Ask a Prepper
  • DIY |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Contact
ask a prepper survival every day
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • All Articles
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Survival Knowledge
  • How To’s
  • Store
  • About Claude Davis
  • Home
  • All Articles
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Survival Knowledge
  • How To’s
  • Store
  • About Claude Davis
No Result
View All Result
Menu
Ask a Prepper
Search
No Result
View All Result
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Home All Articles
MRES

How to Make Delicious MREs at Home

Claude Nelson by Claude Nelson
September 28, 2016
7

When it comes to emergency food supplies a lot of people think military-style MREs are the gold standard. They do have some advantages – they’re rugged, easy to prepare and can be eaten cold in a pinch – but they have drawbacks too. They’re not designed with food intolerances or other special dietary needs in mind. They don’t always taste great. And, to get good ones with a lot of life left, you can end up spending a lot of money.

One way to get the advantages of MREs without the drawbacks is to make your own. This isn’t all that hard, and gives you a lot of options. Military MREs come in a couple of dozen menus, but if you’re making your own the choices are almost infinite.

One meal, or one day?

You can be pretty flexible when it comes to making your own MREs. There are a few basic approaches, but you can mix and match them to tailor your rations exactly the way you want them to be.

First, how do you want to break things down? The US Army approach is to have one pack for each meal. That keeps the individual packs light and compact, and means you can carry only as many meals as you’re going to need.

Military US Rations
One Meal MRE (US Army)

Most other armies do it differently, though. British military rations are a good example. Each pack contains rations for a full 24 hours; there are boil in the bag meals for breakfast and dinner, plus a snack meal – usually crackers and meat spread – for lunch. All extra space is stuffed with chocolate, candy, cookies and drink ingredients. This all comes in a box that’s bigger and heavier than a single MRE, but smaller and lighter than the three MREs that make up a day’s rations.

british-military-rations
24h MRE (British Army)

What you decide depends on how you plan to use your rations. Individual meals give you more flexibility; you can throw one in your pack when you go out hunting, or keep a couple in the car in case you get delayed on a trip. If you’re making multi-day trips on foot you’ll save weight and bulk by opting for 24-hour packs. For ultimate flexibility make some of each!

Picking Your Ingredients

Your next choice is whether you’re going to assemble your MREs out of prepacked items, or pack food yourself. The first method is the quickest and simplest.

Here’s a suggested menu:

Breakfastbreakfast

  • Beans and franks – 8oz can
  • Instant oatmeal – 1 packet
  • Graham crackers – Single serving packet

lunchLunch/Snack

  • Saltine crackers – Single serving packet
  • Cheese or meat spread – 1oz can
  • Candy bar
  • Cookies – Single serving packet
  • Granola bar

 

 

 


main-mealMain meal

  • Beef stew – 15oz can
  • Fruit – 8oz can
  • Instant soup – 1 packet
  • Saltine crackers – Single serving packet

 

 

 

 


Sundries pack

  • Instant coffee – 4 sachets
  • Sugar – 8 sachets
  • Powdered creamer – 4 sachets
  • Kool-Aid or Crystal Light – 2 sachets
  • Gum – 1 pack
  • Hard candies – 1oz
  • P-38 can opener – x1
  • Plastic spoon – x2
  • Tissues – 1 pack
  • Matches – 1 book

You can pick up all the contents for a ration like that at your local grocery store; all you have to do is pack them in a small box or tough plastic sack, and you have a 24-hour ration. There’s a big drawback though – it’s not exactly lightweight. A pack like this will weigh in at close to four pounds, and if you’re packing a week’s worth of food that will add up in a hurry.

On the bright side you can eat most of it cold and without needing any water to prepare it – a can of cold stew isn’t the most appetizing meal in the world, but it’s a lot better than a bowl of dry mac and cheese. One point – you might be tempted to save weight by buying food in microwaveable bowls instead of cans. Don’t; these are nowhere near sturdy enough, and you’ll just end up with leaking sauce and spoiled food.

Dehydration Wins

foodsaverv2460If you want to save weight – and money – as you prepare your MREs you should get yourself a vacuum sealer. These were designed for sealing food for the freezer, but they’re great for packing emergency rations too. Get the heaviest grade bags it will handle – they stand abuse better.

The first thing you can do is save money on your crackers and cookies. Instead of buying expensive single serving packs, just get a regular pack and break it down into single servings – then seal them yourself. For extra protection put all the components of each meal – except for large cans, obviously – in a bag then seal that. This also helps if you want to break down your ration. If all the lunch items are sealed in a bag you can just grab that, take it with you and leave the main meal in camp. You can seal the sundries pack in one unit or spread it through the meals – it’s up to you.

If you want to stick with the “meals” part of MREs, but you’re willing to compromise on the “ready to eat” bit, you can save a lot more weight. As long as you’re sure you’ll have access to water and time to cook, dehydrated foods will massively cut down on weight and bulk.

Related: How to Make Powdered Eggs

What sort of dehydrated foods? You have quite a few choices here. If you have a dehydrator you can make your own dried vegetables. Just about anything can be dehydrated – squash, corn, onions, beans and most other veggies. Dry what you like, divide it into portions and vacuum seal them. To rehydrate them just open the bag, pour in boiling water, stir and leave it to stand. Alternatively, you can empty the bag into a pot and cook it up in there. You can add seasonings or even powdered sauce mix to each portion, too.

With your vacuum sealer you’re free to buy in bulk and break it down into single-meal portions. You can do that with anything from Mountain House dehydrated food to boxes of mac and cheese; breaking bulk will save you a lot of money over buying individual portions. You can create your own meals, too. Seal a portion of dried vegetables, chopped beef jerky and seasonings, add that to a packet of dehydrated carbs – ramen noodles, or instant potato – and seal the whole lot in an outer package. If you’re sealing packets pierce them with a sterile pin first – otherwise they can swell under the vacuum and add useless bulk.

