Four of the Best Freeze Dried Foods
Kevin Felts 04.26.18
Before stockpiling freeze dried foods, how many people do a sampling to see which ones are the best? Seems logical right? Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on various freeze dried foods which may not meet someones palate, taste a few and stockpile the best ones.
Mountain House makes freeze dried pouches which have a 30 year life expectancy when stored properly. What does stored properly mean? It means the meals are not kept in the trunk of a car in the summer heat, or left in a storage shed.
Over the past 10 years or so freeze dried foods have been part of my preps, and meals for hiking and camping. When my buddies and I spent three days camping on the Angelina River here in southeast Texas, Mountain House pouches made up the majority of my food.
Here are some of my favorite freeze dried pouches.
Scrambled Eggs with Bacon
This is a wonderful breakfast meal to get the day started. The scrambled eggs with bacon is a little short on calories coming in at only 210 calories for a single pouch. Because of this, I usually eat the pouch and have something on the side with it.
- Calories: 210
- Sodium: 710 mg
- Calcium: 20%
- Cholesterol: 340mg
- Protein: 17g
- Pouch weight: 3.10 ounces
- Servings: 1.5
Add eight ounces boiling water to the pouch. Then wait around 20 minutes and the meal should be ready to eat. Usually, it is ready in just a few minutes, but I like it to cool down before eating.
Beef Stroganoff with Noodles
The Beef Stroganoff with Noodles is probably one of the tastiest Mountain House freeze dried meals I have ever had. Everything about this meal was just right. The sauce had plenty of flavor, and the noodles were just right.
- Calories: 260
- Sodium: 800mg
- Calcium: 8%
- Cholesterol: 45mg
- Protein: 11g
- Pouch weight: 2.80 ounces
- Servings: 1
Instructions say to add 3/4 cup boiling water.
When it comes time to buy some freeze dried food, the Beef Stroganoff with Noodles is at the top of my list.
Chili Mac with Beef
This was one of the first freeze dried meals I ever ate, which was probably 10 years ago. For some reason I remember the Chili Mac with Beef being a lot better years ago. It seems the newer pouches taste different than the older pouches. Or maybe it is just me?
- Calories: 230
- Sodium: 780mg
- Calcium: 6%
- Cholesterol: 20mg
- Protein: 12g
- Pouch weight: 2.70 ounces
- Servings: 1
This is a rather light meal coming in at 2.70 ounces, while the first two meals were 2.8 and 3.10 ounces. Plan on eating something with this pouch to really fill you up. For example, sometimes I have the pouch, then a candy bar on the side.
Lasagna with Meat Sauce
This is another excellent meal I would rank right there with the Beef Stroganoff. Sauce has a good flavor, pieces of beef are about the size of a pencil eraser, or maybe a little larger.
- Calories: 240
- Sodium: 490mg
- Calcium: 20%
- Cholesterol: 30mg
- Protein: 14g
- Pouch weight: 2.60 ounces
- Servings: 1
Instructions say to add 3/4 cup, 6 ounces, boiling water to the pouch.
Final Thoughts
Out of the meals listed above, the scrambled eggs with bacon and beef stroganoff are my favorite.
Once someone finds a pouch they like, then they can move onto stockpiling #10 cans of freeze dried food. The cans have the same 30 year shelf life as the pouches do. However, the cans are easier to stack than the pouches.
Where a pouch is between one – two servings, a #10 can is typically 8-10 servings. This makes it easy to plan meals. We will talk about #10 cans in another article.
One of the drawbacks is the wait time for the meal to cool down. To get around this, some people will add cool water an hour or so before its time to eat. Stop, add water, keep hiking, stop in an hour or so, and the meal should be ready to eat.
Overall, I find the Mountain House 30 year pouches to be excellent for prepping, hiking, backpacking and camping. However, they can get a little expensive. Some of the pouches can be expensive costing around $8-$9 a meal. The more expensive meals are usually 2 or 2.5 servings, while a single serving meal may cost in the $5 – $7 price range.
