Entrées

Recent Entrée Reviews

Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai

Not your grandmother's pad thai, and that's just fine. A solid vegan/vegetarian offering of a traditional pad thai with protein provided by a strong helping of peanut products. I've had Backpacker's Pad Thai with Chicken in the past, as well as countless restaurant offerings ranging from fancy to food truck. This compares pretty favorably. Not exactly high end, but far from a poor example of the genre. Rice noodles chopped up short enough to be easily retrieved with a long-handled spoon, good sauce… Full review

Firepot Mac'n'Greens

A really tasty vegan entree, with just a few minor drawbacks. All right. First things first. I know the packaging says *nothing* about cheese. Anywhere. Not once. Not on the front. Not in the ingredient list. I read the package, front to back, multiple times. And yet when I picked it out of the test-box yesterday, my hindbrain still said, "Ooh! Mac 'n' cheese! That will hit the spot!" Of course, there is no cheese. Explicitly, no cheese. Oh, the wonders of the human brain. Nutrition: Nicely low-sodium… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Larb

A tasty rendering of a traditional spicy southeast Asian chicken and rice meal, well worth stocking up on. Larb: a Laotian or Thai spicy salad consisting of ground, chopped, or minced meat and vegetables. I've never encountered this dish before, and after trying Backpacker's Pantry's take this previous lack of experience saddens me.  I was intrigued by the idea of mint as part of a main dish. How strong would that flavor be? How would it balance with the garlic and the chilis? Nutrition info: Gluten-free… Full review

Gastro Gnome Packable Meals

Gastro Gnome dried meals are hands-down the best I've ever tasted. If you prefer the taste of real food, prepared as it would be at home or in a restaurant, you need to give these a try. You'll be glad you did. I gave these meals a try on two multi-day backpacking trips trips last summer and they were incredibly good. Instead of bland, but over-salted flavor, these meals taste like what you'd get in a good restaurant—really—and this is reflected in ingredient lists that look like recipes out… Full review

Peak Refuel Butternut Dal Bhat

A lovely, creamy, curry-spiced freeze-dried meal. Back to the winter proving grounds for another test run of a freeze-dried meal.  This one, like the previous review, is another dal bhat. A wee reminder: bhat is a rice soup, and dal is a relative of the humble lentil.   So this, this is called a dal bhat, but it's not actually a dal bhat. See, it's got no dal. It does have rice, and lentils, and chickpeas, and chunks of butternut squash. Given the coconut milk curry sauce and the squash and the… Full review

Firepot Dal and Rice with Spinach

A traditional Himalayan offering from a small British company. Low-fat, low-sodium, vegan. I've had this sitting in my food box since before the pandemic. I don't know if I bought it or if it was gifted to me. It certainly looks interesting, though. I've had dal bhat before, albeit a cream-sauce-based variety—which is, apparently, not entirely traditional?  So, "dal" is a legume akin to a lentil. And "bhat" is rice. While these British fellows don't call this meal "dal bhat," dal bhat is essentially… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Hatch Green Chili Mac & Cheese

Much like their Three Cheese Mac & Cheese, this offering from Backpacker's Pantry is just a little weak. A word on flavor: "Yes."  A generous portion of hatch green chiles give this meal a solid spice-level, making for a pleasant mid-dayhike meal. The single-serving portion guaranteed no loginess, but left me a bit hungry before the hike was finished. I reckon this makes it the perfect size for a shared side-dish at the end of a long day of backpacking, or for those with smaller appetites. But… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Three Cheese Mac & Cheese

Nothing special, sadly. Remember the old lady from the Wendy's commercials back in the '80s?  Allow me to refresh your memory, with a bit of alteration for context. "WHERE'S THE CHEESE?" This is called Mac & Cheese, and there was cheese (and mac), but....  I expect better from Backpacker's Pantry. I expect more from anything calling itself "Mac & Cheese." I don't expect nearly 100% of the r.d.a. of sodium from a relatively small portion of relatively bland pasta and dairy. This wasn't… Full review

Mountain House Chicken Fajita Bowl

A decent option for a long trip, for the sake of variety. Ah, good old Mountain House. They do things pretty well right. This is yet another of their basic, satisfying, plainly acceptable meals. Not too spicy, not too salty, reasonably flavorful with identifiable ingredients. It's nothing to write home about—which really makes it difficult to write a review. Interspersed with other, more "interesting" meals, I can see this making a nice change. Or for those with finicky palates, if they needed… Full review