Best MRE Meals
Since emergency food and ration supplies have become necessary, MREs or Meals Ready To Eat have hit the civilian market with a bang.
More providers enter the market every year, selling on e-commerce sites as well as their own websites.
We have compiled the most renowned MRE suppliers, such as XMRE, what type of items they offer (including meat), and where to locate them.
Ready to Eat Meals
| Image | Title | Price | Prime | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sopakco 24ct US Military Surplus MRE Meals Ready to Eat 2021 Inspect A+B Case Bundle Menus 1-24 | Prime | No Results | |
 | Mountain House Expedition Bucket | Freeze Dried Backpacking & Camping Food | 30 Servings | PrimeEligible | No Results | |
 | MRE Beef & Chicken Entrees Combo - 18 pack | PrimeEligible | No Results | |
 | APack MRE ReadyMeals Ameriqual 2-Case bundle 24-Meals 6-menus low sodium self-heat 2024 inspection date | Prime | No Results | |
 | ReadyWise Emergency Food Supply, Freeze-Dried Survival Food for Emergencies, Lunch and Dinner Entrées Grab-and-Go Bucket, 1 Bucket, 25-Year Shelf Life, 120 Servings Total | PrimeEligible | No Results | |
 | Gourmet Survival Home Food Storage - 120 Large Servings Meal Assortment: 31 Lbs Emergency Supply - Disaster Prep Freeze Dried Supply Kit - Dehydrated Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | PrimeEligible | No Results | |
 | MRE STAR Survival Meal Box – Emergency Meals Ready to Eat with Accessories and FRH – Compact and Lightweight Packaging – Extended Shelf Life – 12 pcs Individual Fully-Cooked Meals | Prime | No Results |
What Is An MRE?
The military knows them as meals ready to eat or MREs, which are emergency food rations with a long shelf life.
They slip the tray into a flameless ration heater and have dinner in about 15 minutes.
Survivalists, campers, and others buy them as well. MRE reviews can tell you more about who buys these rations.
An MRE, also known as a military meal, consists of an entrée like spaghetti or chili, a side like rice, potatoes, or a vegetable, bread or crackers, a spread of some sort like peanut butter or cheese, desserts like chocolate chip cookies, a candy-like M&Ms, and accessories such as sugar, creamer, salt and pepper, and the like.
Most military-grade MREs also come with a drink, like a strawberry milkshake.
These emergency food options are perfect for those needing quick and easy meals.
Wise Company Emergency Food Supply, Variety Pack, 25-Year Shelf Life, 104 Servings
Buy The ReadyWise Emergency Food Supply
Best MRE Meals
1. Sopakco out of Mullins
SC sells over $59 million in emergency food, including MREs that consist of main meals, six sides, six pieces of bread or crackers, six spreads, six desserts, six powdered drink mixes, and coffee.
Our pick for the best tasting MRE is the chicken salsa with clam chowder, crackers, grape jelly, chocolate disc cookies, coffee, and lemon-lime drink powder.
For those who prefer a heartier main meal, we recommend trying the chili mac.
Sopakco 24ct US Military Surplus MRE Meals Ready to Eat 2021 Inspect A+B Case Bundle Menus 1-24
Also impressive is the apple maple oatmeal, grape jelly, crackers, apple sauce with apple pieces, raspberry white chip cookie, tropical punch drink mix with a refreshing flavor, chili mac for a savory meal, cheese spread to complement the crackers, and coffee.
Additionally, there is a beverage powder included for a quick drink option.
2. Emergency Essentials
Located in Salt Lake City, UT, this military food supplier sells over $45 million worth of MREs every year. The meals come in resealable pouches with high calorie content, packaged inside buckets meant for weeks' and months' worth of food. Each bucket includes a variety of meals, including cheese spread.
Our pick for the best tasting MRE is creamy beef stroganoff, cheesy broccoli, and rice soup, Granny's home-style potato soup, traveler's stew, Strawberry Fields cream of wheat, and orange energy drink mix.
Mountain House Expedition Bucket | Freeze Dried Backpacking & Camping Food | 30 Servings
The kit contains two to four weeks' worth of omelet breakfast kits, super stew kits, kits with black bean burgers, freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, and powdered milk.
Additionally, the kit includes MRE meals for emergency situations, as well as food for civilians and military MREs.
3. Wornick from Blue Ash OH
They sell over $32 million in MREs. Wornick produces MREs for the military with their Eversafe packaging for civilian consumption.
You won't believe the best main meal MRE from these guys.
