Favorite MRE Brand & Flavor

[RayRay27]

So I have a bunch MRE's laying around that are about to expire and I figured why not get down on some 5 year old food today! Obliviously we're in some trying times in our country and in the world people are freaking out and hoarding certain items and food. Now we're very fortunate here at the Romero household to have enough food and don't need to resort to eating 5 to 10 year old freeze dried food.

That being said I decided to tear into an actual MRE brand of chili mac. The biggest surprise was that it came with a bag of Skittles.

Also on the menu was some jalapeno cheese spread with crackers, spiced pound cake and fruit punch for the drink.

I was pleasantly surprised how well the main course tasted.

So I told you about my most recent experience, tell me about yours.

1. What's your favorite brand?
2. What's your favorite flavor?
3. When and why did you have to eat it?

 

[wesintl]

I sometimes take them hunting. It's nice for a warm meal and a lot of calories. Chicken and rice with tabasco is usually my fav.

 

[satchel]

That takes me back. I ate MRE's the most after Sep 11th, we were in Bahrain for 6 months and the first 4 months there was no one there but us and some cops, so MRE's were it for a lot of that trip. I remember that chili mac, it was decent. I preferred beef stew and chicken stew over most everything else, and those were always best with the little tabasco sauce they give you. The squeeze cheese that comes in some of them were great also.

I opened up an old box I had this last Christmas and almost threw up when cooking one of them, so 15+ years is for certain way too long.

 

[60wag]

Those skittles may be tooth breakers at this point.

The closest I've gotten to MREs are Cliff Bars.

 

[RayRay27]

Those skittles may be tooth breakers at this point.

The closest I've gotten to MREs are Cliff Bars.

The Skittles went down just fine.

 

[Fishy]

I became fairly well-versed in MRE meals while in the Marine Corps. My favorite was always Chicken with Rice. Once we'd get our rations, we'd trade amongst our squad so everyone could get what they liked. The mini tabasco bottles that came in some of the dishes were like gold. You could trade a tiny bottle of tabasco for a dessert, a whole meal or even a stack of toilet paper. So.... pretty much just like right now. Gov Polis may underestimate my ability to stay quarantined. I went to USMC sniper school and lived off nothing but one or two MRE's a day for four weeks.

 

[gungriffin]

The idea of MREs is pretty cool to me. It is surprising how long they can actually last for. This isn't my experience about MREs, but it is about MREs. YouTube's search algorithm decided one day to send me to a video by a channel called Steve1989MREInfo. He might be one of the most positive reviewers I have come across. One of my favorite lines is when he calls an item that is really dry, "Thirst provoking". He is also known for the line, "Lets get that on a tray. Nice". He will also eat just about anything. I don't get how he does it. He has gotten food poisoning many times from spoiled MREs. He has also eaten hard tack from the Civil War and a 1906 Army emergency ration.

One of the best MREs he has ever had was a French MRE. Apparently French MREs are awesome.


Some of the worst are Chinese MREs. They are oftentimes quite awful.

 

[BritKLR]

These were the top 10 meals I went with. Stayed away from beans, burrito, pasta or veggie ones. Government/Agency issued. Be careful of old army surplus store ones, they can and will go bad or dry out. Due to monthly training, operations, testing, travel/instructing probably ate at least 1-2 per month for close to 20 years (More depending on op). Always broke them down to entrees, snacks and desserts, small seasoning stuff and tossed everything else to reduce weight/bulk. Careful of the gum, skittles, tootsie rolls and hard candy....they can break a tooth. jalapeño cheese was like gold for trading. Used the heaters to make more bombs then heat meals. Keep the entree under your vest/plate carrier next to your body or engine bay to warm up nicely during the cold weather. Cut the entree packet horizontally instead of just the top and it makes for easier eating and mixing in other stuff. Pack in/pack out all the waste. Mmmmmmmmm tasty.......and, lots of water and fiber powder to help move things along. Cheers.

01 – Grilled Beefsteak
02 – Boneless Pork Chop
05 – Grilled Chicken Breast
08 – Chicken and Rice
09 – Beef Stew
10 – Chili and Macaroni
16 – Thai Chicken
18 – Turkey Breast w/Gravy & Potatoes19 – Beef w/Mushrooms
20 – Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce
24 – Meat Loaf w/Gravy

https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/

 

[Fishy]

And as a bonus... they’ll lock you up tighter than a snare drum for three or four days...then you can sh*t through a screen door and not hit wire.

The bread was actually super good if you can find that. It’s like two heels of the loaf welded together. Pretty tasty and filling.

 

[DanTheMan]

My wife told me that in Basic Training the Chili Mac MRE was quite popular. We actually had an "Apocalypse lunch" at the shop this week. I picked up some DOD issued MRE's from the Commissary on Buckley AFB. I had the Chicken Burrito Bowl which I've had before and it's quite tasty! The other guys had Chili Mac, Beef Ravioli and Spaghetti. All of which they said were pretty good. I'm keeping an eye out for the Pizza Slice MRE, that one is supposed to be really good.

This guy has a great YouTube channel where he's reviewed countless MREs from WWII to current.

Steve1989MREInfo

@gungriffin shared some of his videos above

 

[RayRay27]

And as a bonus... they’ll lock you up tighter than a snare drum for three or four days...then you can sh*t through a screen door and not hit wire.

The bread was actually super good if you can find that. It’s like two heels of the loaf welded together. Pretty tasty and filling.