Australian Hiker

Rating

Campers Pantry Meal Review

While I don’t mind eating bland and/or unhealthy food for the odd night or two, if I’m planning to do a 2-6 week trip I want to eat healthy and I want variety. Also I’m happy to have a warm cooked meal at nighttime but the last thing that I want to do is get my stove out during the day so wraps, jerky or stove less meals and vegetables form an integral part of my lunches. I remember trawling online for dehydrated vegetables early last year for a trip and having very little choice. Deb instant potato or dehydrated peas from the supermarkets, and three vegetable mix from the specialist stores has been the staple of the Australian camping set for a number of years.

This is where Campers Pantry comes in. Campers Pantry has taken this limited selection and expanded it to provide an excellent range of vegetable options for the outdoor enthusiast that is easily available and will greatly reduce any chance of getting bored with your meals. The current choices are:

• Beans 30 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams
• Broccoli 25 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams
• Cauliflower 25 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams
• Mushrooms 25 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams
• Peas 65 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams
• Potatoes 40 grams dried weight – original weight 400 grams
• Red Onion 30 grams dried weight – original weight 300 grams

The instructions on the packet are easy to follow. You can add them to your meal and stir them through or else cook and cover them in boiling water for approximately 2-5 minutes, seasoning to taste. They serve their purpose well as a meal addition or side dish.

My focus for Australian Hiker is not on preparing meals on the trail but in lightening the load and providing no cook, stove less, or preprepared options and these vegetables lend themselves to this concept. My first attempt of adding boiling water in the same manner as freeze dried camping meals worked well. I mixed different types of vegetables and with the expectation of the potatoes, which are physically larger, the rehydrating time was adequate.

I also tried soaking in cold water for 90 minutes with some olive oil and this also worked well. As with most stove less meals the addition of spices would not go astray, as plain vegetables can be a bit bland at the best of times (follow this link to one possible recipe).

As far as the taste and texture goes these are what they are advertised as ‘Vegetables straight from the farm, snap dried’. They taste like you would expect and not some plastic simulated version. Although the beans were sold out when I made my purchase, I tried the rest of the range and enjoyed them. Gill however found the parsnip to be bitter but I think that for many people parsnip is an acquired taste.

In regard to negatives there are very few. The main one specific to this range is that at AUD $7.95/packet they are dearer/gram than the mixed vegetables from Backcountry Cuisine however the wide range and the quality more than makes up for the cost difference.

I am more than happy to recommend this range of Campers Pantry vegetables to traditional campers who cook their meals on the trail or the minimalists who don’t want all the fuss.

We Like

• Excellent range of vegetables that will suit anyone’s tastes and will help to prevent you getting bored with your meals on longer trips
• The product weight doesn’t include the bag so you get genuine weight measurements. You get what you pay for, not the packaging
• Easily resalable bag so you only need to take what you intend to eat thereby lightening your load
• Two year shelf life, or one week when opened. That means they will last most hikers the length of their trip. No wastage!

We Don't Like

• They’re vegetables and as such light on protein. They will need to be supplemented on longer trips to ensure that you will keep up your energy
• The sizing of the pieces can be a bit on the large size but if this is really an issue break them down a bit before you rehydrate
• They are dearer than the standard three veg mix that many campers will already know but that’s the price you pay for quality, variety, and taste

Best Uses

All types of hiking and camping where you want some real food that doesn’t weigh you down in the process

Buy One

You can purchase Campers Pantry Freeze Dried Vegetables online from Campers Pantry

Disclosure: Some of the above links are 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!

If you have used the Campers Pantry Freeze Dried Vegetables or if you have questions, we’d like to hear from you. Post your comment or question below

As at 1 May 2023 purchases made by clicking on the above link will receive a 15% discount

Investment

Price range from AUD $6.95- 9.95 RRP

 

Versions

• Beans
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Parsnips
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Red Onions

Disclaimer

This review was done with product purchased online by Australian Hiker

Straight from the packet prior to being rehydrated

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