Australian Hiker

Top 10 Single Serve Freeze Dried Meals for the Outdoors

Single serve

Freeze dried meals form the basis of many outdoor enthusiasts meal choices and currently the there best known companies that are readily available in Australia are Back Country Cuisine, Outdoor Gourmet, Radix, and Campers Pantry. Between these companies they offer a range meal option however the Outdoor Gourmet is considered strictly a twin serving. When I’m doing big hikes and consuming huge calories I will often use the twin serve meals by myself and this will usually satiate my appetite. But not everyone needs, or wants, such large meals.

Please note that I love spicy food and a good curry for me is one that makes my head sweat. I also dislike flavour enhancers and emulsifiers that are present in some meals as they make me feel like I’ve had a big night out drinking. Having said that, Campers Pantry do use these products in some of their meals but they are in such small amounts they don’t overpower the food or create any after effects. While I realise everyone’s taste buds are different, I think you will enjoy the meals we have selected. At the time of releasing this review, we had personally taste tested 44 out of the range of 46 freeze dried choices available on the Australian market with the remaining two being very hard to source.

Campers Pantry also use real meat rather than soy based protien in their meals and their serving size is 110 grams (mostly) rather than the 90 gram serving size from Back Country. These additional features also bring with it an increased price but I still think they are good value for money.

The following list is our top 10 single serve meal options for when you don’t want to pig out or would prefer something different to what your partner is eating. The big surprise for us was that there were three vegetarian options in this list. If meal size is not a consideration and you want to know what the best tasting food is (in our opinion) then look our our Top 10 Freeze Dried Meals for Outdoors.

1. Back Country Cuisine Mexican Chicken

My favourite freeze dried meal is currently from Back Country Cuisine due to a combination of both taste and texture. After a couple of weeks on the trail the texture is amazing. I can very easily eat a twin serve meal all by myself.

Score 9/10

For the full review go to this link

2. Radix Nutrition Turkish Falafel

Great taste, nutritionally balanced with loads of calories in a compact package.

Score 9.0/10

For the full review go to this link

3. Back Country Cuisine Spicy Beef Nachos

If I’m honest, I’m hard pressed to pick the difference between this meal and the Mexican Chicken hence I’ve scored it the same. This will now sit in my hiking menu particularly for the cooler months when I want that warm feeling.

Score 9.0/10

For the full review go to this link

4. Radix Nutrition Original Grass Fed Lamb, Mint & Rosemary Review

The taste matches the description on the label and is more-some. Its nutritionally balanced with loads of calories in a compact package. I will definitely enjoy adding this to my on-trail meals.

Score 8.9/10

For the full review go to this link

5. Campers Pantry Indian Pilaf

I’m a big fan of Asian and Indian rice and loved the taste and texture of this meal – I will definitely include it as part of my hiking meal rotation on any hike

Score 8.8/10

For the full review go to this link

6. Radix Nutrition Indian Curry (Keto)

This is a great keto meal and one that I will include in my on-trail meal rotation as a stand alone meal on solo hikes or as a shared meal when there are two us going bush.

Score 8.8/10

For the full review go to this link