Backpacker’s Pantry: Another Option for Dehydrated Camping Food

Backpacking food, like those from Backpacker’s Pantry, are a good way to make a quick meal while on the road with minimal mess and without having to carry lots of kitchen utensils.

Admittedly, we haven’t explored the wide world of backpacking food, and have traditionally always had Mountain House. However, Backpacker’s Pantry recently reached out and sent four samples for us to try. This included two breakfast items and two lunch/dinner choices.

So while recently on the road (and during one power outage), we whipped up some of this company’s dehydrated delicacies. FYI, directions to make these are for an elevation of 5,000’.

So how were they? Here’s our thoughts on four of their meals.

White Bean, Chicken & Green Chile Stew
Backpacker’s Pantry White Bean, Chicken & Green Chili Stew was the first meal we tried. It sounded downright fancy, and we figured it could go one of two ways.

Tear off the top, pull out the “do not eat” silica packet, and pour in 12 oz of boiling water. Seal, wait seven minutes, stir. Wait another eight minutes, and it’s done, and it makes two servings.

This stew was tangy and surprisingly fresh tasting. The green chili flavor is abundant and has a good bit of spice but isn’t overpowering. While it has 450 mg of sodium (20% of your daily intake) per serving, it still tasted like it needed some salt.

We followed the instructions but felt like the beans could’ve been a bit more tender. Mercedes and I both found this to be a tasty alternative to regular chili, and we’d both eat it again. It also looked appealing, versus some backpacking food that looks like wet mush.

• Price: $12.99
• Serving Size: ½ package
• Servings Per Container: 2
• Total Fat: 5g per serving
• Cholesterol: 35mg per serving
• Sodium: 450mg per serving
• Carbohydrates: 33g per serving
• Protein 23g per serving

Summit Breakfast Scramble
A breakfast scramble is often our dehydrated dish of choice for breakfasts. Backpacker’s Pantry sent a sample of its Summit Breakfast Scramble with beans, eggs, cheese, and peppers.

This recipe had lots of beans yet only 24g of carbohydrates per serving—great for me, as I’m diabetic and look for lower-carb options. Again, there’s a good dose of green chile flavor, and it’s quite nice without being too salty. Like the white bean stew we’d made the night before, the beans could’ve been a bit softer. But overall, this meal had good consistency and looks appetizing, too. This is something I’d definitely get again.

• Price: $10.99
• Serving Size: 1 package
• Servings Per Container: 1
• Total Fat: 11g
• Cholesterol: 265 mg
• Sodium: 820mg
• Carbohydrates: 24g
• Protein: 18g

Rocky Mountain Scramble
Yet another take on a breakfast scramble, this skilletless dish has eggs, potatoes, and cheese. Boil water, wait eight minutes, stir, wait seven more minutes, and it’s ready.

The first thing we noticed about the Rocky Mountain Scramble was it isn’t very appealing to look at. It conjures up the kind of food you expect from dehydrated backpacking food. It actually looked like biscuits and gravy, and with a similar consistency.

The flavor was overwhelmingly peppery. I like pepper, but this flavor was overpowering. Five minutes after finishing the meal, we still tasted pepper; it’d be good with about half the amount. If you can get past the pepper, the other tastes are subtle, creamy, and rich. But this was our least favorite of all of them. I think I’d stick with the Summit Breakfast Scramble instead.

• Price: $10.99
• Serving Size: 1 package
• Servings Per Package: 1
• Total Fat: 15g
• Cholesterol: 275mg
• Sodium: 770mg
• Carbohydrates: 25g
• Protein: 19g

Drunken Noodles with Chicken
Just the other night, the power went out and we were told it wasn’t going to come on for hours. This sounded like a good excuse to try the last of our samples, the Drunken Noodles with Chicken in a sweet, spicy sauce.

This meal had a mild but pleasant flavor, and a very good consistency. If you served this to people in a bowl, they probably wouldn’t know it was dehydrated food. There was ample chicken, and it wasn’t too salty.

This was also the most balanced flavor of all the samples we tried. Being a noodle dish, it was the highest in carbohydrates, but that was expected; the noodles were cooked just right. While I didn’t eat as much of this due to the carbs, it was really good.

• Price: $12.99
• Serving Size: ½ package
• Servings Per Container: 2
• Fat: 2 g
• Cholesterol: 25 mg
• Sodium: 930 mg Per Serving
• Carbohydrates: 44 g Per Serving
• Protein: 13 mg Per Serving

A Nice Alternative to The Usual
Honestly, I’d never heard of this brand until they reached out. However, it’s been around since 1951, is owned and operated by the Smith family, and is made in Boulder, CO.

We found three of the four versions pretty darn good, but the Rocky Mountain Scramble was simply too peppery and we didn’t like the consistency. But the others were all worthy of purchasing. The cooking times were all a couple minutes longer than our usual Mountain House packs, but that’s no biggie.

They were all surprisingly unsalty tasting, which was unexpected. But, like most dehydrated meals, they are loaded with sodium, so that’s something to be aware of.

We’ll probably try some of the other flavors from Backpacker’s Pantry. They’re about a dollar more than our usual Mountain House, but it’s nice to have something different. Afterall, variety is the spice of life, and these were worthy additions to our latest travels.

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