Food Wars: Who Makes the Best Dehydrated Chicken and Rice Entrees for Backpacking?

For those of you who joined us for the first few installments of our "Food Wars" series, welcome back! If you didn't catch them, you can search "Food Wars," on the main page of our blog, to get links to the previous installments. 

A quick recap:

On our trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, we decided to compare the various brands of dehydrated meals marketed to backpackers. We hoped to determine which companies produced the best-tasting meals and whether some of the more expensive offerings were worth the additional cost. We're passing our findings along to you, in hopes that they will improve your future backpacking experiences! We did not receive anything of value from any of the companies involved in the tests, so you can trust our observations to be objective.

How were the tests conducted?

We conducted our taste tests in the field. We made our best efforts to adhere to the manufacturer's instructions when preparing meals (i.e. we didn't adjust the amount of water specified by the manufacturer nor the amount of time suggested for rehydration). In the few instances where we did deviate from the instructions, we will disclose the circumstances. We both tried each product, made notes about our observations on flavor and texture, and rated each on a scale of 1 mylar pouch (worst) to 5 mylar pouches (best).

 

Image from: Katadyngroup.com

Who makes the best dehydrated chicken and rice entree for backpacking?

While individual preferences may vary, our favorite option for a dehydrated chicken and rice entree was the Mexican-Style Grilled Chicken Bowl, from AlpineAire.

Which options did we test?

In addition to the AlpineAire Mexican-Style Grilled Chicken Bowl, we tested the Mountain House Mexican-Style Adobo Rice & Chicken.

Why did we choose AlpineAire Mexican-Style Grilled Chicken Bowl as our winner?

A "2-serving" pouch of AlpineAire Mexican-Style Grilled Chicken yields 640 calories and 34 grams of protein. A pouch weighs in at 6.21 ounces (176 grams) and requires 2 cups (about 475mL) to prepare. Suggested prep time is 10-12 minutes. It retails for about $9 at popular outdoor supply stores in the United States.

When comparing the numbers, things are relatively equal between the competitors, with slight tradeoffs for either option. The AlpineAire option is slightly heavier and requires a bit more water and time to prepare. The Mountain House option provides slightly less nutrition and actually costs a bit more. 

Given the relative equality of the basic characteristics, we made the final choice based on flavor and consistency. The AlpineAire Mexican-Style Chicken Bowl was a bit soupy, when prepared according the instructions provided; this was somewhat consistent among the various AlpineAire products we tested. That being said, the ingredients in the AlpineAire offering were more distinct (the Mountain House offering presented the familiar, yet potentially off-putting consistency of all Mountain House meals) and the flavors were more complex and nuanced.    


Image from: Mountainhouse.com

Is Mountain House Mexican-Style Adobo Rice & Chicken a good choice for backpacking?

A "2-serving" pouch of Mountain House Mexican-Style Adobo Rice & Chicken weighs in at 4.6 ounces (130 grams). Each pouch delivers 570 calories and 30 grams of protein. It requires 9 minutes and 1 and 1/2 cups (355mL) of water to prepare and can be purchased, through Mountain House, for $9.49.

Adobo was definitely the prevalent flavor in this offering, and while it was certainly a reasonable option, it didn't quite stand up to the AlpineAire offering. The basic numbers for each of these choices are pretty similar, so we wouldn't specifically steer you away from the Mountain House variety.

We hope you find the "Food Wars" series to be valuable when meal planning for your next backpacking trip! If there is additional information you would like to see included in future installments, please let us know in the comments section.  

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