Entrées

Reviewed by Twig

This is the latest addition to a line-up of six Good To-Go "all natural, dehydrated gourmet" meals. I found the product to be a fresh, healthy, and tasty alternative to the ever-growing line of pre-packaged, dehydrated backpacker meals on the market. I would highly recommend this product for those looking specifically for an all-natural, gluten-free, pescatarian option. And since I'm a huge fan of Thai food, this is a well-received addition to my own outdoors pantry. The only downsides are the higher retail cost and the longer re-hydration times when compared to other similar products.

I tested the Good To-Go line of dehydrated foods two years ago when they were first introduced. At that time, only three options were offered. The company seems to be experiencing success and growth, having since added three more meals. This time around, I tested the Pad Thai and Indian Vegetable Korma meals, both in single and double serving sizes. This review is of the Pad Thai. Please see my other reviews of the Thai Curry, Smoked Three Bean Chili, Herbed Mushroom Risotto, and Indian Vegetable Korma on Trailspace.com.

Read more: Good To-Go Pad Thai review (1)

Featured review by Horn Rimmed Hiker

BUY THIS. A comfort food staple, near-and-dear to me (my mom packed it in a thermos for my school lunches) that Mountain House nails. Whether or not you miss home on the trail, you do miss home-cooked meals, and if you tasted this one blindfolded, you'd swear you were at the family dining table. A simple combination of ground beef, red chili beans, and elbow macaroni is married well with a chili sauce that has a spicy kick. Widely reviewed as one of the best meals MH has to offer, I'd place myself in agreement with the majority and say this one knocks it out of the park.

PACKAGING Par for the Mountain House course: practically bulletproof, very lightweight for a two-portion meal (4.80 ounces), and the top flap folds down easily to minimize the volume this will take up in a pack.  I've read reviews ranking this among the top three Mountain House meals, and I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype, and try it for myself.  Here's a shot of the 2-serving bag: INGREDIENTS AND NUTRITION FACTS PREP AND COOKING All I need to cook this is a stove and small pot: boil 2 cups (or 16 ounces) of water, pour it inside the re-sealable pouch, and let it sit for 8-9 minutes.  Contents prior to re-hydration:   TIP: let this one rest inside the bag a little longer than the 8-9 minutes MH suggests.

Read more: Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef reviews (11)

Featured review by PhilNC

Excellent flavor and easy instructions offset the long wait time. This was my personal favorite of the two Good To-Go samples I tried, but had similar hydration issues (no more than other meals of its kind).

Note:  Some of the text below is similar to my review of Good To-Go’s Smoked Three Bean Chili but most of the detail is specific to this meal. I did this review to supplement Lah’s excellent review of the meal and to give another non-biased account of experience with it. No offense to other reviewers, but several seem to be related to the company in some way and I felt they might not carry the same weight as non-affiliated reviews.  I do appreciate the fairness of these reviewers admitting their relationships to the company.First off, when evaluating food choices I think it is a good baseline to describe my eating habits on the trail: Lots of fresh stuff on short trips especially first day or so Meals are usually a base (rice, pasta,...

Read more: Good To-Go Thai Curry reviews (11)

Reviewed by Patman

A tasty curry dish that surprised me with its freshness; this one doesn’t taste rehydrated. I’ve never knowingly had a Nepalese-style curry, but if this is representative, I’m a fan. I just wish there was more in the package. As I’ll mention in all the Nomad reviews: I consider this the best brand of dehydrated, prepackaged food I’ve tried to date. It’s an expensive but high quality product.

Prologue: When I was messaging back and forth with Alicia (Trailspace Co-Founder and Editor) about testing some food items, I mentioned that I would only be interested in vegetarian options (I’m not actually vegetarian or vegan, I just rarely eat meat). For those excluding meat altogether, the pre-packaged choices are understandably limited in the backpacking/dehydrated food genre. I was quite intrigued when Alicia came back with this brand as I had never heard of them before. As I read about the company and product my interest was piqued further; you can check out their story here but I’ll relate that all products are plant-based, possibly non-GMO /organic (they don’t claim to be fully non-GMO/ organic but state that they “do their...

Read more: Nomad Nutrition Kathmandu Curry review (1)

Reviewed by Patman

A tasty Indian stew that reminds me of a classic (but slightly less spicy) Dal. As I’ve written with the other Nomad reviews: this is my new favorite brand of dehydrated backpacking food.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Carrots, Red Lentils*, Coconut Milk*, Onions, Peas, Sundried Tomatoes*, Olive Oil*, Garlic*, Spices*, Sea Salt*.   *Certified Organic Ingredient. Nutrition: (for the 100-gram package) Calories 680, Carbs 93g, Sugars (10 g), Protein 24g Prologue: When I was messaging back and forth with Alicia (Trailspace Co-Founder and Editor) about testing some food items, I mentioned that I would only be interested in vegetarian options (I’m not actually vegetarian or vegan, I just rarely eat meat).

