A Ranking of Freeze Dried Meals

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Updated August 2020. Cover photo: Mountain House Chicken and Dumplings at Lake Dorothy, Inyo National Forest CA

August 2020 note: with recent heightened demand, many of these products are temporarily out of stock.

At the end of a long day of backpacking an easy warm meal is heaven. Some hikers are put off by dehydrated food, but when I’m exhausted I like the simplicity of cooking a meal just by boiling water and throwing it into a freezer bag. Initially my husband was afraid to branch out from basic flavors (like Chicken and Rice) but he has since come around so we can bring a little more variety to our backpacking trips. Over the years we’ve tried many of these meals, and I recently starting ranking them each night in my trip journals for fun. So here’s my ranking of the options we’ve tried, with the scores on a scale of 5 (5 = incredible, 1 = never again). The scores are averages of each time I’ve tried the food and include my husband’s vote as well. Links provided to Amazon, REI, or the brand itself if product is still available.

If the trip allows for it (not too strenuous or pack weight conscious), these meals pair very nicely with miniature bottles of wine – which always get a 5/5 rating in my book. In addition, I might suggest an appetizer of babybel cheese, instant miso soup, or powdered hummus with a tortilla.

This is meant to be a lighthearted post, obviously everyone has their own food preferences and we haven’t tasted every recipe out there. Note: I don’t eat pork/beef, so you won’t see any of those items on our menu. I’d love to get your recommendations too so leave a comment!

Mountain House (Average Score: 4.0)

One of my all time favorites: Mountain House Turkey Casserole at Shepherd Pass, Inyo National Forest CA

As expected from our overall perception of the brands we’ve tried, Mountain House was our clear winner. Aside from the one Propack meal we tried, these meals have generally been solid and comforting. I need to remind myself in the future to just stick to Mountain House! The turkey casserole was particularly memorable, and the fried rice options were great staples. The chicken and mashed potatoes meal inspired us to bring instant mashed potatoes on future trips.

Backpacker's Pantry (Average Score: 3.1)

A mini plastic bottle of wine pairs great with any dinner in the backcountry, if you ask me. Photo taken at Ridge Lake, Emigrant Wilderness CA.

Backpacker’s Pantry has a wide variety of cuisines but unfortunately the execution is often disappointing. This is further complicated by less than ideal water portion recommendations and it’s not always clear what consistency the meal should be! However, there are a few standouts that we really enjoyed – particularly the pesto pasta with salmon and the chicken risotto.

Alpine Aire (Average Score: 2.8)

We haven’t tried too many Alpine Aire meals but so far haven’t found anything super memorable.

good to-go (sample size too small)

Our one Good To-Go meal was decent. We’ll have to try more to get a fair average score!

Overall, we weren’t too surprised with these results and my main takeaway is to try more Mountain House, and maybe give Good To-Go a fair shot. What’s your favorite backcountry meal?

Mountain House Chicken Fajita Bowl, with an added tortilla to bring up the score. Photo taken at Mildred Lake, Inyo National Forest CA

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