Brand hub
Mountain House
The largest single-brand catalogue in our database - 41 meals out of 284, from the company that put freeze-dried food on the map.
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- 41meals in our DB #1 of 14 brands by size
- 131.0avg cal/oz (462 kcal/100g) #4 of 14
- 52.7avg protein g/1,000kcal #5 of 14
- $23.31avg cost/1,000kcal #8 cheapest of 13 priced

Brand profile
- Mountain House is made by OFD Foods (Oregon Freeze Dry), founded in 1963 in Albany, Oregon. The brand itself launched in 1969 through a partnership with REI, after Oregon Freeze Dry had already been supplying the U.S. military since 1966, and its meals later flew on Apollo 13 and NASA space shuttle missions.
- Backpacker Magazine's 2026 roundup names Mountain House its “Best Budget Backpacking Meal,” listing an average price of about $12.50 - close to the $12.49 median across the 41 priced meals in our own data.
Sources: mountainhouse.com/pages/our-story · Mountain House company history · backpacker.com, Best Backpacking Meals
Who Mountain House suits - and who should look elsewhere
Built from the 284-meal database, not opinion - the same facts anyone can check in the table below.
Good fit if…
- You're planning breakfasts and dinners on the trail: 10 breakfast and 31 main meals cover those two slots, with a real USD price on all 41 of 41 meals - no guessing on cost before you order.
- You want predictable pricing: 23 of the 41 meals are priced at exactly $12.49, the brand's own median - fewer surprises than a lineup with wide price scatter.
Look elsewhere if…
- You need a lunch, snack, or dessert: Mountain House publishes none in our data - every one of its 41 meals is tagged breakfast or main.
- You're managing a food allergy, or shopping by a gluten-free, vegan, or vegetarian label: Mountain House publishes no allergen information for any of its 41 meals in our database, and carries zero diet tags across the lineup. The missing allergen data is a gap in our records, not a claim those meals are free of common allergens - check the package label yourself before buying.

For the best mix of density and value in the Mountain House lineup, Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken is hard to beat: 149 cal/oz (5th-highest of the brand's 41 meals) at $15.23 per 1,000 kcal - the single best cost-per-calorie of any Mountain House meal in our database - with 34 g of protein in an 820-calorie entree.
Every Mountain House meal in our database
41 meals, sorted by calorie density by default - click a column header (or focus it and press Enter) to re-sort.
158556 kcal/100g | 350 | 23 | 29.97 | 2.2 oz63 g | - | |
157554 kcal/100g | 410 | 28 | 31.68 | 2.6 oz74 g | - | |
153541 kcal/100g | 460 | 30 | 23.89 | 3.0 oz85 g | - | |
150528 kcal/100g | 400 | 30 | 32.48 | 2.7 oz76 g | - | |
149526 kcal/100g | 820 | 34 | 15.23 | 5.5 oz156 g | - | |
147518 kcal/100g | 580 | 28 | 21.53 | 4.0 oz112 g | - | |
140495 kcal/100g | 460 | 24 | 28.24 | 3.3 oz93 g | - | |
139491 kcal/100g | 520 | 28 | 24.02 | 3.7 oz106 g | - | |
139489 kcal/100g | 520 | 26 | 24.98 | 3.7 oz106 g | - | |
137484 kcal/100g | 620 | 26 | 18.53 | 4.5 oz128 g | - | |
135478 kcal/100g | 640 | 32 | 19.52 | 4.7 oz134 g | - | |
135478 kcal/100g | 640 | 32 | 19.52 | 4.7 oz134 g | - | |
134471 kcal/100g | 650 | 43 | 19.98 | 4.9 oz138 g | - | |
133470 kcal/100g | 580 | 35 | 22.40 | 4.4 oz124 g | - | |
133469 kcal/100g | 600 | 36 | 20.82 | 4.5 oz128 g | - | |
132467 kcal/100g | 560 | 24 | 22.30 | 4.2 oz120 g | - | |
132464 kcal/100g | 900 | 30 | 16.66 | 6.8 oz194 g | - | |
131461 kcal/100g | 610 | 47 | 21.30 | 4.7 oz132 g | - | |
131460 kcal/100g | 580 | 22 | 21.53 | 4.4 oz126 g | - | |
129457 kcal/100g | 420 | 20 | 29.74 | 3.2 oz92 g | - | |
129455 kcal/100g | 560 | 24 | 22.30 | 4.3 oz123 g | - | |
