I first picked up on this idea having watched The Outdoor Boys on YouTube. Luke has many videos touting the advantages of making your own frozen ready to eat meals as opposed to the freeze dried options available in stores. Making your own MRE's from leftovers makes great use of meals you already love and will absolutely taste so much better!

Two months ago Sandra I made a stuffed pork tenderloin with gravy. I froze the gravy in single portion sizes, then I placed the frozen gravy in a vacuum seal bag along with two slices of stuffed pork. I vacuum sealed them with our new Cabela's 15" Vacuum Sealer then froze them. Today all I had to do was reheat the meal in the bag in boiling water.

The bags I purchased are BPA free and marked safe for boiling. Not all bags may work for this, please check the product you have before using them in this process.

My MRE reheated in about fifteen minutes from frozen staring with lukewarm water which to me is great. The frozen chunk of gravy covered the steaks of stuffed pork perfectly.

My next batch of MRE's were made from leftover Turkey Soup.

When sealing liquids there are a couple options, the wet setting on the sealer is for items like meats, not soup. When I prepared our leftover soup I stood vacuum sealing bags on end, filled, froze, then vacuum sealed them. This machine also came with four liquid blockers, I haven't tried them yet but will report back when I do.

I reheated the soup from frozen again in the bag in boiling water which took about 20-25 minutes. This process will work great for all soups, chilli, sauces etc.

As tested Luke was indeed correct in that homemade frozen prepared meals are a way better option than freeze dried meals for any outdoor adventure where you have limited time or equipment to make a big fancy cook-up!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith