The Mountain House Rice and Chicken freeze dried food pouch, in the 3-serving size is the topic of this review. Amazon also has the Pro-Pak 2 serving size and the #10 can which contains about 10 servings. You can sometimes find single-serving pouches at big-box stores for somewhere around $5.00.
The 3-serving pouch weighed in at just under 6 1/2 ounces on my kitchen scale, –pretty close to what the printed package weight stated.
This particular Mountain House Rice and Chicken pouch had two oxygen absorbers. This sometimes happens! The packaging says if you forget to remove them prior to adding water, it is no big deal. Just scoop it out of the pouch.
Tip: I carry a big zip-top plastic bag to store the empty food pouches. This method works pretty well for me, keeping any mess off away from everything else.
Be sure to check out the Best Freeze Dried Food FAQ for more tips.
Preparation and Tips
This 3-serving version of the Mountain House Rice and Chicken freeze dried calls for 2 cups of water. I think this is about right. Some Amazon reviewers suggested less water. I always recommend that when trying something new that you first try it at home. Use the very same camp kitchen equipment that you would have at your campsite. There is nothing like “doing” to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. So to echo what Amelia Earhart said, “The best way to do it is to do it!”
You can start with a bit less water and add a bit more hot water later if you want to try that.
The optional stir mid-way through is also recommended. You are ensuring that all of the food gets mixed around so you lessen the chance of having dry pockets of crunchy dehydrated food bits. A long-handled spoon or a chopstick works well for this.
Check out my review of the Optimus long handled spoon here.
I made this on a cooler fall day with a temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. After I added the boiling water, I wrapped up the pouch in my beanie hat to keep it from cooling down too fast. The water for this meal came straight from my water filter, just a bit downstream of the South River Falls in the Shenandoah National Park.
Taste and Texture
When made according to directions, and the optional stir, everything rehydrated evenly, with no crunchy pieces, and not watery or soupy. The rice had a nice texture that reminded me of that rice you get at the take-out place down the street. It wasn’t soft or mushy.
There were some nice specks of pimento peppers for added visual appeal.
My only “beef” with this meal is that there isn’t a lot of chicken. When I have these Mountain House Rice and Chicken freeze dried food pouches, I always think that I should have brought along a small can of chicken to doctor it up a bit.
Adding some crushed red pepper flakes does take this up a notch or two in my opinion.
Overall, I say that this is pretty tasty; camping and doing stuff outside, fill me up for lunch or dinner!
Mountain House Rice and Chicken Review Rating
I agree with most of the nearly 500 customer reviews that this is another tasty dinner item. My chief complaint is that there is not enough chicken. But that could be why this is called Mountain House Rice and Chicken and not Mountain House Chicken and Rice. So my best freeze dried food guide rating comes in at a 4.5 for this product review.