Favorite Dehydrated Meals?

[Ej Martin]

While I know most folks on here enjoy packing a full cooking setup, for me the ease and pack-ability of dehydrated meals are hard to beat if its just me (fast, easy, no cleanup).

Plus; I tend to often link an overlanding trip with a backpacking or hiking adventure.

The best meals I have found to date are from "Packit gourmet" and "Good to Go".

Curious if others have found companies / certain meals they enjoy?

 

[Rogue Beardsman]

I like the "backcountry pantry" brand
They meals are good in my opinion and they are packaged more flat and not a pear like bag or brick. When hiking they fit nicely in my packs and in the rig I keep some with emergency supplies that always stay with the rig. I use to pack only dehydrated type foods but on some longer multi day hikes but I like to switch it up to whatever I'm in the mood for that week. I think food is a big part of my personal morale for a long hike or adventure and sometime I find it best to go with a gut feeling. I also like MREs The legit ones if you can get your hands on them. I break them open and cut some weight and bulk on them but i like that they use real companies and not generic rip offs for snacks and such. So it the mre says "cheese cracker squares" its actually Cheez-its and not some unknown cracker square. Same with a lot of the other components. I would sometimes balance MREs for days when water was scarce or time was an issue and the Dehydrated/freeze dried for when I could take the time.

 

[1derer]

I enjoy Mountain House products.

 

[ASNOBODY]

I too quite enjoy Mountain House products. They have quite a bit of variety and actually taste very good. I camped with a friend last year who is a very accomplished BBQ/Chili cook that hates everything haha... he very skeptically chose to eat the Mountain Houses "Chili Mac" and really enjoyed it.

 

[erinw.rrc]

Mountain House Mac n Cheese is really good.

 

[Ej Martin]

Another trick I have found is to buy the "loaded" instant mash potato packets and to add chicken and other stuff. Fraction of the cost vs. some of the dehydrated pre mades

 

[jkxranger]

I know it's not a meal but I do love a good dehydrated ice cream during a good hike.

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[theoutbackdream]

I don't really eat dehydrated meals, but I do love having Idahoan mashed potatoes on the side. Fast and easy to make. Delicious both morning and night.

 

[Vincent Keith]

Of the various Mountain House products that I've tried (extensively).

Excellent
Chilli Mac & Beef, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken & Noodles, Raspberry Crumble
Very Good
Breakfast skillet. Mexican Style Rice & Chicken, Spaghetti
Good
Eggs & Bacon, Scrambled Eggs w/Ham & red and green peppers.
Good but too messy:
Mountain House Lasagna

Don't like enough to ever buy again.
Mountain House Terriaki Chicken

Really Don't Like
Mountain House Beef Stew

Haven't tried any others yet.

 

[southernfire97]

We ( my wife and I) prefer Packit Gourmet over the other brands on the market. MUCH better taste and variety IMO.
http://www.packitgourmet.com


2005 Jeep Wrangler
2005 GMC Sierra
2014 Jeep Wrangler

OB#4392

 

[El Gigante Jake]

When it comes to a necessary dehydrated food for me - Costco dehydrated hash browns. They are now a house staple as well. My wife was suspicious of them, but they are perfect accompaniment to breakfast or dinner, and cheap to. I think 8 boxes (one box is enough for a good side for 4 hungry people) is around $6. And they are packed in cardboard so if you have a campfire, easy cleanup.

 

[LostInSocal]

I prefer Mountain House myself. Favorite flavor is the lasagna in meat sauce. Usually we have them if we're just out for the day. For overnighters, we'll definitely cook.

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[Dan & Jen Nevada]

Really Don't Like
Mountain House Beef Stew

That's funny. My wife usually doesn't like processed/canned/packaged food much but loves MH beef stew. And it's milk free which is good since she's lactose intolerant.

I haven't try many others but I do like MH's stuff. I like that you can buy it pretty much anywhere, including Wal-Mart. There vacuum packed Pro-Pak's allow me to carry a lot more food in my survial bag too.

 

[MStudt]

In addition the MH, and Backpacker's Pantry there are a few others. Companies like Elements Meals, Packit Gourmet, Alpine Aire, and Good-to-Go are all good options.

We don't carry much dehydrated stuff anymore simply due to the cost of them. A favorite meal of ours are Rotinni noddles, mini pepperoni, and a healthy amount of cheese. After that any pack of Lipton Noddles or Knorr mixed with Boar's Head precooked bacon is great.

 

[fstfrd00]

I haven't ate a dehydrated meal in awhile but back when I was in scouts I would pack MRE's, they weren't good but did the job. I always looked forward to the dehydrated peach block or the powdered M&Ms :)

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Any bag of beef jerky will do me

 

[Rexplorer]

does stove top stuffing count? its a staple. once a trip always.

 

[Cort]

Mountain house is like the nike of backpacking food, good stuff, but not the best. I use them for about 25% of my backpacking meals. If you want to be sad, eat their scrambled eggs and bacon.

I absolutely love good to go as well as pack it gourmet. Please, if you like flavor, try these brands. Good to Go was started by a Michelin Star Chef, the stuff is legit! The Pad Thai is absolutely killer.

Pack it gourmet not only has great meals but also a comprehensive individual ingredient offering. The chili is awesome and the biscuits and gravy is outstanding.

Alpine Aire and Backpackers pantry is very hit or miss, I avoid them if possible.

With a lot of the commercial dehydrated product you really need to watch out for sodium content, especially if you aren't physically active and needing to replace your expelled sodium. Protein is lacking in many of these meals as well which is critical for many diets.

 

[Neil Q Smith]

I was recently sponsored by Drytech REAL Turmat on ICE2017 Iceland Arctic Trucks Expedition.
http://ice2017.no/sponsor-feature-drytech-real-turmat/



They are a high quality Norwegian Product, that we use a lot over here in Scandinavia, but I doubt they are available outside Scandinavia.



They have a large choice of snacks, breakfast and dinner packs - All of which are very good quality and tasty....



Well worth a try if you do have the opportunity to buy them.

These food packs really served us well, whilst crossing Iceland - only needed hot water, and a few minutes wait to enjoy the view.....

 

[NightCrawler]

I am down with a ton of dehydrated meals but maybe it is just me but I tend to stay away from the one with a ton of cheese in them...I can't stand scraping the cheeses off the spork for to get it clean.