This is our Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac review.
We buy nearly all of our freeze dried meals from Amazon because of the variety, availability, and cost, and we can also see what others think.
First things first, it’s good stuff. However, it’s a meatless chili, so to speak. We’ll talk about that in a bit. So keep reading. If you haven’t tried this one yet, put it on your shopping list. Pick up 1 or 2 pouches to try at home first.
Now let’s get into the details and finer points.
Let’s look at what other folks say. As we write this review, there are more than 350 Amazon customer reviews with an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars. The 5-star reviews were 60% of all reviews, while the 4-star reviews came in at 18%. So that’s roughly 80% of the folks that have taken the time to leave a review and think this is some good stuff. And I agree, this one is a keeper.
So let’s take a look.
On April 27, 2024, I checked the Peak Refuel store on Amazon to get updated pricing for the Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac. It's in stock and available for purchase. It sure is a popular item. There are over 325 customer reviews, with an average rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. Check it out here.
Contents
- Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Review
- The Ingredients
- Nutrition Facts
- How to Prepare this Freeze Dried Meal
- Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac Taste Test
- Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac Hacks
- Freeze Dried Meal Specifications
- Practice at Home
- Keep a Supply on Hand
- Wrapping it all Up
Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac Review
The Peak Refuel three bean chili mac freeze dried meal is a 2 serving pouch. In my opinion, it’s a 1 person meal, not one that you would evenly split between 2 hikers. But that is just me.
Peak Refuel boasts an unopened package shelf life of 5 years. We purchased this pouch in December 2022 from a big box store, and it had a best by date of June 2027. So it sat somewhere for about 6 months. I am fairly certain they would still be fine after 5 years if properly stored … meaning that temperature extremes are avoided.
Amazon and other online retailers seem to rotate out their stock much faster. Something to consider if you’re looking to stock up for just-in-case scenarios.
Peak Refuel also boasts their use of premium ingredients and 100% real meat. The Three Bean Chili Mac doesn’t have any meat.
The Ingredients
I emptied the contents out into my camping bowl to check out the contents. Out in the field, I wouldn’t do this, but I needed an image here for this post.
We can see there are pinto, kidney, and navy beans, corn, bits of red bell pepper, macaroni, and the spice mix. You can smell the “chili” aroma coming up from the bowl. I’ll have to admit, corn in chili mac is a new one for me. My homemade chili mac has never included corn.
Of course, there is a good size do-not-eat oxygen absorber packet that we would remove before adding any water.
Nutrition Facts
Each 2-serving freeze dried pouch makes about 2 cups of food and offers a total of 610 calories, 30 grams of protein, 119 grams of carbohydrates, 1180 milligrams of sodium, and 3.5 grams of fat.
By itself, as a lunch or dinner entrée, I am still hungry after scraping out the last bits from the bottom of the bag. Everyone has differing food requirements, but I would like a bit more than the 610 calories offered by this 2 serving entrée. I’ll touch on that in a bit.
How to Prepare this Freeze Dried Meal
After opening the pouch, you’ll easily find the oxygen absorber packet. It’s hard to miss this one. Just take it out and set aside to dispose of later.
The Peak Refuel three bean chili mac package calls for adding 10.5 ounces, or 1-1/3 cups of boiling water to the pouch. Then stir, zip the pouch closed, then let stand for 10 minutes while the ingredients hydrate.
Looking at the pouch, you might be wondering if you added too much water after seeing the ingredients floating around on top. Rest assured, the water will absorb and it will turn out fine.
Prepared according to the package directions, it looks darned near to what the front of the package shows.
I’ll let mine go for another 5 minutes or so for better hydration. In other words, 15 minutes total. I’ll also stir and mix up the contents every 5 minutes or so. In this way, there shouldn’t be any dry pockets.
Honestly, I think it could use a tad bit more water added to the freeze dried meal. But you need to decide for yourself. It’s a thick chili mac.
Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac Taste Test
Bottom line, it does taste good. There is a nice chili taste and you get a hint of cumin. It was not at all bland or salty tasting.
