PEAK REFUEL  Butternut Dal Bhat - 2 Servings

Poor and unsafe packaging as well as customer service. Check to see if the package is sealed correctly, which mine wasn’t, so it doesn’t spill its contents over your camping gear and inundate your stuff with a food odor. The first time it happened, over two years ago, I returned the product to REI where we discovered 5 other meals with the same problem where the only thing holding the dry uncooked meal was a sketchy ziplock that leaves the product exposed to tampering and spillage. I contacted the company and was told they were aware of the problem and were working on fixing it. They obviously didn’t as two years later the same thing happened and coated some of my camping gear with a food odor, a bad thing in bear country. Contacted the company and got no response. While the food tastes good, I am not willing to pay $13 or more for something they can’t seem to seal properly.

I usually pick pretty boring freeze dried meals when I need to pack a bear canister, but a friend brought this along one trip and it smelled AMAZING so I had to try it myself! I hate the taste of coconut in anything that's flavored with it, but this had enough other curry flavors that I didn't notice any overpowering coconut, woohoo! It's also vegetarian while still packing a decent amount of protein. For my bear canister people reading this, this meal has an excellent calorie to weight ratio, and also re-packs (in a ziploc) smaller than many 600 calorie meals. With curry being a little more watery than other freeze-dried meals, this meal can actually take the amount of water called for, compared to almost every other meal where you should put in less water than they call for. It did take longer than 10 minutes to get to a great texture--I just watched sunset while it sat longer :) Per usual with these meals the packaging is not recyclable or compostable, but it would be awesome if PEAK partnered with Terracycle to give that disposal option, like MountainHouse has.

This Butternut Dal is the best tasting freeze dried meal I've ever had! The fact that is plant based it a big plus. By weight (5.85 oz), this might be the highest protein and calorie (870) meal I've seen. I know that may be irrelevant to many folks. I'm always looking to save weight so high calorie, low weight it important. The pack says 2 servings, but realistically it's just enough for one hungry hiker. Like any freeze dried meal not purchased in bulk the packaging is kind of environmentally intense and not recyclable.

This was the best freeze dried food that I tried! (For reference, I tried in total, 7 different types of freeze dried meals while on the trail and this one really blew it out of the park). It is EXTREMELY flavorful, gluten free, dairy free and the textures were fantastic. It had everything you could ever want in a meal and more. Both my partner and I, as well as the two others that we were traveling with, agreed that this was by far, the best meal out of the 7 that we tried. We even went so far as to say that we could definitely eat it at home because it's THAT good. Couldn't recommend it enough! It tastes slightly creamy, with just the right amount of spices and aromatics.

I got this to try at home since I was intrigued by all the good reviews but wasn't sure I wanted to take this out on the trail and be disappointed. Well no need to fear that! This is one really tasty meal, even my wife who hates freeze dried meals thought it tasted great. I will say the only negative, and this is true for all rehydrated meals I have had, is texture. There is nothing wrong just everything is the same. I think next time I may try a handful of cashews tossed in for some extra protein, fat and most importantly a little crunch.

This is the meal you save for the hero day of the trip. The meal you dread eating because you'll have given up the hope that it's still to come. Big calories, could have more protein, so tasty in the backcountry.

So grateful for such an insanely satisfying vegan and gluten free backpacking option! I tried one of these at home tonight to gauge how many to buy for an upcoming trip, and I LOVED it! It’s honestly better than a number of dal dishes I’ve had from restaurants over the years. YUM! @PEAK REFUEL, more vegan & gf options please!!!

Trail proven on a 6 day trek to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. Superb creamy taste for a backcountry meal and prepares quickly. My wife and I split the bag into two dinners, sufficient calories for a moderate mileage day. Best dinner of a 5 night trip, by far. Plan to bring on an upcoming Sierras trek in August.

Good flavor. Was definitely the best freeze dried meal I had during my backpacking trip, would recommend to vegetarians/vegans

Very good flavor and consistency for a backpacking meal. You can taste the flavor and creaminess of the cocoanut milk. It's like a very mild cocoanut curry. It is not spicy at all so if you like some spice I would add some red pepper. It will now be one of our family's go to meals.