Australian Hiker

Rating

Back Country Cuisine Chicken Tikka Masala Review

The Back Country Cuisine range of outdoor meals is probably the best known in Australia. These meals are stocked by the majority of outdoor stores and many people consider them the staple meal choice for outdoor activities. Back Country has a huge range of meal choices and many stores seem to select a ‘top ten’ so you are unlikely to find the full range in any one store. In addition to the large variety of twin serves, the company also has single serves (entrée size) although the single serve options don’t seem to have as large a variety at least as far as the stores I visit. I’m still working my way though the very large range but I am finding this adventure is a bit hit and miss. But then again, everyone’s tastes are different!

I must admit I have had good luck with the other chicken options I have tried from Back Country with the Mexican Chicken being firm favourites. This meant I had high expectations of the Chicken Tikka Masala. While I didn’t mind the taste, the Chicken Tikka Masala tastes ‘OK’ but doesn’t excite my taste buds like some of the other options. I also had an expectation of spiciness as well and while there was a bit of warmth, it was not what I expected. I didn’t really find any great negatives with this meal otherwise.

These meals are very convenient and preparation only requires the addition of 200 ml of boiling water and a recommended ten minutes to rehydrate. I have found leaving the meals for about 11-12 minutes tends to get a better result. I also suggest cutting the water back by about 10 mls as well to get a slightly thicker consistency.

The normal price sits around the AUD $12.99 RRP mark for a single serve pack with the twin serves working out more cost effective at AUD $19.99 RRP. Most of the larger chain stores offer member discounts or have regular sales so its worthwhile looking around. I bought this meal and a number of others at 20% off at an ‘end of year financial sale’ so this makes a big difference when you are buying up big. As these products do have a long shelf life so you can stock up as the sales come on line in anticipation of an upcoming trip.

The meal comes in a bag that is well designed and the bottom opens out to provide a flat base for those minimalists who want to leave the bowl at home. The option exists to tear the top off the bag to allow easy access to the food but you if you have a long handled spork/fork/spoon you won’t need to tear the bag. My other reason for not tearing the top off the bag is that you minimise any mess and after you’re done, you can re-zip the zip lock.

So what is the final verdict? While this meal was OK there are just too many other meal options that are better and I would rather eat given the choice. As such I won’t be adding this to my list of favourites for my future trips.

We Like

• Three year warranty which means you can buy these when you see them discounted thereby reducing the price. You also know the meals will always be edible
• Minimal preparation time.  All you are doing is rehydrating these meals so once you add boiling water there’s only a 10-12 minute wait
• If you eat from the bag there is only your eating implement to clean up. In fact you may not even need to carry a bowl at all thereby limiting the weight you carry
• A very large variety of meals from which to choose both single and double serves so it’s unlikely you will become bored unless you are on a really long hike
• Freeze dried. This takes much of the weight out of the meals and helps to limit the impact on your body
• Single serve option provides just the right size for solo travellers on a short trip

We Don't Like

• The main negative of any commercially preprepared dehydrated/freeze dried meals is the cost. The Back Country Cuisine meals are cheaper than their competitors which only offer twin serve meals however per person this single serve meal is AUD $12.99 RRP which is not cheap. These meals are cheaper/serve when bought in the twin serve size
• Single serves start being a bit small on longer trips when you burn through the calories. I will usually pack a mix of single and double meals on longer trips

Best Uses

An easy to prepare meal whether it be on a short or long trip for camping and hiking

Buy One

You can purchase the Back Country Cuisine Chicken Tikka Masala meal online from Snowys, Wild Earth, or from Wildfire Sports

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Please note that our affiliations do not influence, in any way, the independence of our reviews. If we don’t like a product, you’ll hear about it from us!

Other Versions

Back Country Cuisine has a huge range of meals on offer so there is something for everyone. See our top 5 here

Back Country Chicken Tikka Masala as purchased

Bottom of the bag flattened out

Back Country Chicken Tikka Masala bag opened and uncooked

Back Country Cuisine Chicken Tikka Masala rehydrated and bag torn down

Disclaimer

This review was done with product purchased from a retail store by Australian Hiker

Last updated

2/12/2023

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