What are the Best Freeze-Dried Food Meals for Backpacking, Camping, and Hiking? (Part 1 of 2)

Freeze-dried foods are a great and delicious way to keep your bellies full while out on the trail.
Thinking of packing some freeze-dried food meals for your next backpacking, camping, or hiking trip? We’ve got you covered! In this video, we review 5 of the most popular and best freeze-dried food meals to stockpile for every outdoor adventure (and for SHTF, too).
--------- CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO ---------
00:00 - 5 Best Freeze-Dried Food Brands
00:30 - Peak Refuel
01:44 - Mountain House
03:00 - Wise Company
04:05 - MRE Star
05:06 - Alpine Aire
06:13 - Choose Your Top Pick
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Links to the products mentioned:
Peak Refuel Breakfast Skillet- amzn.to/2yCD44I
Mt House Chili Mac With Beef - amzn.to/2yBIvBi
Wise Foods Creamy Pasta and Vegetable Rotini with Chicken - amzn.to/2KqYEfr
Alpine Aire Spicy Sausage Pasta - amzn.to/3auy9QE
MRE Star Barbecue Chicken With Black Beans And Potatoes - amzn.to/2Knrf5d

[@whatsagoodname8597]

Just getting into deep backpacking definetly looking for stuff thatll be easy to cook and warm and spicy. Thanks for the tips

[@georgeupham7524]

Mountain House for light day meal and MRE Star for the overnight stay to keep the calories up on those cold mountain nights camping would be my personal choice.

[@tactical6198]

Great advice!

[@womanator140]

Mountain House always.

[@sourwes0001]

Definitely! But that 2 serving pouch is only 1 good meal.

[@hazrathussain5350]

Nice voice Yeah is great but is halal ..

[@slowjamcdub]

Great review!

[@OhioGentlemenArms]

Thanks for the information. I hadn’t heard of peak refuel and look forward to trying it. We’ve been thinking about month of food ready for an emergency. The world has been pretty crazy the last few years.

[@russelllieser4226]

Great video

[@leopardwoman38]

Backpackers Pantry is also good. They have a Creme Blulei that is fantastic! They also have great chicken, too. I use Mountain House as well.

[@Nonyabiznesss]

Mountain house comes from the Vietnam War which a company called Oregon Freeze Dried made freeze dried rations for the US Military. They still do in the long range patrol ration and winter or cold weather MRE's. I have tried just about every brand. Nothing beats Mountain House. For deserts go with backpackers pantry although Mountain House has a few kick ass deserts as well. I'm all about weight to taste. Mountain House fits the bill. If you watch ebay you can get 6 meals for around 6 to 7 bucks a meal.

[@ZSharkPH]

I'll be riding my Dual sport motorcycle on the Arizona back country discovery route soon. Thanks for the video. Ive used mountain house before. But will add some Peak Refuel to try out. Thanks again.

[@theresak.7475]

I LOVE Alpineaire’s Forever Young Mac and Cheese!! And I love, love, love Backpacker’s Pantry veggie entries and desserts!! Don’t miss out on these!!

[@farwalker3672]

Would love to see your opinion on pocket gourmet and thrive. Also your opinion on some of the available instant coffee‘s. Thanks for sharing

[@tactical6198]

Hey there! We'll try to check those out and post a review. Thank you for your suggestion.

[@MisfitsFiendClub138]

Alpine Start coffee is supposed to be really good ☕👍

[@farwalker3672]

Caterslave it’s not bad. I’d much rather have ground coffee but sometimes you can’t be too choosy. Have a great evening and stay safe

[@Nonyabiznesss]

Packit Gourmet is not this kind of food. It is delicious but has short dates. But if you want to impress your camping date...oh yeah.

[@ChiIeboy]

Liked the production, but here's some unsolicited advice: the intro music is great, but you should NOT replay again it once the actual review (your narrative) begins. In fact, at that point there should be nothing going on except....well....the review, instead of needlessly distracting b/g music.

[@tactical6198]

Hey Clarke! Thanks for the feedback. It's been a while since we uploaded this. We'll definitely do a better job with the music on our next one.

[@ExploringCampanologist]

What about canned sardines & canned Margarines & canned fruit they are nice to eat without cooking

[@azclaimjumper]

Mountain House has changed the packaging & reduced the quantity of freeze-dried food in their pouches. The small pouches of food sell for the same price as the old packaging. OLD packaging - Chili Mac with Beef contained 4.8 oz of FD food NEW packaging - Chili Mac with Beef contains 3.8 oz of FD food.

