Good to Go Risotto in front of a campfire
Articles, Food & Nutrition, Reviews

Review: Good To-Go

Good To-Go Backcountry Meals

Good quality nutrition keeps us moving on the trail. Everyone has their opinion on Backcountry meals. Some like dehydrated meals, others freeze-dried, while still others like to cold soak and don’t even bother with warm food on the trail. Good To-Go is the result of award winning chef Jennifer Scism hitting the road and the backcountry and coming back with some delicious food designed to keep you well fed on the trail. 

Good to Go 3 bean chilli msr stove lake
The essentials for a good camping meal, 3 Bean Chilli, the MSR Reactor (a personal fav) and a sweet lake view

Good To-Go at a Glance

  • Shelf Life: 4 years
  • Country of Origin: Maine, USA
  • Weight: between 95 and 115g
  • Gluten Free: Yup, all of ‘em!
  • Preservatives: Nope
  • Rehydration Time: 20 mins

Who is Good To-Go?

Good To-Go was founded by Jennifer Scism. Who is Jennifer Scism you ask?  She is an award winning chef, having worked and run 4 star restaurants since the early 90’s. She’s travelled the world to research regional dishes and to top it all off, she assisted her then partner and competing chef, Anita Lo, to win the Mushroom Battle of Spring 2005. What’s the Mushroom Battle? It’s a battle on Iron Chef. That’s right, Jennifer and her partner beat the world famous Mario Batteli. You know this food’s going to be good with that kind of pedigree.  

A variety of Good to Go meals
Dealer’s choice? Nah, Adventurers Choice!

When Jennifer moved to Maine she began to adventure outdoors and noticed a lack of backpacking meals that appealed to her and thus, she began preparing her favorite meals and dehydrating them in her countertop dehydrator and Good To-Go was born. 

The Spoon Test

Good to Go Risotto in front of a campfire
Campfire dinners are always Good To-Go

Though the pouches are small, your still going to want a long handled spoon for this one.  A regular camping spork just reaches the top of the open bag and will leave you with flavorful fingers. Speaking of flavors…

What Flavors are there?

At the time of writing this article Good To-Go has 12 different entrees with flavors from all over the world. Jennifer Scism travelled to over 20 countries in a search for some of the best regional foods on the planet. She brought back a lot of great foods.

Options Include (tested product in bold):

  • Mushroom Risotto
  • Thai Curry
  • Pad Thai
  • Mexican Quinoa Bowl
  • Bibimbap
  • Smoked Three Bean Chili
  • Classic Marinara with Pasta
  • Indian Korma
  • Kale and White Bean Stew
  • Chicken Gumbo
  • New England Corn Chowdah
  • Chicken Pho
  • Cuban Rice Bowl

We tested the single serving packages but of course there are more calorie heavy two-serving options as well.

Herbed Mushroom Risotto:

Shows Herbed Mushroom Risotto on a Spoon
Risotto, just like Nonna used to make

It seems strange to say, but this really tastes like mushroom risotto. There was a creamy sauce that is made with actual white wine, like a good risotto should be. Throughout were lots of small delicious pieces of cremini mushroom throughout. This felt like a great change to the typical backcountry meal and can even double as a great mild breakfast.

  • Rehydration Time: 20 minutes
  • Calories: 460 calories per 3.4 oz. (95g) serving
  • Notes: Gluten Free & Vegetarian

Pad Thai:

The Pad Thai was really good. It has a great mix of small rice noodles, egg, carrot and all of the fixings a good Pad Thai should have with dried scallion, and cilantro. The Pad Thai is a pescatarian offering with dried Shrimp. The flavor was mild with a small amount of spice to go with the sweet and sour flavor. I love Pad Thai in the backcountry and this was great.

Good to Go Pad Thai on a spoon
Good To-Go Pad Thai in a very dimly light hut
              • Rehydration Time: 15 minutes
              • Calories: 460 calories per 4 oz. (114g) serving
              • Notes: Gluten Free & Pescatarian

Classic Marinara with Pasta:

Aside from Pad Thai, this is the standard with which all backcountry meals are measured. The Good To-Go Classic Marinara stands up to the test of the rest. This, like most of the Good to Go meals, is vegetarian. A real tomato forward flavor is matched with light use of Basil, Oregano and Thyme. The only addition I would have liked was some parmesan. I’ll definitely start bringing a small packet with me on backcountry trips.

              • Rehydration Time: 20 minutes
              • Calories: 370 calories per 3.5 oz. (100g) serving
              • Notes: Gluten Free & Vegan

Bibimbap:

Good to Go bibimbap in a camping bowl
There is so much goodness in this photo,

Bibimbap simply translates to “mixed rice” and typically includes rice with meat and assorted vegetables. While somewhat descriptive, this bland name hides a simply amazing dish! The Good To-Go Bibimbap contains the aforementioned ingredients with the exception of meat, but it’s the amazing spices that had me loving this meal. It rehydrated very well leaving me with rice and vegies that were ready to eat and just about no extra water. The flavors and aromas were amazing and it had an edge of heat. I would call it Medium spicy if I was ordering it at a restaurant. Of course I  really love Asian dishes so a little heat and some spices were right up my alley. 

  • Rehydration Time: 20 minutes
  • Calories: 370 calories per 3.4 oz. (97g) serving
  • Notes: Gluten Free & Vegan

Smoked 3 Bean Chili

Good to Go Smoked 3 bean chili on a spoon
Good to Go Smoked 3 Bean Chili on the spoon.

The smoked three bean Chili stands out with it’s great mix of black, navy and red beans. The chili flavor is strong and not overtly tomato forward with a slight hint of spice. It was not too hot but present enough to warm the mouth. When I opened the bag, prior to adding water, it looked like there was beef jerky inside. Heck, I even pulled a piece out, ate it, and thought, not bad. Then I clued in, this is vegetarian. It tasted just as good as any non-veg Chili I’ve had.

            • Rehydration Time: 20 minutes
            • Calories: 370 calories per 3.4 oz. (97g) serving
            • Notes: Gluten Free & Vegan

Overview

Pros: Super Healthy. Tastes like real food, ‘cus it is. No preservatives. Size Options for the light or big eater

Cons: Somewhat Long rehydration time. 

Overall:

Good To-Go dehydrated meals are healthy, delicious, vegetarian and pescatarian backcountry options. When it says Risotto on the package, it tastes like real Risotto you would have at home or in a restaurant. We found this true of all their meals. There are delicious options for any trip made with natural ingredients and no preservatives which should be good for all discerning outdoor enthusiast. 

Each meal we tested had between 15 and 20 minutes rehydration time. If you’re the type to have a soup or some snacks before dinner, this shouldn’t be a problem. It’s actually great in winter when you can put the pack in your jacket and the food keeps you warm and you help keep the food rehydrating. 

Each pack is between 95 and 115 grams, so the Good To-Go meals are true single serving meals. They are best for a light eater, ultralight hikers who don’t want to get weighed down by some of the oversize options, or if you are going to augment your meals with additions anyway. If you are a big eater or are going hard all day you will want to bring along the double servings. 

If you are interested in checking out Good To-Go, smash the following link: Good To-Go

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Black Sheep Adventure sports was provided with free samples of Good To-Go. This in no way affected our opinion and review of the jacket.