Best Freeze Dried Food for Backpacking 2023

Freeze dried meals aren’t just for astronauts anymore. In fact, they’re some of the most popular meal options for hikers heading into the backcountry. They’re convenient, calorically dense, lightweight, and tasty at the end of a long day. All you have to do is add boiling water, wait a bit, and then eat your delicious meal straight out of the bag. Also, no dirty dishes makes for a happy backpacker.

Ok, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s probably important to set your expectations. This is not your grandma’s home-cooked dinner; it’s a backcountry meal. Chances are, even if the flavors aren’t quite what you were expecting, you’re going to be hungry enough to wolf it down with a smile. Everything tastes better in the wilderness. That said, we always bring a small container of hot sauce, olive oil, and some salt and pepper packets for when we need to kick a meal up a notch.

There are tons of different freeze dried meal flavors, and some are better than others. It’s tough to get more subjective than ranking personal food tastes, but we feel like sharing our opinions anyways. We hope this guide helps you upgrade your backpacking food game and find some tasty treats. For more information on backpacking meal planning, check out our Lightweight Backpacking Food Guide and our Backpacking Meal Recipes & Food Dehydration Tips posts.

Energy-to-Weight Ratio

Many backpackers choose freeze-dried meals because they’re a lightweight dinner option. The process of freeze-drying a meal removes 80% of it’s water weight, while retaining a high level of calorically-dense nutrition. Most meal pouches range between 500-900 calories and weigh around 5-7 ounces. This puts them in the 100-130 calorie-per-ounce ratio, which isn’t spectacular, but is still quite good.

Are they nutritious?

The process of freeze drying can retain up to 90% of the nutrients, but the product will only be 20% of its original weight. That said, most freeze dried meals are packed with sodium and unrecognizable ingredients. Scientifically speaking, we’d put them into the “sorta nutritious” camp. Freeze dried meals will still do a better job providing a balanced meal when compared to most hiker dinner options, like ramen or instant potatoes. Certain brands, such as Mary Janes Organic and Good To-Go, use all recognizable ingredients or “real food,” which is a step in the right direction in our opinion.

Cost

Freeze dried meals are not cheap and there are inexpensive alternatives (mashers, pasta sides, ramen, etc). If you’re spending months on the trail thru-hiking, meals like these will probably be too expensive to be sustainable. But for the casual backpacker, meals like this can add a lot of value, convenience, and enjoyment.

PRO TIP: When you buy 8 or more backpacking meals from REI, you save 10%. We usually stock up for the hiking season. You can also save money by purchasing bulk meal kits.

SQUIRREL RATING SYSTEM

Whenever we go backpacking, we take some of our tried-and-true favorite freeze dried meals. Each trip we also take some new flavors to test out. First established by our dear friend David Branson while hiking the Zion Traverse, the very “scientific” CleverHiker Squirrel Rating System was born.

While consuming new freeze dried meals, we deliberate about how it tastes and ultimately decide on a squirrel rating. Every meal we eat earns a squirrel rating score between 1 and 5 based on flavor, texture, and overall deliciousness. There are only whole squirrel ratings, because half a squirrel would be gross. We update this list every time we put on our snobby food critic pants and stuff our faces in the backcountry.

Best Freeze-Dried Meals

V = Vegan, GF = Gluten-Free

Five Squirrel Meals

Did my grandma make this?! Our go-to favorite freeze dried meals for happy trail bellies.

• PEAK REFUEL – Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
• Mountain House – Chicken & Dumplings
• Mountain House – Chili Mac w/ Beef
• Mountain House – Creamy Macaroni & Cheese
• Mountain House – Biscuits & Gravy
• Mountain House – Beef Stroganoff
• Mountain House – Lasagna w/ Meat Sauce
• Mountain House – Pasta Primavera

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Three Cheese Mac & Cheese

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Pad Thai (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Summit Breakfast Scramble (GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Dark Chocolate Cheesecake

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Cuban Coconut Rice & Black Beans (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Blueberry Peach Crisp (GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Three Bean Veggie Stew (V, GF)

• Patagonia Provisions – Organic Black Bean Soup (V)

• Patagonia Provisions – Organic Red Bean Chili (V)

• Packit Gourmet – Dottie’s Chicken & Dumplings

• Packit Gourmet – Santa Fe Corn Pudding

• Packit Gourmet – Banana Puddin’

• GOOD TO-GO – Thai Curry
• GOOD TO-GO – Smoked Three Bean Chili (V, GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Indian Vegetable Korma (GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Cuban Rice Bowl (V, GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Chicken Pho (GF)
• MaryJanesFarm – Organic Bare Burrito
• MaryJanesFarm – Organic Shepherds Meat Pie
• MaryJanesFarm – Organic Bac’un & Egg Scrambler

Four Squirrel Meals

Pretty darn tasty! However, some flavors and textures made us knock it down a squirrel.