[@giannimarco2981]

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[@dukeismael5311]

@Gianni Marco instablaster =)

[@giannimarco2981]

@Duke Ismael I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and im trying it out now. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@giannimarco2981]

@Duke Ismael it worked and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thanks so much, you really help me out !

[@dukeismael5311]

@Gianni Marco glad I could help :D

[@peterkahapea8536]

Packit Gourmet ~ "Shug" approved

[@WEF2030SLAVE]

no international shipping on any of those?

[@theviciouschickenofbristol4779]

I've found the peak refuel to be worth the money. They're all I've bought since I tried them.

[@troop22airsoft7]

I love peak to me it has the most flavor and and texture

[@yahboiricky]

To me just taste n shelf life is all that matters.

[@adventureswithken1983]

I had the creamy pasta & chicken by wise on my hunting trip, it was awesome! Wise chili mac was good too but man it tore my stomach up.

[@mildredkyzer723]

interesting points ,if anyone else wants to discover survival backpack kit try Franaar Spies Control Formula (just google it ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my m8 got great results with it.

[@DominusTecum316]

When limited on water to include plumbing infrastructure (latrin) who ever consumes needs to take what our stomachs can digest and handle into consideration.

[@joshmontgomery4040]

Mountain House … 😎

[@DumpTrump4TRE45ON]

They must have changed the recipe for Alpine Air, they changed the name slightly but what is inside is creamy, spicy and fantastic.

[@cashiscamping5126]

That into should have an epilepsy warning lmao

[@jimjones8268]

Mary Janes Farm is the best for your health. And taste great.

[@RichardColwell1]

I’m glad you said something I looked it up. Looks pretty awesome

[@certifieddinks3943]

Informative video but good lord, I almost couldn’t make it through it from having to listen to that guitar riff over and over and over and over and over again.

[@r_b5951]

No matter the brand, I add 15-20% less water than the directions say - at least for a first-time dish. Edit: Only once was I disappointed in how a first-time dish reconstituted. It was from Wise. I used about 10% less water and the dish still came out like soup. Not sure exactly which Wise dish it was now.

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

Wise sux. It's a Mormon company. Do you like Mormon food?

[@johnyisfunny1]

Mountain House has better shelf life They also have pretty good breakfast selection

[@DominusTecum316]

The shelf life is a big factor that I am researching if I want to invest.

[@cheeto.1]

mountain house biscuits & gravy

[@Bmike2375]

Mountain house #1

[@seano5242]

Well your the one tasting them so you should tell us what's best 🤔

[@jeremypierce1979]

Peak re-feel is now the Most best tasting and popular

[@tactical6198]

They have great options for sure! Some uf them can be a bit bland but that's nothing a little salt can't fix.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

What's up with that Peak fuel and Mountain house had the same calorie count yet you called peak fuel calorie dense and the mountain house was a little lacking.

[@tactical6198]

Hey Patrick! We meant that the calories in the their recommended serving sizes were different. With Peak Fuel they had 320cals per serving and Mountain House's only had 230 cals per serving. Hope that cleared it up and thanks for pointing that out!

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

@@tactical6198 in the video you states that the Mountain House was 320 calories per serving. I get the impression this copy editor issue.

[@tactical6198]

@@patrickradcliffe3837 Sorry about that! We have an article about it on our blog and the details are correct on there (tactical.com/best-popular-freeze-dried-food/). Thanks again!

[@kukukachu]

If a meal ever tastes bland, just add some salt. Salt always brings out the flavor in things.

[@nikolaiplayz9795]

Mountain house

[@jerseyltd]

Might just dehydrate my meals. Might just get 2 bags of whatever meal incase im too drained to cook

[@somedudeona6367]

Freeze dry it, it’s expensive upfront but will pay for itself vs these

[@jerseyltd]

@@somedudeona6367 freeze dry the dehydration meals or the camp meals in those bags?

[@somedudeona6367]

@@jerseyltd make your meals, and them freeze dry them

[@somedudeona6367]

@@jerseyltd when you cook a meal that you’d eat at home, freeze dry part of it

[@Sniper.925]

I need a low sodium meal

[@Quillons1]

If you're backpacking or camping, then I recommend a glass of water. All of these options have a lot of sodium because they're geared to replacing lost salt from sweating and as a preservative. For low sodium meals, you may have to explore creating your own meals.