Wornick makes six menus with six entrées, six crackers or power bars, six spreads, desserts, drinks, and coffee, providing a variety of food options for meals.
MRE Beef, Chicken & Pork Entrees Combo – 18 Pack
The absolute best-tasting MRE is chili with beans. You'll swear it's homemade. It comes with pepperoni pizza cheese crackers, vegetable crackers, jalapeño cheese spread, cinnamon imperials, French vanilla cappuccino, and coffee.
4. Ameriqual Group of Evansville IN
They sell over $6 million in military-grade MREs with secure packaging. Their APack Ready Meals are for civilian consumption and contain six low sodium meals in one package, perfect for emergency food supply.
Ameriqual APack MRE Case | Meals Ready to Eat | #1 Military MRE Supplier | 12 Pack | Again Products
You would appreciate the good food options of sweet and sour chicken and rice as part of your MRE meals, accompanied by a banana apple or sweet potato grape smoothie. Try the cranberry or chocolate crisp challenge bar with seasonings for a snack.
5. The Ready Store in Draper UT
They only sell about $4 million in MREs.
The military MREs are big on meals like spaghetti, but our pick for the best food is the chicken, home-style vegetables, and sauce over pasta with banana apple or sweet potato grape smoothie, sunflower butter, crackers, and seasoning kit in convenient packaging.
EasyPrep Instant Favorites 1-Month Emergency Food Storage Kit (1 Bucket, 236 Total Servings, 9 Different Entrees)
6. Meal Kit Supply from Sonoma CA
Meal Kit Supply sells below $1 million in MREs. MRE reviews tell us this is the only company from which to buy your MREs. Their meal kits come with a three-course meal consisting of chili, spaghetti, meatballs, beef ravioli with sides like fried rice or potatoes au gratin.
Gourmet Survival Home Food Storage – 120 Large Servings Meal Assortment: 31 Lbs Emergency Supply – Disaster Prep Freeze-Dried Supply Kit – Dehydrated Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
This meal company differs from others in that they include breakfast with their kits. They offer apple maple oatmeal, sausage patties, pop tarts, hash browns and bacon, pound cake, and strawberry banana milkshakes. We recommend beef ravioli, potatoes au gratin, and the hash browns, bacon, and apple maple oatmeal.
7. MRE Star of Sarasota FL
They sell less than $1 million in military MREs. Their menu includes beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, crackers or tortillas, snacks like corn nuts or trail mix, sugar or oatmeal cookies, fruit-flavored drink mix, coffee, condiments, candy, and even hot sauce.
The meals are packaged securely to ensure the food stays fresh.
MRE STAR Survival Meal Box – Emergency Meals Ready to Eat with Accessories and FRH – Compact and Lightweight Packaging
Your best bet for food is to go with the chicken and vegetables meals, and if you have any mre surplus leftover, we call dibs on one.
Where To Find MREs
Camping and outdoor stores, Army-Navy surplus stores, Walmart, Amazon, off-grid survival websites, as well as the websites of the MRE companies all offer civilian MREs for sale. These meals are a great source of food for outdoor activities and off-grid living. Military-grade MREs are also available at some stores and websites, although prices may vary.
The next time a storm is headed in your direction that could knock the power out, the next time you go hiking the Appalachian trail, or when you feel like checking out what your soldier son or daughter eats when they're stationed across the pond, order an MRE package.
These military MREs are perfect for on-the-go meals and come in convenient packaging with various food options.
Important information about MREs
Before we list the best MRE, you should know that they come with an expiration date before you buy hundreds of them for whatever reason. They're not meant to last for more than three months.
When military food has a short shelf life but isn't refrigerated and is precooked, it can't be done without preservatives.
Vacuum packing the MREs is the only answer to extend the time of consumption. If the meals are consumed after expiration, they will react unfavorably.
While heading out to a survival situation, the best thing to do is to mix the MREs (meals ready-to-eat) with other foods like canned and boxed foods.
At best, MREs (meals ready-to-eat) will last for five years, so it's best to chuck them out as they're nearing their use-by date.
It's important to note that the military commonly uses MREs (meals ready-to-eat) as one of their primary food sources in the field.
The temperature at which you store your military MREs is vital to their longevity with around 40 degrees celsius being the best temperature for one meal.
Final Thoughts
We have to eat. One meal is all we need to hike, survive until the power comes back on, or whatever the situation may be. The makers of MREs know this, and they know that taste has to be good if not excellent in order for our military, hikers, and campers to survive. We've tried them.
They're quite good. Bon appetit!
