxins. To prevent that, you need to dehydrate cooked rice at a sufficiently high temperature—above 57 °C (135 °F) is the FDA’s “safe-hot” threshold, but many experts recommend 63 °C (145 °F) as a safer margin. At that higher temperature, you can dry rice reasonably quickly (for example, 3 cups cooked dried in ~4 hours) and safely rehydrate it later. Also, for cold-soaked rice-based salads, limit rehydration time to under two hours to reduce microbial risk.

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How to Make Dehydrated Rice for Backpacking

Why Dehydrate Rice for Backpacking?