When you head out for a camping adventure, sometimes you want to ditch the responsibility of cooking and enjoy a good meal that someone else prepares. And when all of you are tired of cooking, you still want a good meal, but where do you turn to get the high-quality food you need to power your body for more exploring?
Backpacker’s Pantry is an excellent option for just this situation. Heck, the meals I’ve tested so far are so good that they could fill your entire meal-planning calendar for your trip! In fact, my latest taste test – Backpacker’s Pantry lasagna – is such a tasty delight that I prepared it here at my new home (because who wants to cook when you’re in the process of moving?!).
So, let’s dive into my Backpacker’s Pantry lasagna review and explore why this is the tasty, nutritious meal you need to have in your camping kit!
Table of Contents
- Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Preparation & Cooking
- Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: How Does It Taste?
- Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Benefits
- Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Final Thoughts
Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Preparation & Cooking
As you can see in my video above, it couldn’t be easier to prepare this meal. As you’d expect, you simply add 1 3/4 cups boiling water, stir it into the pouch, and let it sit for eight minutes. Then you open the pouch, give the meal a good stir, close it back up, and let it sit for another seven minutes.
At that point, you have a hot, nutritious meal that’s ready to eat!
Obviously, the quick cook time is a major benefit, but the fact that there is zero preparation (I mean, apart from removing the oxygen absorber and boiling water) makes this the ideal dinner option for your camping trips.
And since there are two servings per pouch, this is a good option for my son and I on our frequent overnight trips to our favorite spots around Southern California. I love to cook, and I’m pretty good at it, if I do say so, but even I can’t put together something like this from scratch for the two of us in less than 20 minutes!
Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: How Does It Taste?
Spoiler alert – this is one hell of a tasty meal.
As the intro screen on my video alludes to, my scorecard for this meal is absolutely off the charts…I gave it a five out of five for flavor because it was the perfect blend of seasoning and spices. I also really appreciated the addition of a cheese blend that added even more flavor and texture to the dish.
Speaking of texture, at the 15-minute mark, the pasta was perfectly cooked. I know that the texture isn’t technically part of the meal’s taste, but it has a lot to do with the experience of eating the meal.
When you combine the incredible flavor, the gourmet look (and smell), and the perfect pasta texture, you get a meal that you actually want to eat. Moreover, it’s a meal you want to eat over and over again, which is not something you can say for all freeze-dried meals. Backpacker’s Pantry crushed it in the taste department with this lasagna!
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Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Benefits
The short cook time and lack of much preparation to make this meal is certainly a primary benefit. The taste of it, though, probably trumps the ease of preparation. All freeze-dried meals are easy to make, but not all of them taste like a gourmet chef made it for you.
The texture of the meal is on point as well. Again, freeze-dried meals are all easy to make, but not all of them deliver on the texture front. I’ve had some meals that were sticky, gloppy, chunky…you name it, and none of it was good! This meal was a nice surprise with a fantastic texture that you’d expect from home-cooked pasta.
Another obvious benefit of the Backpacker’s Pantry lasagna is that it’s a complete meal in a small package. You get two servings, which, as I noted earlier, is enough for my son and I to both have a nice meal. And you get that nice meal with a decent amount of protein (it’s vegetarian, too) without having to lug around tons of ingredients to make it yourself.
At the end of the day, I scored this meal 27/30, with the only reduced marks being -2 points for nutritional value (it’s pretty high in sodium) and -1 for shelf life. But, this meal was at the top of the class in all other categories, including flavor, hydration, value, and the all-important sniff/visual test.
Of course, I have to mention that Backpacker’s Pantry is a small, family-owned business headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. This is an enormous benefit because their team is comprised of tried-and-true outdoor enthusiasts that understand the rigors of adventuring in the great outdoors and the need for nutritious, good-tasting, easy-to-transport food.
On top of that, Backpacker’s Pantry meals are made with sustainable ingredients, and their facility is powered by solar energy to reduce its carbon footprint. You can also add philanthropic pursuits to the list of ways this company makes the world a better place!
Backpacker’s Pantry Lasagna Review: Final Thoughts
Freeze-dried meals are a dime a dozen these days. With so many possibilities, it’s hard to decide which meals to try and which ones to avoid. But that’s why I do these tests – I want to find the best-tasting camp meals for my family and I, and I want to share my findings with you so you can enjoy the best meals while you’re camping.
The Backpacker’s Pantry lasagna ticks just about every box for me. As I mentioned earlier, the flavor alone is worth the price of admission. It’s rich, aromatic, and a joy to eat, and that is not something that can be said for all pre-packaged camping meals!
Add Backpacker’s Pantry lasagna to your camping kitchen for your next adventure. Take my word for it – you won’t regret it!