Good-to-Go Mushroom Risotto

The Good-to-Go Mushroom Risotto double serving dehydrated meal has become a beloved staple for many of my backpacking trips. Both gluten free and vegan, with 820 calories, 20 grams of fat, 26 grams of protein and 128 grams of carbohydrates in the package, I find that this meal makes the perfect dinner after a long day of hiking, as the macronutrients found in it kept me full and happy each time I ate it. I also like that, while the meal has 840 milligrams of sodium, it never tasted too salty, and I found consuming these electrolytes after sweating all day necessary. This meal also has low sugar–only six grams–and uses whole ingredients including dehydrated crimini mushrooms and white wine. I found this option works for me as someone who doesn’t deal well with overly sweet foods or artificial flavorings or additives while backpacking.  As someone who had this meal at least once a week on her Appalachian Trail thruhike in 2021 and never got tired of it–and never had to eat an additional dinner afterwards because I didn’t feel full enough–it’s become my recommended backpacking meal for those who want to treat themselves to a dehydrated meal.

The package directions claim that it requires 500 ml of water to rehydrate the meal and 20 minutes of rehydration time. While I found that the rehydration time often stayed similar at higher elevations, perhaps because there is no meat in the meal and the base is rice, which is easy to rehydrate, I avoid taking this meal with me on any trips where I am carrying large amounts of water in between dry stretches. Half a liter of water seems too much to use when I am relying on my own water caches along the Arizona Trail, for example.

As of this writing, the two serving portion also retails for around $15 at many outdoor stores, which makes it equivalent to “eating a meal out” while on trail.

As a final note, this meal is also delicious with an extra tablespoon or two of olive oil to make it over 1000 calories. Just from personal experience.