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Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl Review

The next test for us in the Campers Pantry Expedition Meals range is the Cauliflower and Pea Dahl. For us this has been a long term favourite. At the time of this review, there are five meals in the Expedition Range with more expected down the track. The five are:

• Campers Pantry Pennae Bolognese
• Chicken Cacciatore
• Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl
• Spicy Mexican Beans
• Indian Chicken Pilaf

Those of you who already eat the Campers Pantry meals will know that a couple of the options in this range already existed in the traditional packaging so what then is the difference? Essentially the Expedition Range is all about the packaging. First up this range as it exists are single serve meals so nothing different there. The big game changer is that these packs have had the air sucked out of the packet which has two big benefits. First, they now have a five year shelf life whereas perviously most freeze dried meals were only 2-3 years at best. This means that if you see these meals on sale, you can buy up big knowing they won’t go to waste.

The second benefit is the reduction in packaging size. I can get away with a 36 litre pack for overnight hikes of up to four days in length but once I go to five days, the extra food bulk (as opposed to the weight) pushes me up to a larger pack. With all the air sucked out of the packs, these meals take up a lot less space and as a result free up pack volume.

If you look at the images for this product below you’ll notice that the meal has a cardboard display card attached to make them easier to display but also so people can clearly read the ingredient and nutrition lists which is vital if you have any food allergies. Prior to a hike I remove this cardboard component which further reduces what I carry on a hike. The compressed package does have this information printed on it but in sucking the air out, it has the potential to impact on the readability but having said that, I had no such issues with this pack.

While we are talking about food allergies this meal option doesn’t contain nuts but is prepared in a factory that handles nuts and as such, there is a warning on the packaging.

Now onto the meal itself. Preparing this meal is a bit more fiddly than traditional freeze dried meals due to the vacuum sealing process. Once you tear the top of this bag off, the preparation process while quite easy, is a bit more fiddly requiring you to take out the internal paper bag with the food in it, flatten out the outer meal pouch to create a standing bowl, place the freeze dried food back into the pouch, and add 300 ml of boiling water before letting stand for ten minutes. At the five minute mark you need to stir the meal. In practice, the additional step of taking the internal bag out and adding it to the outer packaging only takes a matter of a seconds, so no big time impost.

I’m always dubious about how much water to add to freeze dried meals and in many cases the consistency of a meal is a very personal thing. In this case adding 300 ml of boiling water was spot on, just like the other meals in the Expedition range that we have tried. In my case it produced a perfect consistency and meant the meal as eaten weighs 400 grams.

Having eaten this meal from the non vacuum packed version for a number of years, I had high expectations that this version would perform really well and I wasn’t disappointed!

First up this is a vegetarian meal which some hikers will appreciate just for that but as a meat lover I really enjoy this meal and will continue to take it on my trips. I’m also a spice lover and while this meal won’t cause your head to sweat, it has just enough kick to create a great taste. There is a good mix of vegetables in this Dahl and the texture is creamy; it just tastes so damn good.

For those of you adverse to spice of any type, you may want to give it a try at home before you commit to taking it on an overnight trip. For me this meal to has the warming feeling you want at the end of a cold day.

Price wise this single serve meal is AUD$15,95 RRP at the time of review. For a single serve meal this is on the higher end of the scale but given the compact packaging and longevity in storage, this meal is great value. For testing I had this meal as a lunch and found it to be very filling but not so large that I struggled to eat it.

This version continues to be one of my favourite meals and will form part of my hiking menu.

We Like

• Very lightweight meal option
• Loads of calories to satisfy hungry hikers
• Compact packing will free up space in your pack over non vacuum sealed bags
• Five year shelf life
• No preservatives
• Mainly natural ingredients
• Great tasting without being too spicy
• Just the right amount of food for a single meal
• Easy to prepare
• Very warming

We Don't Like

• Meal preparation is a bit more fiddly than non vacuum sealed bags

Best Uses

• Great meal option for when you want to minimise pack size

Buy One

You can purchase the Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl from Campers Pantry

Disclosure:  We may earn a small commission, at no additional expense to you, 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!

If you have tasted the Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl or if you have questions, we’d like to hear from you. Post your comment or questions below

PLEASE NOTE: As a special offer Campers Pantry has provided us with a 15% discount on meal purchases (information correct as at 5 June 2023). This discount will be applied at the checkout when you make your purchase 

Other Versions

The following Campers Pantry meals are also available in the expedition packing:

• Campers Pantry Pennae Bolognese
• Chicken Cacciatore
• Spicy Mexican Beans
• Indian Chicken Pilaf

Investment

AUD $15.95 RRP

• Discount applies if purchased through the link in the ‘Buy One’ section above

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl as purchased

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl size comparison against an iPhone 14 Pro

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl with the cardboard display removed

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl nutrition list

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl ingredient list

Campers Pantry Expedition Range opened up. The white bag contains the food

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl – unrehydrated

Campers Pantry Expdition Range with meal rehydrated. Before you add the food you need to flatten out the bag so that it ‘free stands’. Once you have added the water, roll the top over to let it rehydrate

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl ready to eat

Campers Pantry Cauliflower and Pea Dahl artistically displayed. Your meal is only likely to look like this if you are car camping

Disclaimer

This review was done with product provided by Campers Pantry

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