MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), Genuine U.S. Military Issue

by 4 Star Military Surplus

Product Features

• Perfect food for a quick meal
• Easy to prepare and long term storage
• Shelf stable storage without refrigeration
• Fruit Bar, Trail Mix, Hi Energy Bar, drink mix

Product Description

The Perfect food for a quick meal anytime, anywere. the perfect food for all types of outdoor use, emergency preparedness and long term storage.MRE'S are fully cooked and do not require adding water. The unique thermo stabilized packaging provides shelf stable storage without refrigeration. A cooler storage temperature will extend storage life.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 23 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000EFDHCO
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #66 in Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Camping & Hiking > Camp Kitchen > Freeze-Dried Food

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rip Off - False Advertising!, August 10, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), Genuine U.S. Military Issue (Misc.)

The product picture shows the real MRE crackers and what you get is totally different. Some crappy things they would give you on an airplane. The only thing as far as I can tell, that's similar to an MRE is the entree.

Anyway, don't make my mistake an order here if you want real MREs!

Yes, I was in the Army for eight years and I know what a real MRE contains.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MRE's (Meals Ready To Eat), December 10, 2007

By 

Kj Godwin-larson "Kelly-Jeau G. Larson" (Hilbert, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), Genuine U.S. Military Issue (Misc.)

I'm a backpacker/bike rider who loves to go deep into the wilds with my mountain bike, and these meals are okay for that. With a shelf life, in cool dry conditions, of about ten years means it is the best to keep around for all emergencies and your camping needs. But I would eat them up about every five years or so and then replace them just to be on the safe side.
They typically provide utensils, salt and pepper and even coffee or tea packet. Oh yes, even matches. They do vary to some degree on these items, but that is the average contents.
The food packets are typically a few of the following:

Beef Enchilada

Cajun Rice w/Beans and Sausage

Cheese Omelet w/Vegetables

Chili Macaroni

Meatloaf

Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stew

BBQ Chicken with Black Beans and Potatoes

Chicken Noodle Stew

Cheese Tortellini

Vegetarian Chili with Beans

Some food packets are rare, over others, I do not know why.

The best way to get any real flavor from them is to heat them up, AND bring along your own seasoning for each type of food packet you are taking along (example for beef I use Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning). All the meals taste better that way. From the selections given you are provided a chance to find your own favorites. But, even so, you will find at the very least one MRE that you won't be able to stand the flavor (or lack of) to eat it!!! And none of them, ever, while cold.

I cannot speak for you, but I go outdoors to enjoy myself, just to get away from work--not for the food.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Viva La Difference!, July 7, 2010

By 

Edwin C. Pauzer (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), Genuine U.S. Military Issue (Misc.)

As I was leaving the Army, they were introducing Meals: Ready-to-Eat, which were replacing the venerable C Rations that were packed in tins of which many of the discarded ones were used by the enemy in Vietnam to send back to our soldiers as shrapnel.

We were told that the MRE's were taste-tested by soldiers, and were lighter than the tin contents of C-Rations. You can imagine my shock as I stood out in a frozen wasteland, and tried my first packet. If you ever heard the expression, "I would rather starve than eat this!" that is what everyone in the tent heard me say. Soon dubbed, Meals Rejected by Ethiopians, the MRE's made us question the taste buds of the soldiers who had supposedly given this disgusting kludge a thumbs-up.

Now flash forward to present day.

One reservist brought a box into one of our classes, and I was offered whatever I wanted. I marvelled at the choices. Gone were franks and beans cooked in their own juices, fruit cake and peanut butter (fortified). My favorites, pecan nut roll, ham and eggs, and quartered pears were gone too, but they were replaced with other favorites like spaghetti and meatballs, beef enchilada with cheddar cheese and picante sauce, sloppy joe, beef stew and beef stroganoff. Hoooo-wahhhh!

Each packet includes extras like beverage powder, instant coffee, sugar, iodized salt, a plastic spoon, powdered creamer, a couple of chicklets, a book of matches that resist dampness, and a small packet of toilet tissue that is still too small to make you feel clean. Oh well, some things never change, which means your aim better be dead on. There is also a plastic packet that when mixed with a few drops of canteen water starts a chemical reaction that produces heat. You put the main course in the packet, and place both inside the box the entree came in. Within a couple of minutes you have a hot meal. Whoof! No fire to give your position away. No cooking with C4 which is stable, but still went "boom" on some soldiers, making it their Last Supper. Oh, yes! There was also a giant cookie in my beef enchilada, and a vegetarian cracker. I ate the first while staring at the latter. (I think I will give that one away like I did the toilet tissue). There was a lemon-lime drink powder to wash it all down.

If you're looking for a dietary special, these are not the meals for you. They are packed with carbs, calories, protein, vitamins, and even more fat than I presently care to consume. Three meals should give you enough calories for a lumberman's days work. Even the huge oatmeal cookie had nine grams of fat.

But the food is delizioso. The sloppy joe was excellent as was the spaghetti and meatballs, the beef stew, and beef stroganoff. Years earlier I had been given what was called long range patrol food or "Lurps." It included spaghetti and meatballs in one and beef stroganoff in the other. Both required hot water warmed in the old hatfield helmet. They looked like oatmeal, but tasted and smelled like spaghetti and meatballs or beef stroganoff with noodles. Only the consistency of the food didn't match the taste or smell. The ones in the new MRE's will not give you the same cognitive dissonance. They are much more like the real thing.

The only thing lacking is your inability to make ranger pudding. The old cracker tin from the C-Rations would act as a repository for the cocoa powder, sugar, and creamer. Adding a few drops of water, and stirring vigorously would bring the substance to a nice chocolate frosting consistency to be cherished to the last finger swipe.

Nevertheless, these should be fine meals for even the most discerning of appetites, or at least, you won't have to say, "I'd rather starve to death, than eat this stuff."