Best Freeze Dried Foods for A Survival Adventure

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NANCY WILLIAMS
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Every survival adventurist understands that in order to survive the great outdoors, one must know how to replenish the energy spent on his or her long day on the trail. In short, a good meal is what your body needs to replace all the energy that you have lost. Some of the best survival food types you can easily bring along are the freeze-dried foods.

Freeze dried food is a shelf- stable, easy to carry supplemental food. Whether your plan is to go on a survival adventure for just a few days or even longer, these types of preserved foods are great and practical to bring along. Freeze dried foods are also packed with calories and proteins that the body needs in order to recover for the next day’s adventure.

Before we list down the best freeze dried foods in the market today, let us first discuss how we can choose the best freeze dried foods that we can bring in our great survival adventures.

How to Choose the Best Freeze Dried Foods

Taste

It’s a simple fact that if you don’t like your food, you’re not going to eat it. Remember, just because you’re exhausted from hiking doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice taste. Today, there are plenty of freeze-dried foods that you can choose from that will suit your taste. So, before you get on the trail, sample some and choose the ones you like best.

Calories

According to Mayo Clinic, a person weighing 160 pounds can burn up to 438 calories per hour hiking, while backpackers can burn as much as 511 calories per hour on the trail. This means that if you’re hiking or backpacking for let’s say about 4-5 hours then you will surely lose an enormous amount of calories. So, you must choose a freeze-dried meal that is packed with enough calories to replace those that you have lost.

Sodium

Like all preserved foods, most freeze-dried meals are high in sodium or salt which helps keep the food fresh and also adds flavor. But always remember that too much sodium in your diet is not healthy. It can raise your blood pressure and put you at risk of a heart attack or stroke. This is the main reason why the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends consuming less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Most freeze dried foods exceed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s sodium consumption recommendation.

Therefore, be conscious of how much sodium you’re eating in each serving of your freeze dried meals. Strike a balance by alternating high-sodium freeze dried foods with lower sodium ones.

Protein

Protein helps your muscle fibers repair themselves which can help you recover much faster. Recovery time is very vital in order for you to get up and hike day after day. So look for high protein freeze-dried foods that can help you to continue on your survival adventure journey.

Below is our list of the 10 best freeze dried foods that you can bring with you when going on an adventure.

The 10 Best Freeze Dried Foods for Your Adventure Needs

You can get all of these freeze-dried foods from Amazon.com.

  1. Mountain House Beef Stroganoff with Noodles

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2.5

CALORIES PER SERVING: 260

SODIUM: 800 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good
  • Noodles have nice texture and consistency
  • Easy to unpack

CONS:

  • High in sodium
  • Beef takes a while to rehydrate
  • Single serving size is too small

  1. Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2.5

CALORIES PER SERVING: 230

SODIUM: 780 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good
  • Well-seasoned
  • Easy to unpack

CONS:

  • High in sodium
  • Watery and noodles take a while to cook
  • Single serving size is too small

  1. Maryjanesfarm Organic Shepherds Meat Pie

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 1.5

CALORIES PER SERVING: 250

SODIUM PER SERVING: 780 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good, well-seasoned, very thick consistency
  • Easy to unpack

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • High in sodium with a slight aftertaste

  1. Good To-Go Thai Curry

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2

CALORIES PER SERVING: 380

SODIUM: 500 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good and rice has a nice texture
  • Well-seasoned
  • Lower in sodium
  • Lots of vegetables and gluten-free

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • Single serving size is too small
  • Takes a long time to cook

5. Paleo Meals To Go Summit Savory Chicken

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 1

CALORIES PER SERVING: 300

SODIUM PER SERVING: 140 – 730 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good, has nice texture and consistency
  • Separate salt packet for control over the level of sodium in the meal
  • High in protein, paleo, gluten-free and very filling

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • Not flavorful enough
  • Short shelf life

  1. Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai Veggie

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2

CALORIES PER SERVING: 460

SODIUM PER SERVING: 480 milligrams

PROS:

  • Inexpensive
  • High in protein
  • Gluten-free
  • Vegan

CONS:

  • Single serving size is too small, a little bland and watery
  • Noodles don’t always cook through

  1. Harmony House Backpacking Kit

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 70

CALORIES PER SERVING: 5 – 104

SODIUM PER SERVING: 0 – 38 milligrams

PROS:

  • Kit includes lots of servings, recipes are included and lots of options for variety
  • Low in sodium
  • Gluten-free
  • Vegan
  • Cooks quickly

CONS:

  • Meals must be assembled
  • Meals must be cooked in a pot or bag
  • Ingredients require soaking before cooking
  • Needs additional spices

  1. Good To-Go Classic Marinara with Penne

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2

CALORIES PER SERVING: 460

SODIUM PER SERVING: 360 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good, noodles have nice texture and consistency
  • Lower in sodium
  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • Single serving size is too small
  • Takes a long time to cook
  • Noodles do not always re-hydrate properly

  1. Backpacker’s Pantry Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 2

CALORIES PER SERVING: 300

SODIUM PER SERVING: 1,160 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good
  • Inexpensive
  • Gluten-free
  • Vegan

CONS:

  • Very high in sodium
  • Single serving size is too small
  • A little bland
  • Takes a long time to cook and texture is slightly off
  • Beans don’t always cook through
  • Watery

  1. Paleo Meals To-Go Canyon Chicken Chili

 

BEST FOR: Hiking and Backpacking

SERVINGS: 1

CALORIES PER SERVING: 310

SODIUM PER SERVING: 380 milligrams

PROS:

  • Tastes good
  • Has nice texture and consistency
  • High in protein
  • Low in sodium
  • Paleo
  • Gluten-free

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • Short shelf life

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NANCY WILLIAMS
With more than 10.000 recipes under her belt, no wonder Nancy is the content manager of The Prepper's Daily Food topic. She embarked long ago on a mission to learn everything there is to know about cooking. She discovered her passion for cooking while spending the summer's over at her grandparents. Their ways fascinated Nancy and cooking something out of nothing, like her granny use to say, became one of her daily routines. After 21 years of culinary experience, she decided to drop her fancy chef career life. The price her family had to pay was too big. Nancy is now taking advantage of the internet and works from home, helping and teaching common people like us to cook for ourselves with as little we have. Just like she learned from her grandparents. I want those who cannot afford to eat out not even once a week, to feel they don't need to. Because they can make one of my quick recipes and feel better about their lives, even if only for some hours. From simple recipes to ancient remedies based on plants, from the garden to the kitchen table, canning and storing, Nancy covers it all.

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