I'm just curious to see what your favorite flavor of freeze dried/MRE type meal is, and what brand you think makes better food.  I'm starting to experiment with what meal packets we are taking with us this year.

MREs are so loaded with salt, that I can't tolerate ANY of them. And 'salt' is my handle.

Salt is no doubt an issue with freeze dried meals.  Some are 300% of the RDA.

I only use them on solos, when I want to spend as little time as possible both in menu planning before and preparation while on the trip.  I like Mountain House Pro Packs - they are vacuum-packed small and 16oz. for one person.  7 day trip, 7 different meals for dinner, add some oatmeal and gorp for breakfast and lunch, good to go for the trip.  Eat right out of the pouch, no clean up.  About $5.  After trip, limit salt intake for one month.

You can definitely eat better for less money (and I do on group trips, when meals are a higher priority), but these are hard to beat for convenience, pack size and weight.  Maybe all that salt encourages you to stay hydrated . . .

Although I agree that rolling your own is a less expensive and tastier way to go, our group usually tries one or two pre-packaged meals each trip so I can give some limited recommendations.

A few commercial foods that have passed the test of our fussy group (no leftovers) include:

    Backpackers Pantry Wild West Chili and Beans (vegetarian, simple and good)
    Backpackers Pantry Denver Omelette (vegetarian, shake and pour, very good)
    AlpineAire Mountain Chili (vegetarian, more stuff, good)
    AlpineAire All American Roast Beef Hash (simple, very, very good)

We usually have rehydrated meat of some sort on the side of the vegetarian dishes for the hard core carnivores. And there are similar products that include meat, if it not an issue with your group.

The AlpineAire stuff is a little bit more complex (more ingredients), but I can't really say it's better - although the hash is to die for when you are on a trip. It will certainly become a main meal on a future trip of mine, possibly getting mixed into a dinner omelette.

My opinion on MREs is pretty useless as I have liked them all, including some older Worsnick (?) entrees like:

    Turkey with Savory Vegetables (very good)
    Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli (also very good)
    Beef Stew (very good)

With MREs, you will probably need two to make a meal and you have to be able to handle a slightly different texture for meats and other bulky food pieces.

-aj

Thanks for the replies. The opinions were both informative and gave me a chuckle here and there.  For the most part I don't rely on the freeze dried meals, although I have on a few trips. For the most part I bring 1 or 2 as 'emergency' food. Mainly, I rely on the fish we catch.

IMO I like the AlpineAire Beef Stroganoff the best. It has a pretty good flavor (think hamburger helper style stroganoff). I found that the key to making them taste better and have better texture is to put in about 1/4 more water and let it stew in the bag at least an extra 15-30 minutes. That softens up any of the really tough meats etc.

I was just made aware that I have a food dehydrator (I had NO idea) so I think I'm going to try that out this year. Test #1 will be in two weeks when I venture up to the Flambou River area for a 4 day solo.