Meal Ready to Eat… Meal Refusing to Exit… however it is that you refer to them, there’s no denying that they’re a morale booster in the field.
When I was in the service you hit pay dirt if you got blackberry jam or Skittles and my buddies would bend over backwards to trade me for them.
The New York Times has recently done an outstanding job putting together an interactive compilation of the various MREs from around the world, and what’s inside them.
In the article they mention a few of the different recipes that can be made with MRE ingredients like Ranger Pudding and Combat Espresso, and I thought it would be fun for everyone to leave a comment and share your favorite recipes!
Apple Cobbler is my all time favorite. Heat a pack of spiced apples, add one pack regular crackers (pound cake can be used as well), add 1-2 packets creamer, 1-2 packets sugar and stir. You can throw some water in too if things aren’t mixing well. Just like Mom used to make!
If you haven’t seen them yet, there’s some great MRE info in our articles on How To Field Strip an MRE in 12 Easy Steps and The Pros and Cons of MREs.
Are you getting more than 14¢ of value per day from ITS Tactical?
Please consider joining our Crew Leader Membership and our growing community of supporters.
At ITS Tactical we’re working hard every day to provide different methods, ideas and knowledge that could one day save your life. Instead of simply asking for your support with donations, we’ve developed a membership to allow our readers to support what we do and allow us to give you back something in return.
For less than 14¢ a day you can help contribute directly to our content, and join our growing community of supporters who have directly influenced what we’ve been able to accomplish and where we’re headed.
Click here to learn about all the benefits and Join!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add oneDiscuss in our Forum }
The Norwegian MREs have more than that in ‘em, and some of them have other stuff like wild game stew. They’re really, really good – actually civilian ‘just add water’ rations made on contract with an appropriate OD colored bag.
Indeed. They’re usually issued as a set of three pouches (breakfast, lunch and dinner, snackfood and accessories such as water purification tablets vary between versions)
Of course they had to choose the cod stew one as an example. I don’t mind it, but that’s one of the more controversial ones). Either of them beats the snot out of the old canned rations.
Drytech http://www.drytech.no/old/?page_id=45
Makes the Norwegian MREs, follow the link and you can read whats in them.
I wouldent say really really good, but the are ok.
Well, I havent had any other MREs so comparing to others they might be..
I am, unfortunately, an IMP (Individual Meal Package – The Canuck MRE) fan. I’ve tried some of the best and worst. Many of the IMP’s are almost identical to MRE’s. The main difference is they lack the chemical heater package.
My favourite improvised treat is Tactical Apple Pie. Essentially you take your bread, hollow it out into a bowl, get your apple slices put em in the bread, add some of those maple cookies that some packs have and crumble em on top and then take some of the hollowed out bread and crumble that on top. Bake over fire and enjoy! You can do this with a few other ingredients, but the apple one is my favourite.
Also, adding the green tea & mushroom to the mashed potatoes = as close to mom’s mashed potatoes and gravy as possible.
Wheee! That field-stripping the MRE was very nice. Good show, mate.
Thanks brother! Glad you enjoyed it!
Two of my favorite improvised treats:
Frosting for pound cake: if you have a milkshake, ass just enough water to make it thick. Spread some on cake. Add water to remaining shake to make your milkshake.
Cheesecake: crackers (crushed and add water to make it paste like), 1-2 packets of sugar and creamer, cherry beverage base powder, half a packet of cheese. Mix well.
Patrick, awesome Cheesecake recipe! Haven’t heard of that one before. Like the frosting idea too!
Thanks for the tips!
Wow, I feel old. I ate this stuff in the service but started with C Rats (which I think was much better) then the MRE. For me (us) it was a “hobo stew,” everyone through in what they had or killed into a steel pot (helmet), tabasco and food was on. I packed an old time camping coffee’ pot, so we had fresh coffee’ after. That’s about my only recipe.
LOL Thanks for sharing Daniel! Makes me feel fortunate to have had MREs to eat :)
Ah – Hobo Stew FTW!!! I remember our squad making an AWESOME pot of that one evening after training out in the woods in Alaska on Arctic Warfare Training….
I fancy stew for lunch now.
Check out http://www.mreinfo.com
Great resource for MRE info.
J, they have an iPhone app too!
Hands down the best MRE currently is the Cheese Tortellini, main dish is good, and you get M&M’s and Peanut butter. Beef Frankfurters (5-fingers of death) are the all time best though. Mixed with the Western beans, there is nothing better.
If anyone really loves the Norwegian rations, you can have all the ones I get until I’m 40 years old. 3 days of them and I don’t shit for a week.
Norwegian “MREs” (since they aren’t ready to eat, you need boiling water and 2-5 minutes to “cook” it) have too much fish, no solid “dishes” (it’s all stews and soup-ish) and too little sugar and salt.
As we say in my platoon; “Royal Thai don’t surf”.
As always, interesting info. I didnt even know I was curious about what was in the various combat meals from around the world until I read this!
MREs for a week or more + Anthony’s Pizza from the PX = A long waited release.
Already saw this but completely missed the interactive feature. Thanks for pointing it out!