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 something different from the standard pasta fare. It's good, but not great, but definitely not bad.  Just...middle of the road.

A word on portion size. It's a good size for the middle of a day hike, when one doesn't want to feel overfull and bloated with food. It might feel a wee bit skimpy at the end of a long day in the middle of a multi-day trip. At least for some. Like me.

Background

Over four decades of hiking, backpacking, and car camping have given me ample time to eat a lot of freeze-dried meals. I ate this on a recent day trip to test it for consideration for future long trips.

This meal was OK. It was filling but lacked some flavor. The veggies were good but the chicken was a bit sad.

I tried this meal as a member of another site in exchange for a review while at Lodgepole Overflow Campground in Lake Alpine.

This meal was very easy to make and filling. It is an excellent backpacking choice because it's lightweight and delicious. A huge benefit is that it cooks quickly with minimal equipment. All you need is boiling water, a measuring cup (key to perfectly cooked meals), and a utensil to stir and then eat the contents right out of the pouch!

This meal includes grilled chicken, rice, roasted vegetables, and black beans. This meal was actually the first one I tried. The flavor wasn’t as strong as I would want in a Mexican inspired dish.

The beans, veggies, and rice were all cooked perfectly. I particularly liked the roasted veggies as they kept a lot of the flavor you would expect from roasted vegetables. The chicken however was only OK. One larger piece was still dry and uncooked in the middle (may have been my fault, but still).

The rest generally lacked flavor. I added quite a bit of hot sauce to help this meal. I imagine adding it to a tortilla and making it a burrito could have also helped.

Disclosure: The reviewer received a sample of this product from the brand or its representatives in exchange for a review.