Outdoor Pantry Hamburger Skillet

Another sneaky good offering from Outdoor Pantry

Zoiks, my 5th post in 6 days! That should tell you that I’ve been bored this week. Luckily I have some things coming up to distract me. But in the meantime, here’s a review of another meal I had on my Pictured Rocks hike.

So, I was browsing the Outdoor Pantry website looking for dinners before my trip, and I noticed the picture for their Hamburger Skillet dinner.

Yeah, I thought that looked right good, so click and into the cart it went. Twice. The meals weighs 4 oz. and give you 501 calories, so I thought a double portion was more appropriate. Each bag costs $8.95.

The main ingredients are hamburger, corn, tomato, elbow macaroni, black beans and Mexican cheese, plus some seasonings. Here’s the nutrition facts:

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1 Pouch (113g)

Calories 501   % Daily Value

Total Fat 12.2g 16% Saturated Fat 4.4g 22% Trans Fat 0.7g
Cholesterol 51mg 19% Sodium 363mg 16% Potassium 1433mg 30%

Total Carb 65.6g 22% Dietary Fiber 12.3g 44% Sugars 4.3g
Protein 33.9g
Vitamin A 10% · Vitamin C 12% Calcium 10% · Iron 41%

That’s a low amount of sodium by backpacking meal standards. Not sure what to make of the potassium….maybe that’s equivalent to eating a banana?

Anyway, this meal rehydrated fully within 10 minutes, and it was a hearty meal too. I was barely able to eat it all. The hamburger pellets dominate; they’re oddly large but quite tasty and have the proper texture. I thought there could’ve been more macaroni to be honest. The highlight though is their tomatoes. I’m not sure where Outdoor Pantry sources them, but they’re big chunks of tangy awesomeness, darn close to fresh in quality.

This dish is advertised as “not spicy,” and to that end I thought it could’ve used a little more garlic and onion flavor as well as a dash of heat, but you can add those things yourself if you so choose. But it was still a tasty dinner, and something just a little bit different.

At $8.95 a bag it’s reasonable value if one is enough for you. If you’re really hungry and require TWO bags, it’s pricey.

Still, I don’t mind tossing some money towards companies that are trying to bring something different and better to our backcountry table. Overall I think it’s definitely deserving of your consideration before you force down another ramen bomb. AND it’s got a ton of protein. It definitely agreed with my body, because I hiked well and felt great the following day. Let me put it this way- if you found one of these in a resupply box someone sent you as a surprise, you’d be very happy.

Grade- B+