The Best Dehydrated Meals

Whether you're going camping, hiking or backpacking, or preparing to survive a disaster, dehydrated meals are a lightweight way to carry food. They have a long shelf-life, are easy to prepare (just add water), and are vacuum-packed to take up as little space as possible, making them perfect for any situation where space is limited. Although dehydrated food might not sound like the most appetizing thing on the menu, a wide variety of meals and desserts from top-selling brands are actually quite delicious.

  1. Breakfast

    • Mountain House Scrambled Eggs with Ham is one of the top-selling breakfasts. Technically freeze-dried instead of dehydrated, adding a little hot water to these eggs with ham and red and green peppers turns them into an especially tasty breakfast treat. Granola with Blueberries and Milk, by Backpackers Pantry, can be eaten hot or cold, which makes it a more convenient choice if you don't have a way to heat water. Enertia Trail Foods Mountain Morning Oatmeal is a wholesome choice for a hot breakfast, flavored with cinnamon, raisins, sunflower seeds and brown sugar.

    Snacks

    • Dehydrated fruit makes a great lightweight snack that's both easy to tote and satisfying. The company Just Tomatoes has a line of dehydrated fruit snacks especially for snacking on-the-go, including Just Apples, Just Blueberries and Just Peaches, to name a few. Dehydrated fruit can be eaten straight out of the package, or it can be rehydrated with water or milk or used to add flavor to oatmeal or cereal.

    Entrees

    • Dehydrated dinner options include pasta, beef, chicken and even seafood. ETF Coleman Max Patch Mac & Cheese is a top seller. This cheesy dish is spiced up with tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables. Another popular meal is Mountain House Beef Stroganoff. Mountain House's Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Seafood Chowder are also popular choices.

    Dessert

    • For dessert, Backpackers Pantry offers several flavors of freeze-dried ice cream. If pie is more to your liking, they have peaches and cream and mocha mousse. For something a little more sophisticated, try Enertia Trail Foods' Grand Canyon Cheese Cake topped with almond biscotti.