Read more: Nomad Nutrition Indian Red Lentil Stew review (1)

Reviewed by Twig

This is the latest addition to a line-up of six Good To-Go "all natural, dehydrated gourmet" meals. I found the product to be a fresh, healthy, and tasty alternative to the ever-growing line of pre-packaged, dehydrated backpacker meals on the market. I would highly recommend this product for those specifically looking for an all-natural, gluten-free, vegetarian option. It works well as both a stand-alone meal and as a side dish. The downsides are the higher retail cost and longer re-hydration time when compared to other similar products. I also found that some ingredients did not rehydrate fully, even given the full recommended prep time.

I tested the Good To-Go line of dehydrated foods two years ago when they were first introduced. At that time, only three options were offered. The company seems to be experiencing success and growth, having since added three more meals. This time around, I tested the Pad Thai and Indian Vegetable Korma meals, both in single and double serving sizes. This review is of the Indian Vegetable Korma. Please see my other reviews of the Thai Curry, Smoked Three Bean Chili, Herbed Mushroom Risotto, and Pad Thai on Trailspace.com.

Read more: Good To-Go Indian Vegetable Korma review (1)

Reviewed by Patman

A delicious and simple dehydrated meal with good caloric density (176 calories per ounce) for backpackers that prepares easily and satisfies. There is a naturalness to this dish (and this brand in general) that makes it seem as if this is some long-standing favorite food, even though I had never had it before. This brand is the best dehydrated food I’ve tried to date. It’s too pricey to be a staple for me, but worth it for that special trip or occasion.

Prologue: When I was messaging back and forth with Alicia (Trailspace Co-Founder and Editor) about testing some food items, I mentioned that I would only be interested in vegetarian options (I’m not actually vegetarian or vegan, I just rarely eat meat). For those excluding meat altogether, the pre-packaged choices are understandably limited in the backpacking/dehydrated food genre. I was quite intrigued when Alicia came back with this brand as I had never heard of them before. As I read about the company and product my interest was piqued further; you can check out their story here but I’ll relate that all products are plant-based, primarily non-GMO /organic (they don’t claim to be fully non-GMO/ organic but state that they “do their...

Read more: Nomad Nutrition Hungarian Goulash review (1)

Reviewed by Patman

A very familiar tasting and well-balanced meal, this one is like the backpacking equivalent of comfort food. A great bonus is the 225 calories per ounce which is excellent caloric density for carrying on a long trek. As I’ve written with the other Nomad reviews: this is my new favorite brand of dehydrated backpacking food.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Green Lentils*, Carrots, Coconut Milk*, Onions, Peas, Corn, Sundried Tomatoes*, Olive Oil*, Garlic*, Spices*, Sea Salt*. *Certified Organic Ingredient. Nutrition: (for the 100-gram package) Calories 790, Carbs 96g, Sugars (10g), Protein 23g Preparation and packaging Like all the Nomad meals I've tried so far, this one is a just-add-boiling water type (remember to remove the desiccant). I found it needed a tad more time than the recommended 10 minutes to reconstitute when using the cook-in-bag method.

Read more: Nomad Nutrition Irish Shepherd's Pie review (1)

Reviewed by LoneStranger

Good To-Go's Chicken Gumbo was amazingly gumbo-like. Delicious spicy chicken and rice with lots of okra that provided flavor and texture hard to imagine in a backpacking meal.

  Maine made and field tested in Baxter State Park We packed along a few bonus meals on our Baxter trips this year. One was this double portion of Good To-Go's Chicken Gumbo which we shared as a late lunch after making camp on a short hiking day. We both were happy about how that turned out so let's dig into the review. Instructions & Ingredients:  . In the interests of science we followed the instructions as closely as possible for a field test. We used the measuring lines on Frau Stranger's mug to get close to the requested amount of water and let the meal soak for a few minutes longer than the 15 minutes asked.

Read more: Good To-Go Chicken Gumbo review (1)

Reviewed by JWatson

This is a serious, and seriously good, breakfast—one of my absolute go-to's.

I love this meal. It's almost as good as a good restaurant biscuits and gravy—much better than some of the sad, heavy, gloopy stuff I've had at less-reputable diners, ha ha.    camera fogged up with steam, ha ha Preparation and Taste:I followed the package directions; 1 and 1/3 cups boiling water, stand 10 minutes. I also followed their "pro tip" and crumbled up the biscuits before adding the water. I my opinion, this may (???) have been an error? I want to try this again, but next time I want to crumble the biscuits on top of the stirred sauce mixture before closing the bag and letting it sit.

Read more: Peak Refuel Biscuits & Sausage Gravy review (1)