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Two New Meals From Good To-Go: Corn Chowder and White Bean Stew

Good To Go NE Chowder

Good To-Go has two new dehydrated backpacking and camping meals that are sure to warm you up on cool night:

Both of these are dehydrated meals that cook in the bag. They both require about one and a half cups of water and rehydrate in 15 minutes, which is shorter than some of Good To-Go’s other meals that take 20 minutes to soak. Being soups, you’ll want to eat these out of a bowl or mug and not a bag.

Both of the single serving portions I tried are less than a full meal and are best served as soup appetizers or side dishes to something more substantive. I like Good To-Go’s dehydrated gourmet meals but I never feel like I get enough when I make them unless I buy the two serving size. They can be expensive though, so are best prepared as a treat or mixed with instant rice to bulk them up more and add more calories.

The New England Corn Chowder is fairly rich tasting, probably because it has dried fish added in. It’s gluten-free, but pescatarian (you’ll never find that on a Mountain House meal.) It is also made with dried milk powder, so be advised if you have lactate issues. The corn chowder is a thick and hearty stew with corn, potato, and sweet potato added in. The sweet potato gives it a sweet taste rather than a more traditional savory one, but is still very good. The single serving has 390 calories, but isn’t really big enough for a meal. This soup is a keeper though and definitely one I’ll get again.

Good To-Go Kale and White Bean Stew

The Kale and White Bean Stew is gluten-free and vegan. It’s a very mild and green-colored stew with navy beans and a whole host of vegetables and spices, including dried kale, celery, onion, carrots, fennel seed, thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf. A single serving has 390 calories. It’s ok, but kind of on the boring side. I also found it a little tricky to measure the 375 ml of water to prepare it and wish that Good To-Go would provide some indicator on the packaging, so you could judge how much water you’ve added. My cook pot is scored with volume markings but it’s still hard to avoid putting too much water in the bag.

If you’re not familiar with Good To-Go’s camping and backpacking meals, I’d encourage you to try them out. They’re basically the equivalent of eating ethnic takeout on the trail, which can be a nice change of pace from the freeze-dried/ salt-packed Americana sold by Mountain House and the other US camping and prepper food giants. Owned and operated by a husband and wife team from Maine, they’re the foodie equivalent of a cottage gear manufacturer, although their products are a lot less durable because they get eaten so quickly!

Choose from a wide selection of yummy meals:

See Also:

Disclosure: Good To-Go provided Philip Werner with sample meals for this review. 

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4 comments

  1. I love Good-to-Go! Looking forward to trying these new flavors.

  2. I’ve tried quite a few of this brand’s offerings, and don’t think i’ve had one that wasn’t really good. Nice to see some new meals from them. Except for fish, i avoid meat, and they have some good options for us veg-heads. I agree with Philip that the single-size packs aren’t quite enough for a well-exercized appetite, unless, maybe you have a first-course soup, or augment the dish. I usually carry a dehydrated veggie mix (like Just Veggies) for cases like this.

    The double (two-person) size is a little too much for me, even when really hungry, but i also carry a small, resealable Rubbermaid-type container to store the extra for a snack or part of a meal the next day.

  3. I love Good To Go and recommend it to customers all the time. BUT, these two… Well, I really liked the Kale and White Bean, however, my stomach begs to differ. And I would have loved the corn chowder if it had just corn or bacon instead of fish. To me, it really missed an excellent opportunity with. My tummy concurred. I’m adding it to the Gumbo which would be great without the okra. And yes, we often talk about this stuff and read labels with customers. It is very important, especially when sharing a tent.

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