Stop Paying Freeze-Dried Prices for Dinner on the Trail
Five grocery-store meals that cook in a pouch with boiling water, pack flat and cost a fraction of a freeze-dried dinner.
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Freeze-dried dinners earn their place: add boiling water, wait, eat. But most of what you pay for is the pouch and the brand, not the food. The grocery store sells meals that work almost exactly the same way. Pour in boiling water, seal, wait a few minutes, and dinner is ready.
The trick that makes them easy is a soaking pouch. It turns a box of rice or potatoes into a freeze-dried-style meal with no simmering, no scorched pot and almost nothing to wash.
- Best dinner baseKnorr Rice Sides, Spanish Rice: cooks in about 7 minutes and packs flat. Check the price on Amazon
- Best proteinStarKist Tuna Creations and Chicken Creations: ready-to-eat pouches with no draining. Check the price on Amazon
- FastestIdahoan instant mashed potatoes: ready almost as soon as the water hits. Check the price on Amazon
- Best for cold nightsInstant ramen: hot, salty and soupy. Check the price on Amazon
- Make it workSoaking pouches: reusable meal pouches for less than $1 each. Check the price on Amazon
How the pouch method works
Pour the dry meal into a soaking pouch, add boiling water, zip it shut and set it down somewhere it won’t tip. Wait for the time below, stir, and eat out of the pouch. Your pot only ever holds water, so cleanup is a rinse at most.
Use pouches made for boiling water rather than thin sandwich bags. Ordinary zip bags can soften or split at that temperature. Soaking pouches are sold for this job, and you can get your own on Amazon for less than $1 each.
On a cold night, wrap the pouch in a jacket or slide it into your sleeping bag’s stuff sack while it soaks. Everything rehydrates more slowly when the water cools off fast.
1. Knorr Rice Sides (Spanish Rice)
Why it works: Knorr’s Spanish Rice comes in a 5.6-ounce pouch and cooks in about 7 minutes. Poured into a soaking pouch with boiling water, it’s ready in about the same time without any simmering. SectionHiker’s Philip Werner likes Knorr Rice Sides because they pack flat, cost about $1 each, and give you salt and carbohydrates in one package, at roughly 675 to 700 calories per packet. He adds that they work on stoves that can’t simmer well.
The catch: Werner notes that none of them are vegetarian, and some call for butter or milk at home. Skip the butter and you’ll barely miss it. On their own they’re a side dish, so add protein to make a full dinner.
Pair it with: a tuna or chicken pouch (below). Werner suggests the same thing.
2. StarKist Tuna Creations and Chicken Creations
Why it works: These 2.6-ounce pouches are ready to eat, already seasoned, and need no draining. Happiest Outdoors points out that pouches are lighter than cans, and flavored versions do the seasoning for you. Stir one into rice, potatoes or ramen, or eat it on a tortilla for lunch.
The catch: It’s a small portion. On a big day, one pouch per person may not be enough, so pack two. Like any packaged food, carry the empty pouch out.
Pair it with: any of the bases here. Spanish rice with chicken is a backcountry burrito bowl.
Shop Tuna Creations on Amazon Shop Chicken Creations on Amazon
3. Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes
Why it works: Instant mashed potatoes are about as fast as trail food gets: add boiling water, stir, done. Happiest Outdoors recommends Idahoan’s flavored pouches, garlic and cheese among them, and America’s Test Kitchen lists instant mashed potatoes among the supermarket bases that cook up with nothing but hot water.
The catch: They’re mostly carbohydrate and not very filling alone. Stir in a chicken pouch, cheese or bacon bits to make them a meal.
Pair it with: Chicken Creations, and a packet of gravy mix if you want to feel fancy.
4. Couscous
Why it works: Couscous is tiny pasta that only needs to sit in boiling water for a few minutes, which makes it a natural fit for the pouch method. Happiest Outdoors suggests the flavored boxes, such as Casbah, so the seasoning is already in.
The catch: Plain couscous is bland. Go with a flavored box or bring a bouillon cube or seasoning packet.
Pair it with: a tuna pouch, plus a handful of nuts or dried fruit.
5. Instant Ramen
Why it works: Ramen is the original budget trail dinner. It needs only boiling water, and on a cold evening a hot, salty broth is hard to beat. Happiest Outdoors notes that Asian grocery stores carry far better versions than the basic blocks.
The catch: It’s light on protein and heavy on salt. Add a tuna or chicken pouch, and drink plenty of water.
Pair it with: a tuna pouch and some dried vegetables.
Before you go
- Read the package. Ingredients and allergens change, and some sides call for milk or butter at home. Most taste fine without them.
- Repackage at home. Moving each meal into a zip bag or straight into its soaking pouch cuts bulk. Cut out or photograph the cooking directions so you have the water amount.
- Carry out every wrapper. Grocery-store meals leave more packaging than a single freeze-dried pouch.
The bottom line
Freeze-dried meals are still the easiest option, but they aren’t the only one. A box of Knorr Spanish Rice with a StarKist Chicken Creations pouch, soaked in a reusable meal pouch, makes a filling dinner for a fraction of the price, and cleanup is just as easy. Keep a couple of freeze-dried meals for the nights when even boiling water feels like work.