And probably another miss…
New options are coming to troops’ rations, and some less popular items will disappear from the menu.
The next iteration of Meals Ready-to-Eat is MRE 46, set to release in 2026.
Among the options — all of which are required to have shelf lives of six months in 100 degrees Fahrenheit and three years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit — troops will no longer see beef taco filling, a pork sausage patty and jalapeno pepper jack beef patty.
Instead, those items will be replaced with buffalo chicken, Cuban-style beef picadillo with vegetables and a Thai-style red curry with chicken and rice.
“Buffalo chicken is something that [soldiers] have requested. It’s a popular item … so we’re hoping that this item will be longstanding,” Julie Edwards, a Combat Feeding Division senior technologist and registered dietitian, said in a U.S. Army release.
Full article, HERE from Army Times.
Gah, hard to believe MREs have been around 1975 and in the field since 1983. And they’ve sucked the entire time, IMHO. Also, us aviators weren’t allowed to get them, since they were clearly labeled ‘Not for preflight/inflight use’.
Honestly, I was happy with the C-rats they replaced. At least with C-rats, you ‘knew’ which ones to stay away from! And some of them were actually pretty good!!!
The ‘names’ for them by the troops are legendary, and I’m sure most of the vets have ‘some’ names for them…
Apparently there is now a pizza option… I do have some freeze dried foods I keep for emergency use, but I bought mine from Mountain House.
I’ve always put MREs in the same class as I do the ‘freeze dried’ astronaut food (freeze dried ice cream? Really?) I tried it once, and no, just no…
What were/are your experiences with MREs? Any that you actually like?
Way back, I tried to like them but the taste of most of entrees requires spices to give it some flavor. Maybe why Buffalo flavor entre is taking off ? I like the concept of a meal in a bag, but making your own MREs makes more sense as far as civilians go.
Chia seed and various nuts gain you light weight and punch above their weight. These do require drinking with water to keeping ‘the train’ moving. Raisons and Peanuts with M&Ms in a baggie has resided in my M65 parka for a good long time.
I’ve eaten MRE’s but never in service . Had cold rats in rough seas when it was dangerous for the mess cooks to be messing with hot foods . I liked the MRE’s I’ve had , but I liked school cafeteria food and was a bologna sandwich kid growing up , not too picky .
My absolute favorite meal was the ham slice. It came with a cheese packet and cocoa powder. Ham, cheese, and crackers + ranger pudding = the breakfast of champions.
Now can somebody please explain to me why the frankfurters came with peanut butter instead of jalapeno cheese?
MREs were after my time. It was Cs for me though I did experience LRP rations.
Me too Jim.
I’ve tried a few MRE’s and know this-
If I was hungry, I’d thank my GOD for them.
I saw all three. The LRPs were probably the worst, the C-Rats by far the best. We used to take them out on Missile Combat Alert. Way better than the high salt/everything-cooked-in-butter Foil Pack meals. I hear the Missile Site crews are getting Honest-to-God Food Service now. About the only good thing that came out of Covid.
There were some good ones. Very few people liked the beef or pork patty, but in Desert Shield / Desert Storm, some of the pilots would go to the “left-overs” box and pull out the ‘freeze-dried’ patties for during the flights. One pilot said it was like beef jerky, kept them busy and or entertained on the long flights up north and back.
Of the 12 choices we had when I was in, only the lima bean infested beef stew was inedible to me.
I understand that was a carry-over item from canned rats that weren’t c-rats anymore but everyone still calls them that.
If you want edible MREs, the French make the best, not even close. At a price of close to $50 per, they are much too expensive, but they’re a 24 hr pack.
I’ve had a limited experience with MRE’s. I had a box of various meals after hurricane Rita, but a nephew’s unlimited gluttony polished them off in a few days. Of the few I tasted, the best was some kind of Italian meal. The bread was terrible. One thing for sure was they were a pleasant change from the sandwiches that were just about the only thing available at the time.
I’ve endured C-rats, LRRP’s and MRE’s. MRE’s were okay but definitely not good eatin’. LRRP’s had a few selections that I actually enjoyed BUT I really liked the C-rats. Beef and potatoes were awesome if you had a heat tab … but I could eat ’em cold and nobody else seemed to like them. It was easy to get in a trade.
I started with C-Rats in Basic. The line of immersion heaters in 30 gallon trash cans full of boiling water to dip your mess kit in. Rinse-soap-rinse-sanitize. Pickup the screaming hot can containing your entree (choose quickly and move along) and then the box of “accessories” that went with it. Break out the P-38 hanging with your dogtags to open the cans and lay the food out in your mess kit. We continued with those initially in my permanent unit, and then went to the early MRE’s that had freeze dried stuff in it. I remember adding water to a brick of strawberries once and I thought they were pretty good. Since I was in charge of the generator and lighting, I warmed mine on the engine. Everyone else ate ’em cold and some (mostly the split tails) actually refused to eat.
I was blessed to be a medic, and only had to eat field rations a few times during my service (1972-1975). My opinion is simple and unrefined: if you are hungry, anything tastes good, but after you’ve eaten the same thing a few times, you’d really rather not do it again.
