Outdoor Pantry Yakatori Chicken With Rice

A savory and slightly different freeze-dried meal

My first night’s dinner on my Pictured Rocks hike was Outdoor Pantry’s Yakatori Chicken with Japanese Fried Rice- I had repackaged into a freezer bag TWO of this meal to be exact.

From their website, they introduce themselves by stating ” We are a startup company based out of Arizona that makes homemade meals and snacks for adventurers like you. We use quality ingredients you will be able to taste and handpack and hand label each bag of food that you can take to enjoy on the trail or in the back country. We believe you should eat the same great food outdoors as you do at home, you’ll be able to taste the difference. “

Founder Debbie Cyros goes on to mention how some of her food ideas grew out of her 2016 PCT hike and how she hadn’t found enough variety, flavor and healthy options at the time. She resorted to making many of her own meals, and decided to start her own company after her thru-hike. I forget how I stumbled onto their website, but variety is what struck me- lots of dishes that I had never seen offered to backpackers. I decided to purchase 5 different meals for my Pictured Rocks hike, and none of them disappointed. I am sad to note that I completely forgot to take pics of their Cuban Chicken and Lime Rice, but chalk that one up as a winner.

But how was the Yakatori Chicken?

First of all, let me note that it comes in a nice gusseted package that stands up on its own. If you have a smaller appetite, one is enough for a meal. But if you’re a hungry hiker, I think you’ll need two, which is what I did.

Out of the package, the freeze-dried components look like this:

That pic is from their website, but it’s fairly representative. The ingredients include CHUNKS of chicken (not shredded chicken bits), peas, carrots, edamame soybeans, corn, red pepper, leeks and onions, plus a bunch of tasty spices and sauce components such as sweet rice wine.

I boiled up my 2 cups of water while sitting around the campfire watching everyone else prepare their usual Mountain House meals (nothing wrong with those btw). I tossed the water into the bag, stirred it up, and waited 15 minutes for it to rehydrate while stashed in my pot cozy.

When it was done and I opened it up, enough flavor wafted out to catch the attention of another hiker, who immediately wanted to know what I was keeping from the group- ha!

Everything rehydrated perfectly, and it tasted great too. Excellent texture as well; the vegetables weren’t soggy. I think a little teriyaki sauce and/or sriracha would’ve put it over the top. But it was truly a savory meal. My appetite often goes into hiding on the first couple of days on a section hike, but this meal was good enough that I scarfed up every bit.

1 of these meals weighs 3 oz. (I used 2), and provides 360 calories. The meal has a solid nutritional profile too as you can see HERE.

Grade: A-