On the trail my dinner requirements are simple: after a day of hiking and after setting up camp and filtering water for the night, I just want a meal that tastes good, doesn’t take long in the typical fading evening light, and meets some basic calorie and nutrition requirements. And all without too much clean up afterwards. With all these prerequisites in mind, freeze-dried meals can often be found in my food bag – and most of the time these meals will be a selection of staples I’ve come to find always hit the spot over the years.

That said, it’s always good to mix things up and as new meals are released I typically give them a try – the latest of which is this Mexican-themed meal from Backpacker’s Pantry.

Backpacker's Pantry Fiesta Beef & Vegetable Bowl

The Fiesta Beef & Vegetable Bowl from Backpacker’s Pantry is a backpacking meal with 520 calories and 31 grams of protein. The meal is composed of rice, beans, beef, freeze-dried cheddar cheese, vegetables, sour cream powder, lime, and spices. The directions call for 1.5 cups of water and 15 minutes of rehydration time with a stir about halfway through. However, the directions are set for 5000 feet and rehydration time doubles for every 5000 feet over this. Thus, you’ll be waiting about 30 minutes at a common backpacking mountain elevation of around 10,000 feet above sea level.

After opening the bag I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be much product in the bottom, and initially I wondered if a mistake had been made. However, after rehydration the resulting meal seemed more like a typical 500 calorie or so freeze-dried meal portion. Rehydration wise, the meal turned out to be quite soupy, but the ingredients did seem sufficiently rehydrated. Due to the soupy nature of the meal, my hopes for this one ending up as a good tortilla filling were quickly dashed.

Taste wise, the lime is quite present along with a spicy heat note. I didn’t pick up much on the included freeze-dried cheddar cheese, and I got the overall impression that the meal would serve as a decent base to expand upon – as if it needed just a little something extra…it just didn’t feel like I was getting that Mexican food fix, at least at first.

That said, my backpacking food bag often has two staples included – corn chips and cheese – and adding both of these to the second half of the meal made a dramatic difference, turning the meal from a base to tinker with to a trail dinner I’d definitely look forward to, although the small beef bits could either be provided in greater quantity or larger pieces; more presence of some type would be appreciated here.

Conclusion

Overall this new meal from Backpacker’s Pantry serves as a good base on the trail, and by adding different ingredients to fit your taste (spices, chips, hot sauce, cheese) you could definitely get a good trail meal going here. The price is a bit steep at $13 (at this price, more calories would be quite welcome), however a bit like taste, that is up to each one of us to decide.

You can find the Backpacker’s Pantry Fiesta Beef & Vegetable Bowl here at Amazon.com. Find more backpacking meal reviews here on the TrailGroove Blog.

Editor's Note: This review and installment of Backcountry Cuisine originally appeared in Issue 57 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here.