129455 kcal/100g | 500 | 20 | 24.98 | 3.9 oz110 g | - | |
129455 kcal/100g | 500 | 26 | 24.98 | 3.9 oz110 g | - | |
128451 kcal/100g | 600 | 26 | 20.82 | 4.7 oz133 g | - | |
128450 kcal/100g | 590 | 27 | 22.02 | 4.6 oz131 g | - | |
127446 kcal/100g | 580 | 36 | 21.53 | 4.6 oz130 g | - | |
125442 kcal/100g | 500 | 16 | 15.98 | 4.0 oz113 g | - | |
124436 kcal/100g | 650 | 44 | 19.98 | 5.3 oz149 g | - | |
123435 kcal/100g | 570 | 30 | 22.79 | 4.6 oz131 g | - | |
123433 kcal/100g | 580 | 32 | 21.53 | 4.7 oz134 g | - | |
122431 kcal/100g | 440 | 22 | 28.39 | 3.6 oz102 g | - | |
122431 kcal/100g | 560 | 30 | 22.30 | 4.6 oz130 g | - | |
122431 kcal/100g | 560 | 38 | 22.30 | 4.6 oz130 g | - | |
121426 kcal/100g | 460 | 44 | 27.15 | 3.8 oz108 g | - | |
121426 kcal/100g | 690 | 36 | 21.72 | 5.7 oz162 g | - | |
121426 kcal/100g | 460 | 24 | 27.15 | 3.8 oz108 g | - | |
121425 kcal/100g | 580 | 33 | 22.40 | 4.8 oz136 g | - | |
118417 kcal/100g | 500 | 20 | 24.98 | 4.2 oz120 g | - | |
118417 kcal/100g | 500 | 14 | 24.98 | 4.2 oz120 g | - | |
116407 kcal/100g | 440 | 16 | 26.11 | 3.8 oz108 g | - | |
111390 kcal/100g | 460 | 22 | 27.15 | 4.2 oz118 g | - |
Where the data says Mountain House is strong - and weak
Computed from all 284 meals in our database, not opinion.
Strong
- Largest catalogue we track: 41 of 284 meals (14%) in our database are Mountain House - more than any other of the 14 brands. The next-largest, Trailtopia, has 35.
- Its densest meal, Scrambled Eggs with Uncured Bacon at 157.5 cal/oz, is denser than the single densest meal from 8 of the other 13 brands in our data, including Backpacker's Pantry (137.7 cal/oz) and LyoFood (146.5 cal/oz).
- Full price coverage: all 41 of 41 meals carry a real USD price, unlike Radix Nutrition, which publishes no usable price at all in our data.
- Its best-value meal, Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, comes in at $15.23 per 1,000 kcal - well under the brand's own $23.31 average and competitive with brands priced far cheaper on average.
Weak
- The only brand with 20 or more meals in our database that carries zero diet tags: no vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or dairy-free label on any of its 41 meals. Every other brand of that size (Trailtopia, Backpacker's Pantry, LyoFood, Packit Gourmet, Expedition Foods, Adventure Food, Peak Refuel) tags at least some meals.
- Net weight for all 41 meals came from reading the number printed on the package photo, not from the brand's own published markup - Mountain House's product pages carry full nutrition panels but state no net weight anywhere in the page text.
- Mid-pack on cost: $23.31 per 1,000 kcal on average, the 8th-cheapest of the 13 USD-priced brands in our data - Tent Meals, Adventure Food, Strive Food, Peak Refuel, Expedition Foods, Backpacker's Pantry, and Trailtopia all beat it on average price.
What people say
Independent reviews of Mountain House, quoted briefly with a link to the full source. We have not tested these meals ourselves - this is what other outlets report.
“Flavors are consistently inoffensive and occasionally crave-worthy”
“Sodium levels are through the roof”
Keep exploring
Best freeze-dried meals
See where Mountain House lands against the top picks, ranked on the numbers - no sponsored placements.
Read the guide →RankingMost calorie-dense meals
See how Mountain House stacks up against all 284 meals in the database, ranked by cal/oz.
View ranking →ToolTrip planner
Build a trip food list across every brand in our data, optimised for weight, cost or protein.
Open planner →Head-to-headMountain House vs Peak Refuel
The heritage giant against the denser, cheaper-per-calorie challenger - all 61 meals compared on the numbers.
Compare →Brand hubPeak Refuel
Only 20 meals, but the highest average calorie density of any brand in our database.
View Peak Refuel →