Part 1 - Cooking Up Adventure: How One Canoeist Adapted Frontier Soups for the Trail

Updated July 2025

When our longtime customer Jeremy decided to paddle 750 miles across the Northern Forest Canoe Trail—from New York to Maine and into Canada—he brought along a secret ingredient: Frontier Soups.

At 56, Jeremy traveled solo in a wooden canoe, relying on ultralight backpacking techniques to keep his load manageable. Frontier Soups became a perfect solution: lightweight, full of nutritious dried vegetables, and packed with flavor without carrying lots of spices.

“What I like about your soups is that I can have a variety of flavors without the need to bring a ton of spices,” Jeremy told us. “They’re healthy, delicious, and I can add other ingredients to make them even more interesting.”

Jeremy’s Meal Prep Tips for the Trail

If you’re planning to bring soup mixes on your next adventure, here are some ideas inspired by Jeremy’s methods:

• Dry your own protein: Jeremy pre-cooked ground beef, turkey, and pork, then oven-dried them at low heat (about 200°F) until fully dehydrated.
• Use flavored sausages or tofu: He sliced store-bought tofu sausages and dried them in a food dehydrator, saving space and adding spice.
• Divide and conquer: Jeremy split each soup packet in half, pairing each portion with a bag of dried protein for easy single meals.
• Boost calories: Since dried meats lose fat (and thus calories), Jeremy added olive oil or canola oil to each meal for extra energy.
• Pack small but mighty seasonings: Bouillon cubes, powdered milk, cayenne pepper, and curry powder all helped customize meals on the trail.

At camp, Jeremy let the soup mix and dried meat soak in water, then cooked it over a campfire. This helped soften the ingredients and saved simmer time.

We sent Jeremy a range of soups to try, from our South of the Border Tortilla to New Orleans Jambalaya and Virginia Blue Ridge Broccoli Cheddar—plenty of variety to keep meals exciting over a month on the trail.

Have your own trail-tested tips? We’d love to hear how you adapt Frontier Soups for camping, hiking, or paddling adventures!

(Stay tuned for Part 2 to see how Jeremy’s trip unfolded!)