I do recall the little cans of jelly to be particularly tasty, though.
In the Army 1963-66. C-Rats era. I never minded them. In our organization we ate C-Rats on occasions, presumably to rotate the stocks. Much bitching on C-Rats week. Personally I never minded them. Food is fuel.
Side note. Some Army consolidated mess halls made you wish for C-Rats. Ft Dix comes to mind, where we spent ten days before boarding a troop ship. Chow on our all inclusive cruise aboard the General Maurice Rose was very good.
I ended up in the hospital after eating the spiced beef C-rats. Ugh.
The reason a lot of MRE meals were less-than-spicy is because they were designed that way to fit the common denominator (American mid-west) and were expected to be spiced up by the user.
It’s all a variation of IMAT food. It Makes A Turd. Supposed to be edible for variations of edible and not meant to be used for long term as tray meals are supposed to be the main meal options. Which, of course, got sidetracked by the system.
They’re… okay… There’s too much emphasis on soy and vegetable proteins and not on real actual meat. Which is the same problem with nearly all ‘survival’ foods like Mountain House, a preponderance of soy or vegetable protein and not enough real meat and milk proteins.
Used to take them on longer camping trips, they weren’t bad. Chili Mac was the top choice, the pound cake slice was pretty tasty. It got worse when they stopped providing the little bottles of Tobasco sauce but I hear they are back on newer meals.
All- Thanks, and good points. And yes, Tabasco for the win!
I call 100% B.S. on the “not for preflight/inflight use”. Desert Shield/Desert Storm as well as Bosnia missions. Served MREs at both and suffered the cut in per diem. Especially Desert Shield, that’s all they had early on in the tent cities. Same for inflight, was handed several cases to park on the ramp for later consumption. Box nasties downrange? From what flight kitchen? Safe lifespan of a box nasty in the desert – measurable in minutes, not hours.
And there was lots of bartering for contents of the MREs.
I first had one about 30 years ago. Some were/are very good, and others I wouldn’t give to my dog. The beef stew was good, and I’ve eaten some current production ones, and they’re better than the first ones I had.
I learned about MREs when I joined the Cal. Army Natl Guard,in ’84. Liked ’em. Still like em. I may have reptilian or coyote ancestry, because my “5 second rule”, when something hits the deck, is open ended. I’ve been training my immune system since before I knew I had one.
In ’99. I drove a helicopter fuel truck, chasing the Hughes 500 choppah, around Baja Mexico. I lived off of dirt, roadside, Mexican grills, a pick up, a table, a cooler, a grill, condiments, beer and soda. No matter what you ordered, you got mystery meat. I got over my fat and gristle issue PRONTO. It was delicious! Never got bad food (that I knew of), never got sick.
So yeah, MREs are fine. I have cases of them. I still have some ’84-5 Guard MREs, ate one last year, it was fine.
They aren’t gourmet food. And they beat being hungry. They exist to keep people from starving and to keep ground troops functional. And they do that job adequately.
Freeze dried pork patties made a good addition to ramyon. The beef patties worked, too, but didn’t taste as hood.
I knew guys that complained about the freeze dried fruit, but if had (and took) the time to rehydrate them with the sugar and creamer packs they were pretty good.
The problem was that most MREs needed to be reheated to be edible and that’s not always practical, if even possible.
Started with dark brown bag no-heater MREs in 1990 and closed out with the tan bags w heaters in 2011. Bags with heaters were much better. Items were hit and miss for desirability, and usually depended on personal preference. I couldn’t stand the omelet MRE as it looked like a filled diaper, other people loved them. They’re good enought that I’ve bought three cases in the last 6 months for emergencies/long days on the range/travel meals sans nasty server hygiene issues. The jalapeno cheese on cracker is a meal on its own.
The chili Mac and the spaghetti MREs are decent. Hot helps here, and as always hunger is the best sauce.
My Dad was with the Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) when they were “studying” MREs.
I came home one Friday and Dad asked “You ate C-rations when you were in ROTC, didn’t you?”
NOT the most auspicious beginning to a conversation.
“Um, yeah.”
“Great! Here’s your lunch for tomorrow.”
He handed me a plastic bag that had no writing on it. Instructions were on a mimeographed page. Yes, mimeographed.
The instructions just told me how to mix the contents w/water (hot or cold as needed). I had no idea what the main course was. “Bland” is the best I can say. Highlight of the meal was crumbly crackers and a pouch of peanut butter than didn’t have that wonderful layer of oil like C-rat PB did.
Dad asked to write up a comparison between C-rats and the meal I just (literally) choked down. I did then asked “You aren’t going to give this to troops with live ammo, are you?”
WN- The Navy never gave them to us… Just sayin… And everybody seems to have ‘different’ reactions to MREs depending on when/where they served. Yes, they will make a turd, and will give you food if you are that hungry.
mostly they won’t, lock you up tight for several days. maybe those curry ones are to get things moving gain. ate c-rats for two weeks, 3 a day when the water main at ft. benning burst. ate mres the following 30 years and just had an entree for lunch. not bad in the woods, not the greatest if not in the woods.