Despite being fairly thick, everything was well hydrated with no dry pieces. That might be due to the extra 5 minutes of hydration time.
The beans and the macaroni were all nicely coated in with the chili sauce. I didn’t detect any sweetness in the chili sauce, despite the package label. Which is good, since I don’t care for sugary sweet foods.
You’ll need a long-handled spoon if eating from the pouch, to scoop out every bit of goodness. Check out our long handle spoon review here.
Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac Hacks
Ok, I have no real complaints about the three bean chili mac. But there are a couple of standard hacks to add a bit more flavor and a few more calories.
Standard hacks are to carry along a few condiment packets of hot sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. Spices that you like to jazz it up a bit. Don’t turn down those condiment offers, after all, you do pay for them.
Another option, carry along a good quality oil to add a bit of fat. The nutrition label shows that this 2-serving pouch has 3.5 grams. Skip the seed oils and go with a quality olive or avocado oil in a leak-proof container.
Finally, if you have a food dehydrator, consider adding some dehydrated hamburger. Of course you’ll need to play with the water. Usually, it’s a 1 to 1 ratio. This is a good dehydrated hamburger recipe and it hydrates very quickly, with no “gravel” like pieces.
Do all 3 options and really kick up this Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac a notch or two on the flavor scale.
Freeze Dried Meal Specifications
Some folks want to know the package weight and such. These are our specifications as measured on our inexpensive digital kitchen scale.
- The unopened package weight was 164 grams
- The oxygen absorber weight was 10 grams
- The empty package, including the top tear-off section was 20 grams
Subtracting the oxygen absorber and the package weight, left 134 grams of the dry mix.
Practice at Home
We always try out any of these food products at home, several times, before we go out on a camping trip, hike, or just spend time in the field. I use the very same gear at home as I would use preparing these meals for my next getaway.
Benefits of doing it this way
- First, you’ll find out if you even like the freeze dried meal or not. If not, then there is no point in continuing to experiment with it.
- By following the directions on the package, you can determine if the contents end up too thick, too soupy, or just right. For the Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac, it was a bit too thick for our preference.
- You gain experience using your gear to make these freeze dried meals. While at the same time, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. I would rather find out some “good idea” doesn’t work at home where I have options to recover, than out in the field where I might have more limited choices.
- You’ll decide if the serving size is adequate or if you need more food to fill you up.
- You’ll be better prepared for when you may not have access to your main kitchen.
Keep a Supply of Freeze Dried Meals on Hand
Consider keeping a supply of freeze dried food on hand. Besides making for some easy-to-make camping food, freeze-dried food is one option for building an emergency food supply that is shelf-stable, easy to prepare, and has a long shelf life. One of the key components of emergency preparedness is having a reliable and sufficient food supply.
It’s always a good idea to have a well-stocked emergency pantry, but it’s also important to regularly rotate through your supplies to ensure that you use them before they expire. The Peak Refuel freeze dried meals have a 5-year shelf life. So it’s a good investment.
Wrapping it all Up
So, wrapping up our Peak Refuel Three Bean Chili Mac review, this freeze dried meal has a 5-year unopened shelf life from the date of manufacture. We saw it was essentially meatless chili, but we can doctor it up a bit. More than 350 Amazon customers like you and me have given it an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars, with 80% of reviewers leaving a positive 4- to 5-star rating.
We included a few product images of the ingredients, showing pinto, kidney, navy beans, corn, bits of red bell pepper, macaroni, and the spice mix. The nutrition facts show that a 2-serving freeze-dried pouch makes about 2 cups of food with 610 calories, 30 grams of protein, 119 grams of carbohydrates, 1180 milligrams of sodium, and 3.5 grams of fat.
We also provided instructions for preparing the freeze dried meal, noting that a bit of extra water and hydration time might provide that just-right consistency.
Be sure to check out our list of Peak Refuel freeze dried meals available on Amazon, where we track the daily price and product availability so you don't have to. We also link to our comprehensive Peak Refuel freeze dried meal reviews. We track the same for Mountain House freeze dried meals on Amazon, don't forget to check it out before you go.
