Australian Hiker

Weight Dry 90 grams
Calories/Serve 429 calories

Cost $12.99

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash

Single Serve

Rating

Rating:	8.1 / 10
Value for Money	1.6 / 2.5
Taste	1.8 / 2.5
Convenience	2.2 / 2.5
Weight	2.5 / 2.5

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash Review

I was keen to taste test this new meal in the Back Country Cuisine range of freeze dried meals. For me the concept of mashed potato with chicken and vegetables is very similar to what I end up doing with the Back Country Cuisine (meat based) Cottage Pie – I mix both packs in into one meal rather than rehydrating them separately.

Beyond that this meal was a bit of a surprise because I expected it to have less taste and texture. Usually I don’t read the ingredient panel before I eat a new meal so I can enjoy it without expectations beyond chicken and potato. The taste and texture of this meal is best described as ‘comforting’ and I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. It was more than just potato mash with some extras thrown in with the ratio of components being well thought through. In fact it just had that ‘comfort’ feel to it but that may be just me because I was used to this type of meal as a kid.

This meal is tasty but by no means spicy and isn’t going to upset anyone’s tastebuds. As I started eating I also got a slight smokey taste which sure enough when your read the packet, is what it’s supposed to have.

These meals are very easy to prepare – as long as you can boil water then you’re set. The suggested water addition is 250 ml and it was spot on. If you are on trail there a marker level on the back of the packet to make things a bit easier. Recommended rehydration time is 10-15 minutes and I randomly chose 12 minutes which work out well.

Being a new offering, this meal isn’t as commonly available as the other more established options from Back Country but if you look around you’ll find it in both the single and two person serves. These meals are slightly smaller than those from the Outdoor Gourmet range (by approximately 8-9%) and with this, the price is also lower. The normal price for a single (small) serve sits around the $12.99 mark while the twin serve is around $19.99.

Most of the larger outdoor stores offer member discounts or have regular sales so it’s worthwhile looking around. These products do have a long shelf life so you can stock up during the regular sales. Size wise I find the single serve to be spot on for shorter hikes but and if I’m doing a multi-week hike, I will intersperse the odd larger meal for when I’m really hungry.

Like the rest of the Back Country range this meal comes in a bag that is well designed given the bottom opens out to form 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 if you have a long handled 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 given you can re-zip the zip lock.

So what’s the verdict? I really like this meal and it will definitely be added to my hiking mix on both short and long trips.

We Like

Very tasty
Four year lifespan which means you can buy these when you see them discounted thereby reducing your investment. You also know the meals will always be tasty
Minimal preparation time. All you are doing is rehydrating these meals so once you add boiling water there’s only a 10-15 minute wait
If you eat from the bag there is only the spoon to clean up. In fact you may not even need to carry a bowl at all thereby limiting the weight you carry
Freeze dried. This takes much of the weight out of the meals and helps to limit the impact on your body

We Don't Like

The main negative of any commercially preprepared dehydrated/freeze dried meal is the cost. The Back Country Cuisine meals are cheaper than their competitors that only offer twin serve meals. However per person, this single serve meal at $12.99 is not cheap but these meals are cheaper per serve when bought in the twin serve size
Single serves are a bit small for longer trips when you’re burning through the calories. On longer trips I will usually pack a mix of single and double meals

Best Uses

An easy to prepare meal for short or long trips when camping or hiking

Buy One

You can purchase the Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash (single or regular) meal online from Wildfire Sports

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Other Versions

Investment

AUD $12.99 RRP single serve
AUD $19.99 RRP twin serve

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash as purchased

Bottom of the bag flattened out

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash ingredient and nutrition panel. The suggested addition of 250 ml of water is spot-on

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash dry ingredients in open bag and uncooked

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash rehydrated and ready to eat. The mashed potato has been mixed through ] the vegetable component. It doesn’t look as pretty as the artistically displayed image below, but it tastes the same

Back Country Cuisine Tasty Chicken Mash artistically displayed

Disclaimer

This review was done with product provided by the Australian distributor of Back Country Cuisine