A staple for many off the trail, mac & cheese at first seems so simple but can come with a few challenges when adapting this dish for backpacking. Since it’s relatively easy to get at the store and packs well, I’ve always held off on the pre-made, just add hot water commercial backpacking options that are out there. But in reality, this usually means that the mac & cheese is just left off my backcountry meal menu entirely. And for several reasons – cooking traditional mac & cheese in the pot means pasta water to drain or drink and makes for a significant mess to clean up after the meal. As a result, and between leave no trace, efforts to keep a clean camp, and along with the fact that drinking pasta water is pretty low on my list of things I look forward to the most while backpacking, I usually avoid this technique entirely.

Backpacker's Pantry Three Cheese Mac & Cheese

Making the meal in a freezer bag can work – but it can be difficult to cook the noodles, and you’re often left with noodles that you’re trying to convince yourself are al dente, but might be closer to “mostly uncooked”. Secondly in an effort to get the noodles hydrated and cooked you often end up with a mac & cheese soup, which after waiting, results in a lukewarm dish from a bag that just isn’t mac & cheese. In this article we’ll look at several backpacking-oriented commercial options out there and evaluate methods for utilizing store bought options from a box as well.

Backpacker’s Pantry Hatch Green Chile

This one sounded a perfect combination to me – especially as someone whose backcountry spice kit often features habanero flakes. One to like things on the spicy side and a fan of the spice plus flavor that green Hatch chiles can bring, this meal from Backpacker’s Pantry – a newer meal in this article – seemed right up my alley. In addition to green chiles, this meal is also unique in the cheese profile – the first cheese on the ingredient list is pepper jack. After 15 minutes of rehydration time, the noodles in this meal rehydrated perfectly, but I wasn’t as impressed with the taste and overall consistency of the meal. Spice wise, this should be tolerable for most palates, but when I think mac & cheese I think of stick to your bones comfort food.

This version is more of a soupy type sauce that results in most of the flavor at the bottom of the bag with the noodles not absorbing much of that flavor – the meal just didn’t seem to work together very well. In addition, even if you disagree with my observations, the meal is only 300 calories in the "singles" version. While marketed as a singles pouch for one, for this to serve as anything more than a side you’d need 2. As a result, if I’m going mac & cheese and want to bring the heat, I’ll stick to other options and add my own spices as needed. The Backpacker’s Pantry Hatch Green Chile Mac & Cheese meal retails for $8 at $.02 per calorie with an expiration date 10 years out.

Backpacker’s Pantry Three Cheese Mac & Cheese

While I was a bit underwhelmed with the 300 calories of the Hatch green chile version from Backpacker’s Pantry, this meal packs 510 calories, which is more on par with most just add water backpacking meals. Featuring cheddar, parmesan, and Romano cheeses this version is designed to be more of a classic offering. After making the meal I noticed several similarities to the green chile version however. The resulting meal still is not as cohesive as I’d expect from mac & cheese, but would still be my preferred option of the 2 meals from Backpacker’s Pantry.

The cheese was a bit stringy, with both Backpacker’s Pantry meals appearing to use the same noodles. The result is a taste that is mostly noodles, and some cheese flavor, but not necessarily together. On the plus side, once made I didn’t get the soupiness of the Hatch green chile version in this meal. One thing missing is that rich butter flavor that you expect from a classic mac & cheese dish. If I gave this one a second go it might however serve as a base for various additions and between additions and the calories already in the meal it could serve as a reasonable meal for 1 on the trail. The Three Cheese Mac & Cheese meal from Backpacker’s Pantry will run about $10 and $.02 a calorie, and is good for 10 years.

Mountain House Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

I had the highest hopes upon opening this one up – as the meal appears as though it was made and then freeze dried in typical Mountain House fashion, instead of various ingredients combined in a bag. At 620 calories this is about average to above average for a freeze dried backpacking meal, and once made you get a rich, creamy, more homestyle type mac & cheese. Flavor wise, this meal was decent without being great – it’s still not the classic mac & cheese you may expect from the blue box, but it’s not bad. The cheese is up front with ample amounts of an otherwise light sauce that slightly reminds one of nacho cheese.