Top Tips

However you decide to make up your MREs, here are a few points to keep in mind:

  • Don’t stint the calories. If you’re going to be outdoors and active, aim for at least 4,000 calories a day. It’s better to have too much energy than too little, and in a SHTF scenario the chances of you putting on weight are really not high.
  • Seal everything you can. Vacuum sealing will protect your food from a lot of hazards – water, pollution, airborne microorganisms, even nuclear fallout. It also helps extend its shelf life; whatever it says on the packet, your fully sealed MREs should be good for at least three years and probably more like five.
  • Balance nutrients. If you’re expecting to survive on packaged rations for more than a few days, make sure the food you include has plenty of fiber and vitamins.
  • Include the essentials. If you’re using canned foods include a P-38 folding can opener – even if the cans have ring pulls. Rings can break off, and the last thing you need is to cut yourself trying to lever the top open.

Making your own MREs can be a lot cheaper than buying them, and you also get to avoid any foods you don’t like or can’t eat. It’s also very satisfying to fill your bug out bag with tough, tasty and nutritious ration packs you’ve made yourself. Even if the world’s going to hell, no reason why you shouldn’t eat well along the way.

You may also like:

Backyard LibertyHomemade 72 Hour Emergency Food Supply Kits

This Bug Will Kill Most of the Americans during the Next Crisis (Video)

10 Awesome Food Ideas for Your Bug Out Bag

50 Tips From the Great Depression

How to Keeps Eggs Fresh for Months with Mineral Oil

 

Tags: DIYemergenciesFood CrisisHow toreserve food
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
ShareTweetPin14

Comments 7

  1. Armin says:
    6 years ago

    Vacuum sealer sounds like a good idea.

    Another handy item to get while there’s still time.

    THANK YOU!

    Did you like this comment? 1
    Reply
  2. Ginger says:
    6 years ago

    If you make the meals yourself, say spaghetti and meat sauce, how does it not go bad? Doesn’t it have to be refrigerated? Does using a vacuum sealer stop it from spoiling? For how long?

    Did you like this comment? 2
    Reply
    • Amoraroca says:
      6 years ago

      I think it is talking about dehydrating anything you put in a seal bag. So you could put some pasta some dried tomatoes, and some dehydrated ground beef. This will make your water needs higher though, and require cooking the pasta. If you use veggies and dried beef then you would not have to re-hydrate or cook, you could simply snack on it. It still increases your water intake compared to a real MRE.

      Did you like this comment?
      Reply
  3. DebW says:
    6 years ago

    I have a dehydrator and a sealer. LOVE them. Can cook for the whole month in one day and seal in individual packets for easy use.

    Did you like this comment?
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions Terms & Conditions.

FOLLOW US ON:

PREPPER RECOMMENDS

IF YOU SEE THIS PLANT IN YOUR BACKYARD BURN IT IMMEDIATELY

ENGINEERS CALL THIS “THE SOLAR PANEL KILLER”

HOW TO MAKE A “YEAR ROUND SELF SUSTAINING GREENHOUSE”

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR POUR HONEY OVER MEAT

YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE AN EMP STRIKE WITHOUT THIS

HOW TO BUILD AN INVISIBLE ROOT CELLAR IN YOUR BACKYARD

Banner Generator

LATEST ARTICLES

The Best Over The Counter Drugs You Should Hoard

The Ultimate DIY Bunker Kit

Why Is FEMA Tracking Down Preppers? This Is How They Prepare For A Food Crisis

No Grid Survival Projects: Book Review

Could An EMP Be Putin’s Revenge Against America?

9 Ham Radios Myths

The Plant Doctors Are Begging People To Grow

50 Prepping Items You Can Buy From The Thrift Shop

How To Preserve Foods In Honey

Best States For Looters. Do You Live In One Of Them?

18 Dangerous Health Mistakes To Avoid When SHTF

5 Instant Dry Soup Mixes Every Prepper Should Have In Their Food Storage

Aquaponics: Build Your Own Endless Food Supply At Home For SHTF

11 Hacker Tips To Keep Your Phone From Tracking You

DIY Tin Oil Lamp In Case Of A Power Outage

12 Native American Remedies That We Lost To History

Things You Should Never Say To A Prepper

11 Everyday Items You Shouldn’t Carry From Now On

DIY Survival Jar

Why You Should Put A Coin In A Cup Of Frozen Water In Your Freezer

8+ Devices That Will Survive An EMP

Rich In Iodine: 5 Foods That Help Manage Radiation Effects

11 Dangerous Plants You Should Never Have In Your Backyard

Banner Bor

Banner TLW2

Banner Bor

The Lost Ways Claude Davis

HOW TO

How to Build an Endless Hot Water System (Without Electricity)

How To Build An Electricity Free Fridge

How To Make A Long Lasting Pork Rillette (With Pictures)

How To Make The Long-Lasting Native American’s Wojapi Sauce

How To Make Pine Bark Bread

How To Dig A Native American Dakota Fire Hole

How To Repurpose Old Items Into New Projects For Your Backyard

How To Make A Black Drawing Salve For When SHTF

How To Build The Poor Man’s Faraday Cage

How To Grind Cattails And Make Bread

Vote for ask a Prepper

YOU CAN ALSO FIND US ON:

Survial Websites Prepper

Copyright © 2022 Ask a Prepper

  • Home
  • All Articles
  • Ask a Prepper
  • About Claude Davis
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 Ask a Prepper

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.