[@Sniper.925]

@@Quillons1 I found one that's lower on sodium

[@timetellersunion3711]

Jesus bless you

[@derklaus9515]

Could you have worse music?

[@MisfitsFiendClub138]

Yeah, they could've played Tom Petty 😱

[@paulrichard4945]

Many thanks, I have been researching "best deal on emergency food" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Ever heard of - Banevi Uncomplex Booster - (do a google search )? It is a good exclusive guide for discovering how to make the ultimate survival food minus the headache. Ive heard some decent things about it and my mate got cool success with it.

[@milo74156]

what happened to legacy

[@tactical6198]

Hopefully we can try this on our next video. :) Do you have any other suggestions?

[@l.n.6132]

Restarting the same the same song after each product !!! Why !?!?!

[@kamikazitsunami]

No Heather's Choice?

[@wyomtnhippie]

Definitely my go to choice!

[@kamikazitsunami]

@@wyomtnhippie It's pretty good but I also am totally crazy about Stowaway Gourmet.

[@wyomtnhippie]

@@kamikazitsunami I haven’t tried those, ill have to check them out. I usually stick with heathers choice, wild zora, or homemade dehydrated meals.

[@1sttimegunowner]

When she says bland she meant it

[@RickHoffman777]

you can keep the Peak fuel and the wise both are not worth it, go with the proven Mt House

[@tactical6198]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Rick! :)

[@azclaimjumper]

I, too, prefer Peak Refuel rather than Mountain House for 3 reasons; Price, Taste, Nutritional value of more grams of protein & more calories per pouch which makes it LESS EXPENSIVE THAN MH. Mountain House has changed their packaging & reduced the weight of the FD food in their pouches, & still charging the same price, for less FD Food.

[@azclaimjumper]

I started watching your video with a pre-conceived notion you'd rate Mountain House as the best Mountain House is THE ONLY Freeze-Dried meal I've ever eaten/tasted. After watching your video I've changed my mind & will be buying & eating Peak Refuel FD meals from now for 3 reasons, Price, Protein, calorie content. Peak FD Meals are approximately 36% higher in price, however, for that price I'd be getting more than 3 times more Protein; 650 calories vs just 240 calories in a MH pouch CLEARLY, PEAK REFUEL HAVE THE LOWEST PRICE MEALS PER GRAM OF PROTEIN. I'm surprised that you said nothing about the price comparison per gram of protein - THIS IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE. Peak Refuel - PRICE/TASTE/NUTRITION/CALORIES = WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN

[@DominusTecum316]

Absolutely agree with you about the calories and for the price it helps me take serious consideration when choosing the name brand. I would also consider MRE Star because of their calories and especially because it comes with heater that helps not worry about carrying or using propane operated mini stove. As for the MRE meals taste... Heck they are MRE what else can I expect, five star restaurant? For emergency I prefer the 25 years plus of survival expiration, therefore I prefer Mountain House.

[@otway00]

Alpine Aire is the worst tasting backpacking food I have ever tried to eat. I have tried to eat them 3 times while backpacking and each time after a couple of bites I decided I would rather go hungry.

[@MotoWorld777]

13 dollars for one meal, wow I could just go to restaurants and eat cheaper!

[@azclaimjumper]

Yep, FD meals are expensive. You either pay the price in terms of money or you pay the price in carrying a lot of weight in your backpack for nutrition, or you pay the price in pigging out on snacks containing nothing but salt & or sugar.

[@MisfitsFiendClub138]

Depends where you live. Bay Area prices are off the charts. Burrito with chips/salsa $15 now 😱 🌯

[@floydvaughn836]

Restaraunts? Dude, it's the apocalypse. Or you're on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Restaraunt?

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

MRE Star is not freeze dried.

[@daymonlindsey8150]

Everyone of them with exception of anything with eggs tastes like reconstituted warm card board. Make sure to pack plenty of Tabasco, Ketchup.....something. This crap will save your life....Maybe.

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

So, have you ever eaten warm cardboard? Neither have I. Come to think of it, neither has anybody else I can think of. Of course, I haven't had the pleasure of hanging out with real hard core gourmands.

[@petecoppola5428]

Wise isn't that good.

[@tayloryork5314]

Nobody else peep the sweet Harry Potter tat? Just me? :)

[@jamesjohnson4163]

Turn that dam music down

[@redfoe77]

MRE STAR is absolutely rancid. The worst tasting of the bunch. Save your money for the other brands.

[@adamlane6453]

God the music is awful. Ruins the whole video. I can't watch.