Good2Go Thai Curry

The best of all commercial backpacking meals

I have had this meal several times in the backcountry when I didn’t feel like doing real cooking, and I’ve even made it at home a couple of times when the pantry was otherwise bare. When all the pantry has left is Spaghettios or Good2Go, this is what I make. It is my personal favorite, and based upon the other online reviews I’ve found it’s apparently a shared opinion.

Now, I do happen to think that my panang curry is a wee bit better, but it does have the advantage of being freshly made. But this dish from Good2Go comes close, which is a lot more than I can say for most other commercially available meals.

The above package manages to capture some great flavors by using authentic Thai seasonings. The ingredient list includes lemongrass, kaffir lime, tamarind, fish sauce and a bunch of other proper spices. Add to that coconut milk, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, thai chiles and rice and you end up with a dehydrated meal as good or better than anything else out there.

Even if you follow the FiveStar philosophy of cooking your own meals on a hike, you can’t go wrong tossing a package of this into your pack for an easy, tasty meal on the first or last night of your trip. Trust me, nobody is going to complain about having this for dinner. And if you send a package off to your favorite thru-hiker, they’ll probably dance in the post office when they pick it up.

It has a bit of heat, but not too much (I personally found their Chicken Gumbo to be much hotter). Give it an extra 5 minutes of rehydration time, and it will be perfect. Pairs nicely with BEER too. Then again, what doesn’t?

Grade: A+