Pin me! Lets talk about just-add-water backpackers cuisine. Its fast, simple, requires no clean up, chopping, or prep of any sort, and if you play your cards right, it can also be quite satisfying after a long day of hiking when all you want to do is stuff your face and pass out.

　　Just to manage expectations, this isnt going to be the finest cuisine youve ever had, but it seductively convenient. All you need is some boiling water and in 10-20 minutes, youre in business.

　　With that in mind, here are the rankings in terms of deliciousness with 1 being, This is disgusting and Im only eating this so that I dont have to carry it anymore and 10 being, as my friend Pete put it, food I would be only slightly disappointed eating at a restaurant.

　　Backpackers food: Only slightly disappointing These are the meals my friends and I have tried and our combined, averaged rankings, from best to worst:

　　MaryJanes Farm bare burrito:

　　Deliciousness scale: 10

　　Satisfaction scale: 7 I love MaryJanes Farm for being the only company I could find that makes organic hikers food, and that appears to be run by a woman. Double win. This vegetarian bare burrito is my favorite backcountry meal to date. I only wish it were greater in portion size. MaryJanes meals are tiny compared to the other brands. Why, MaryJane, why? Get it here.

　　Mountain House Chili mac

　　Deliciousness scale: 10

　　Satisfaction scale: 10

　　Yum yum, chili mac! This is like Hamburger helper, but better. Those fine little pieces of beef, the creamy red and cheesy sauce, plus those generously robust noodles had us all in heaven. Get it here.

　　MaryJanes Farm shepherds pie:

　　Deliciousness scale: 10

　　Satisfaction scale: 7 Once again Mary Jane showed her skills with the creamy potatoes and bacony little chunks of meat in the shepherds pie. This was the second best meal I had of the whole trip in terms of taste, I just wish there was about double the portion size. At 375 calories, its just not enough after a full day of hiking. Still, Id even eat this at home in a pinch.Get it here.

　　MaryJanes Farm mac and cheese:

　　Deliciousness scale: 10

　　Satisfaction scale: 5 This would have been such a nice meal had I not been hiking for the previous 8 hours over a glacier and then bush whacking uphill in the rain. The organic white cheddar and elbow noodles were like something youd made at home in college, but why such small portions MaryJane!? At only 400-ish calories, I was heading to bed hungry. Get it here.

　　Mountain House Chicken Fajita bowl

　　Deliciousness scale: 9

　　Satisfaction scale: 9 The flavors married nicely and Mexican inspired cuisine is pretty much always a good idea. I think I would have liked the vegetarian version of this better, though. Freeze dried chicken is a little odd no matter how you slice it. Get it here.

　　Backpackers Pantry beef pho

　　Deliciousness scale: 8

　　Satisfaction scale: 7 I personally loved this one while Pete was less of a fan. Soup in the backcountry with its own little sriracha packet? Yes! Having to wait 20 minutes for it to be ready when a standard meal requires only 10 minutes? No! (But Id buy it again).Get it here.

　　Backpackers Pantry Thai style coconut curry

　　Deliciousness scale: 7

　　Satisfaction scale: 7

　　I had high I hopes because this one smelled so good, but after waiting for 20 minutes I wasnt wowed by the flavor. I still give it a 7 because its better than some Thai style takeout Ive had.

　　Mountain House chicken and dumplings

　　Deliciousness scale: 7

　　Satisfaction scale: 7 This one reminds me of chicken pot pie filling, which on a cold day, is so nice and satisfying. It just gets a bit old eating bite after bite of it. Get it here.

　　Mountain House lasagna

　　Deliciousness scale: 7

　　Satisfaction scale: 9

　　The boys loved this one but I thought it tasted a little fake, like Chef Boy-ar-dee. Pete said that was an insult to the delicious lasagna because he thinks Chef boy-ar-dee sucks. I think it just tastes like childhood. This dish was also sticky as hell. You be the judge and let me know if you like it because were a hung jury on this one. Get it here.

　　Backpackers Pantry Chana Masala

　　Deliciousness scale: 7

　　Satisfaction scale: 6 I wanted to love this, and I did at first. The first bite is nice but chickpeas and rice just get old as a main dish after a few bites. Plus this one also requires 20 minutes to be ready and my patience runs out after roughly 7. Get it here.

　　MaryJanes Farm Lentils, Rice and Indian Spice

　　Deliciousness scale: 6

　　Satisfaction scale: 5

　　I liked the flavors for a few bites, but again was left hungry. The portions are just tiny if youre out exercising in the backcountry all day, which you probably are if youd choose to eat freeze dried food. This was a bit bland as well, even for this lentil fan. Get it here.

　　AlpineAire pineapple chicken

　　Deliciousness scale: 1

　　Satisfaction scale: 1 To call this Chinese food is an abomination. This tasted like a fruit juice explosion and not in a good way. We all struggled to choke this down just so that we wouldnt have to pack it out. I strongly suspect nobody even taste tested this monstrosity. Id rather have a tick on my eye than eat this again. I doubt youd want to, but you can get it here.

　　AlpineAire honey lime chicken

　　Deliciousness scale: 1

　　Satisfaction scale: 1 This tasted like someone poured a bunch of Mr. Clean into a bag of rice and shook it up and jokingly labeled it as food. I felt like I was choking down chemicals just trying to procure nourishment as I shivered and told myself that it did at least have the redeeming quality that it was warm. Does anyone at this company taste the food? If you really hate your hiking buddies, get it here.

　　The Verdict In the future, since MaryJanes meals were good 3 out of the 4 times I ate them, I will probably buy extra and just combine them in a larger bag. I love that there arent a bunch of fake ingredients in the food and that the flavors are so nice. But Mary Jane, if youre listening, please put more food in there! The people want more!

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　　In closing, I know that my quest is not over. There are a great many more just-add-water dishes out there just begging to be sampled. I know that as a human guinea pig in the art of camp food, I have many more surprising delights and bitter disappointments in my future, but hey, someones gotta do it.

　　Because the mountains are always calling, amiright?

　　What are some of your favorites and must-avoids? Tell me in the comments!