Ariana Losch
There are two types of people in this world: those who camp, and those who have never even fathomed the possibility of using their own hard-earned cash to purchase a freeze-dried meal. I guess there’s a third type of person now—me. A food journalist who was assigned to taste test the best dehydrated meals. (Also, astronauts. And soldiers. And doomsday preppers. But I digress.)
While I can’t confidently pitch a tent without instructions, I do know how to rank food. And let me tell you, the best freeze dried meals could give some frozen meals a run for their money. Yep. I stand by that.
How we found the freeze dried meals
It was a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles, California when I rolled up to our local REI with two hundred dollars and a dream. A dream to buy a wide, weird, wacky assortment of freeze dried meals from as many different brands I could find.
The selection was honestly a little overwhelming (it’s amazing what they manage to put inside a pouch), so I made sure to buy a few camping staples alongside some of the more intriguing options. We’ll probably do a second taste test of this down the line, so if you have your personal list of the best dehydrated backpacking meals, post them in the comments!
How we prepared the freeze dried meals
Freeze dried meals require pretty similar prep, although total time can vary. You add in boiling water, let it sit, stir it, and let it sit some more. If you’ve got a campfire, pot, and a source of water, you’re pretty much good to go. (Though we’ve been told a little bit of hot sauce can also go a long way, too.)
What we looked for in the best freeze died meals
This might be one of the first times the entire Sporked team went into a taste test with zero expectations. We didn’t know where to place the bar until we started. (We certainly didn’t expect to run into flavors like chicken tikka masala and beef stroganoff.) But on the whole, we were pleasantly surprised by how much these tasted like real food.
The best freeze dried meals should bring bold, satisfying flavors and textures that aren’t too funky. A little funk is hard to escape. From the 11 pouches we tried, we found seven we would actually recommend for your next foray into the wilderness—and one we would even buy just to eat at home. (Yes, really.)
Best Freeze Dried Meals, Ranked
- Peak Refuel Beef Pasta Marinara
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Um, justice for Peak Refuel’s Beef Pasta Marinara? My coworkers ripped it in the video above. I tried it after, and I guess I’m psycho, because I loved the flavor. Yes, there’s too much ground beef, and it vaguely tastes like cardboard masquerading as food—if we could just nix that entirely, Peak, that would be for the best. But the marinara sauce is bright, cheesy, and addictively oily. The small spiral pasta noodles have such a satisfying shape to them. I do understand not being able to get past the meat, I really do—but if loving this is wrong, I don’t want to be right. (We have determined that the best dehydrated backpacking meals shouldn’t have meat in them, though. Just for the sake of flavor. You might as well hunt and roast your own quail and throw it in.
Credit: Liv Averett / REI
- Backpacker’s Pantry Drunken Noodle
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If you watch our unedited taste test, you might notice me diverting slightly from the final line-up. As my doctor likes to tell me, that is a perfectly normal occurrence. Don’t be so concerned. Have you considered going on anxiety medication to curb these intrusive thoughts about suddenly developing a terminal illness? Anyways, I demoted Backpacker’s Pantry Drunken Noodle because it tastes nothing like a drunken noodle. It’s very tangy, lightly sweet from the tamari and brown sugar, and clearly inspired by a variety of East Asian noodle dishes. But the overall vibe is closer to pad thai or sweet and sour stir fry. It’s yummy, but misleading—and honestly, as someone who orders drunken noodles for the more savory, basil-infused flavor, I can’t condone it! (It’s still one of the best freeze dried camping meals we tried, though. Don’t yell at me.)
Credit: Liv Averett / REI
- Farm to Summit Green Chile Mac & Cheese
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As soon as I saw this packet of freeze-dried green chile mac & cheese, I absolutely could not wait to try it. I kept it on my desk to stare at it as I waited for this taste test to come around. I have no idea what that says about me. And the expectation almost lived up to the reality—while I loved the spicy green chile cheese sauce, the texture of the pasta could have been a lot better. It’s gummy and chewy, almost like a rice-based or gluten-free pasta. Also, heads up: Add a little more than the recommended amount of water, or you’re going to have some hunks of powdered cheese on your fork. Still, despite the drawbacks, I just know this would really hit for me after a long day of hiking. (Yes, I do hike. Occasionally. Annually. Semi-annually, at the least.)
Credit: Liv Averett / REI
- Mountain House Chicken Tikka Masala
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This could have gone so very, very wrong—but I probably should have had more hope for it, just by remembering that chicken tikka masala is a very Americanized dish. You do get that buttery, tomatoey flavor here, but for the most part, it tastes like an amalgamation of popular Indian dishes in one little bag. And hey, that’s okay. The flavors are pretty bold, and the texture of the chicken will do. (It’s definitely better than any beef-centered dish we tried.) When you’re searching for the best dehydrated meals (not the most enticing phrase, is it?), sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Peak Refuel Biscuits and Gravy
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No one expected the sheer size and fluffiness of these biscuits. No one. We popped open the bag, and lo and behold, two engorged biscuits the size of my fist appeared, smothered in white gravy. And we loved them. For rehydrated bread, the texture is pretty nice. The gravy has that classic peppery aftertaste—they taste straight out of a diner kitchen, not something you made in the middle of the woods. The best dehydrated backpacking meals should be comforting, especially when you’re all by your lonesome surrounded by bears and bugs, and this is like a warm hug. (The rehydrated sausage could definitely use some improvement, though. Guys, we’re begging you to take the meat out of these.)
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Mountain House Chicken & Mashed Potatoes
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Simple is best, you guys. When I was rounding up all the freeze dried meals to try for this taste test, I knew I had to throw in at least one brand of chicken and mashed potatoes. Potato flakes are the perfect dehydrated ingredient. And guess what? I was right. This was the most satisfying bag of fluffy, salty, buttery slop I’ve ever had. I wish they skipped the chicken bits, but it did make the potatoes taste like they were cooked in chicken broth, so. Pros and cons. It’s lightly cheesy from the parmesan, too.
Credit: Liv Averett / REI
- Peak Refuel Beef Strogonoff
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Just about every brand of freeze dried meals offers a beef stroganoff flavor, which did clue me in to how good this was going to taste. Full disclosure: I only bought Peak’s version, so I wasn’t able to compare it to other brands—but it still beat out all the other freeze died meals we tried, hands down, no contest. I’m still dreaming about that rich, gloriously tangy sour cream sauce. I would… (shudder)… go camping… for this… maybe. I would definitely buy it again if I saw it at a normal grocery store. Yeah, seriously. That’s how much we loved it.
Credit: Liv Averett / REI
Best Freeze Dried Pasta
Best Freeze Dried Thai Food
Best Freeze Dried Vegetarian Meal
Best Indian Flavors
Best Freeze Dried Breakfast
Runner Up
Best of the Best
Other freeze dried meals we tried:
Backpacker’s Pantry Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans with Chicken, Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai Veggie, Good to Go Breakfast Hash, AlpineAire Wild Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo
Should we keep trying more freeze dried meals?
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