• Mountain House – Homestyle Chicken Noodle Casserole
• Mountain House – Italian Pepper Steak
• Mountain House – Chicken & Mashed Potatoes
• Mountain House – Chicken Fajita Bowl
• Mountain House – Breakfast Skillet
• Mountain House – Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce
• Mountain House – Granola w/ Milk and Blueberries

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Three Sisters Southwestern Quinoa & Beans (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Fettuccini Alfredo w/ Chicken

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Creme Brulee (GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Chana Masala (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Mushroom Stroganoff

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Wild West Chili & Beans

• GOOD TO-GO – Kale & White Bean Stew (V, GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Mexican Quinoa Bowl (V, GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Bibimbap (V, GF)
• GOOD TO-GO – Classic Marinara w/ Penne (V, GF)

• Nomad Nutrition – Irish Shepherd’s Pie (V, GF)

• Nomad Nutrition – Cali Breakfast Bowl (V, GF)

• Nomad Nutrition – Spanish Paella (V, GF)

• Alpineaire – Creole Chicken Gumbo

• Packit Gourmet – Austintacious Tortilla Soup

• Packit Gourmet – Cajun Ranch Chicken Salad

• Packit Gourmet – Deli Roast Beef Wrap

• Packit Gourmet – West Memphis Grits Souffle

• Packit Gourmet – Big Easy Gumbo

• Heather’s Choice – Packaroons

• Bushka’s Kitchen – Unstuffed Pepper w/ Ground Bison

Three Squirrel Meals

Quite good still, but nothing to write home about. We might buy them again, but we weren’t amazed.

• Mountain House – Spicy Southwest Style Skillet

• GOOD TO-GO – Herbed Mushroom Risotto (V, GF)

• GOOD TO-GO – Pad Thai (GF)

• GOOD TO-GO – Roasted Corn Chowder (GF)

• GOOD TO-GO – Breakfast Hash (V, GF)

• Nomad Nutrition – Indian Red Lentil Stew (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Chicken Larb (GF)

• MaryJanesFarm – Cheddar Herb Pasta

• Bushka’s Kitchen – Hearty Harvest Bowl w/ Wild Boar

• Bushka’s Kitchen – Zesty Zoodles in Avocado Sauce (V)

Two Squirrel Meals

Meh. Edible, but pretty underwhelming. This is when the hot sauce and spices come into play. But it’s not like we had any leftovers or anything.

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Granola with Bananas & Milk

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Kathmandu Curry (V, GF)

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Granola with Milk & Blueberries

• Mountain House – Chicken Teriyaki w/ Rice

• MaryJanesFarm – Organic Lentils, Rice & Indian Spice (V)

• Nomad Nutrition – Caribbean Curry (V, GF)

• Bushka’s Kitchen – Citrus Chia Morning Bowl (V)

One Squirrel Meals

Whoa boy, that was a disappointment. Considering how hungry we were, backcountry meals should probably be more foolproof than this.

• Backpacker’s Pantry – Mango Sticky Rice (V, GF)

WHAT’S IN OUR CAMP KITCHEN?

When we head out on backcountry trips, these are the items usually found in our packs. For more information on our favorite camp kitchen items, check out our lists of the Best Backpacking Stoves and Best Backpacking Cookware.

• Stove System: JetBoil MiniMo & JetBoil Flash
• Ultralight Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket 2 & BRS Stove
• 1-2 Person Cookpot: Snow Peak Mini Solo Cookset
• Group Cookpot: MSR Big Titan Kettle
• Spoon: TOAKS Titanium Long Spoon
• Cup: GSI Stacking Cup
• Food Storage: Ursack & BearVault BV500

 MORE INFORMATION

We hope this guide helps you upgrade your backpacking food game! For more information on backpacking meal planning, check out our Lightweight Backpacking Food Guide and our Backpacking Meal Recipes & Food Dehydration Tips posts.  Please share it with your friends and click the little heart button below to give us a digital high five!

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