Scouts who are planning menus for overnights are encouraged to use the following planning sheet:

Troop 150 Menus Worksheet.pdf

(The above is NEW, completely redesigned and made into a fillable pdf as of July, 2020.)

Earlier ranks can get by with less detail, but for the Cooking Merit Badge and the cooking required for Camping Merit Badge, using the above is highly recommended. Add detail on costs and quantities of ingredient items as required for First Class rank cooking and Cooking Merit Badge.

Meals should be designed for balanced nutrition and appropriate to the activity, using MyPlate (or the current USDA nutrition model).
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Backpacking "Trail Meals" for Cooking and Camping Merit Badges

Ingredients for trail meals should be lightweight and not require refrigeration. Scouts are often at a loss to pick non-refrigerated ingredients. Dehydrated prepared meals by Mountain House or other brands can be found at outdoor retailers like REI, but can be quite expensive. Visit the grocery store to save money! There are a variety of meats in foil packets near the canned tuna such as packet tuna, chicken and beef, often with tempting flavors. Items like jerky, dehydrated chili or soup mixes, Knorr Sides, Minute Rice, dehydrated mashed potatoes, oatmeal, powdered milk, tortillas, or ramen noodles are at the grocery store too and be a part of many recipes. Be Prepared by planning and sourcing ingredients well ahead of time, and practice cooking meals at home. If certain ingredients can only be found online, Harmony House is a recommended source: https://www.harmonyhousefoods.com

Many meal recipes can be found on the following:
https://andrewskurka.com/section/how-to/food-nutrition/meal-recipes/
https://www.backpackingchef.com
https://trailcooking.com/fbc/
https://www.rei.com/blog/recipes