TL;DR - We initially settled on Peak Refuel as the brand that seemed the best for dehydrated meals, but getting a good, dehydrated dinner when backpacking is not something you get by looking to one brand. Evaluating meals individually - and ignoring the brand of each - led to a much better experience our second time around.
As much as we can - even when we're backpacking - we try to take fresh food we've made at home. When we're camped with the truck and have use of the fridge, this is obviously no problem. And if we're only out backpacking for a single night, a yummy chicken pesto pasta salad is usually just fine in our packs until dinner. But if we're gone for a couple nights, carrying unrefrigerated, heavy dinners we've made at home just isn't an option. At that point, we turn to the dehydrated meals that so many companies make available these days.
Initially, we gravitated toward Peak Refuel meals, because they seemed to have the "realest" ingredients, high calorie counts, and appealing flavors, but after experiencing them on the trail, none of them really seemed to rehydrate correctly. Or, rather, the beans in them didn't fully rehydrate.
After the trip, I also realized that while the calorie counts were good in one sense, they were also a little concerning in another: most of the calories came from either fat or sugar.
Hoping for something a little healthier and that rehydrated completely, I broadened my search for our latest trip to the Grand Gulch. @mrs.turbodb and I would need two nights of dinners; a total of four packs. Rather than look at specific brands, I looked across all brands for high protein, low fat, low sugar, options that seemed to contain easily-hydratable ingredients. I didn't limit myself to dinners, either - on the trail, a meal is a meal!
Ultimately, after considering a bunch of options, we ended up with the following:
- Butternut Dahl Bhat - Peak Refuel
- 870 cal; 30g protien; 7g (35% DV) saturated fat; 0g (0% DV) added sugars
- This was @mrs.turbodb's favorite on our first backpacking trip, and she requested it again this time, so it made the list without any additional research. She liked it again, but the beans in it did not fully rehydrate, again.
- Garden Mac and Cheese - Farm to Summit
- 700 cal; 23g protien; 20g (100%) saturated fat; 0g (0% DV) added sugars
- This turned out to be a new favorite. Opening the pouch, this one looked like real food! Pasta, kale, everything inside was recognizable. The only issue for me (which was not an issue for @mrs.turbodb) was the cheese sauce. If I were to make it again, I'd put in about a quarter of the powdered cheese. Not because it didn't rehydrate, but because I just don't like quite so much cheese in my pasta. @mrs.turbodb on the other hand, thought it was great.
- Pad Thai with Chicken - Backpacker's Pantry
- 820 cal; 41g protien; 6g (32% DV) saturated fat; 8g (17% DV) added sugars
- This was more "inspired by" Pad Thai than the actual stuff, but it had a nice spicey tang, and plenty of lime. It was a little soupy, so I might put in slightly less water than it calls for on the package. Still, it was pretty good.
- Chicken Teriyaki Rice - Peak Refuel
- 570 cal; 40g protein; 1.5g (8% DV) saturated fat; 29g (58% DV) added sugars
- Like the Pad Thai, I wouldn't call this Chicken Teriyaki and rice, but more of an "inspired by" dish. It was good, and without beans, the rice and chicken rehydrated perfectly.
I also considered the following, but ultimately, we didn't give these a try:
- Breakfast Skillet - Peak Refuel
- 540 cal; 31g protein; 10g (50% DV) saturated fat; 0g (0% DV) added sugars
- Breakfast Skillet - Mountain House
- 520 cal; 28g protein; 7g (35% DV) saturated fat; 0g (0% DV) added sugars
- Pad Thai with Chicken - Mountain House
- 500 cal; 20g protein; 2g (10% DV) saturated fat; 8g (16% DV) added sugars
So, our second foray into dehydrated meals was better than the first, but we aren't going to start eating these on a regular basis any time soon. The Garden Mac and Cheese did make me wonder - is there a way I could make my own meals at home? Sure seems like that pouch was pretty close! And that's a great thing.
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