Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef

Summary

One of the best tasting foods they offer. Taste is really great, very light weight and super easy to make right in its own bag.

This is one of their best tasting meals and I have tried most of them. Very good flavor, you will hardly know you are eating dehydrated food. Filling and very easy to prepare in its own bag, just need to boil some water.

I would definitely recommend this one for a long hike or a backpacking trip. They are lightweight and don't take up too much room in your pack. They are well sealed so you can squish them in a tight spot. Killer for an energy boost.

Summary

Very tasty, but buy two per meal.

This is one of the standards for dehydrated food. It's tasty and has a bit of a zing from the chili.

Nice texture - it's hard to tell the  hamburger is reconstituted. Macaroni and beans make for a satisfying meal, and there's enough calories to get your strength back for another day of hiking. Be warned, the chili gave me a bit of heartburn, and you may be producing noxious odours later in the tent at night. Fine if you bring some Tums just in case, and if you're bunking alone.

Cooks up quickly and without any fuss. Just add boiling water, re-seal the bag and let it sit, then eat straight out of the bag 9-10 minutes later. Unlike that other standby, Lipton's Sidekicks, there is no simmering involved, so you really save on fuel.

I bought the freeze-dried Pro Pak version at 115 grams instead of the regular, larger one (135 gms), and I found it just wasn't enough food for me after a day of backpacking. My tentmate was fine with a single serving, though.

One person suggested adding a can of black beans, and that would certainly help, and this would certainly make a good base for any number of dishes. I'm just not fond of having to carry the extra weight of canned foods. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying ultralite meals. In future, I'll just buy two of these for myself.

Whenever I am planning out a backpack trip or just a day trip, my husband always asks for this Chili Mac. Though it is not gourmet food, once it is rehydrated, you would never realize it was not fresh to start. 

And bears like it too!  I was making this for lunch on a day trip in Shenandoah National Park, and a black bear tried to join us. I guess it smelled good to him too. 

My wife and I were camping and tried this one night.

To my amazement my wife really liked it. We are leaving on a week-long camping trip and she asked my to pick up this for one night's meal. Excellent product.

This is one of my favorite dehydrated meals. It taste great, is very filling and just a little spicy....not to much or to little. Also works great for warming up on cold nights.

I think Mountain House makes some of the best dehydrated meals available and the Chili Mac with Beef is my favorite from them.

Try adding a small can of black beans in the mix, it's even better. I always carry a couple of pouches on my fishing boat, just in case.