If you’re a fan of homestyle type mac & cheese, this might be a good choice – although I wish that there was more macaroni; this mostly seemed like a frothy non-watery sauce with some macaroni tossed in for good measure. Once again however, I did miss that butter flavor, although that could be remedied by adding something like Butter Buds, or even real butter. Overall however, I’d say this one strikes a good balance of calories, decent flavor, and could serve as a good base in the field, but I’d still bring along a few additions to get this one to where I’d want it – some black pepper, Butter Buds, and a chopped up jalepeno beef stick for example would really take this meal to the next level. The Mountain House Creamy Macaroni & Cheese meal will run about $10 at $1.6 cents per calorie, and definitely wins the shelf life battle – this one is good for 30 years.

Store Bought & Freezer Bag Mac & Cheese

At home, mac & cheese is one of the easiest things to make but as previously mentioned, on the trail a few difficulties do present themselves in regards to properly cooking the noodles and cleanup. One option is to simply cook per the directions on your stove – boiling the noodles and then adding the cheese mix, butter or butter substitute, and instant milk right into your pot. This will obviously make for a good meal, but will require the most fuel and the most cleanup. A secondary option is to boil the noodles only in minimal water, drink the water (test at home), and then transfer to a quart or gallon freezer bag and mix everything in the bag. This makes cleanup easier – but doesn’t eliminate it – and still uses fuel.

Microwave “easy” mac & cheese is an option and can be made – at a price 5-10 times cheaper per calorie than commercial backpacking mac & cheese – successfully freezer bag style and is easy because you don’t have to pack along a butter substitute or instant milk. For this method, add the noodles and cheese sauce to a freezer bag before your trip. In camp add slightly less water than called for in the directions – 75% of what’s called for works well. Briefly stir, then seal and put the freezer bag in an insulating cozy for 15 minutes. Knead the bag and eat.

While the noodles will be approximately 90% cooked if you’re anywhere above sea level, and the meal warm but not hot, it’s not bad. But not great either. And the colder it is outside, and the higher in altitude you travel where boil temperatures are lower, the less chance of success you will have. Thus, this method works best for warmer, lower elevation travels. If you are set on freezer bag cooking and want to do it right no matter the conditions, one option is to cook the noodles at home, then dehydrate and pack so you only have to rehydrate noodles on the trail, not cook them.

Mountain House Buffalo Style Mac & Cheese

This newer Mountain House option combines two meals into one, and if you're fan of Buffalo wings as well as mac & cheese this meal would be a great choice. Adding chicken, celery, and carrots to your more traditional mac & cheese, this one definitely takes things to another level for those days where plain mac & cheese might be a little lacking.

This one will go for $11.50 with 580 calories, around $.02 cents per calorie. A little spice kicks things up as well, and for me this one would be a go-to option for rainy and / or chilly backpacking days when something a little more hearty will hit the spot when dinner time rolls around. For more on this meal, you can read our review in Issue 53 and you can find the meal here at REI Co-op.

Final Thoughts

My own personal solution? Since 90% of the time I like to only use a pot to boil water in the backcountry so I can hang my food and go to sleep with no cleanup, like to make preparation for trips easy at home, and as I often head up in the mountains for trip where it’s usually both colder and water just won’t boil as hot, this is one meal I typically skip. While commercial backpacking meal offerings are worth a look – for a whole meal I’d really want to turn those into a chili mac of sorts with cheese, but it’s just easier to add cheese to a freeze dried chili mac meal in that case. That said, with time and the right approach (or a commercial off the shelf backpacking meal) there are a few ways for a successful – or close enough – mac & cheese dinner experience in the backcountry.

For additional backpacking meal favorites beyond just mac & cheese, see our 10 best freeze dried backpacking meal list.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 51 of TrailGroove Magazine. Read the original article here for additional photos and more.