Good To-Go meals have gained popularity in recent years for good reasons. The company’s integrity in providing the best products as described, and commitment to supplying high-quality food has greatly improved the company’s reputation.
Good To-Go Company Overview
Good To-Go is a company that is located in 484 US Route 1. Kittery, Maine 03904. Currently, the company runs its business in a Yellow Cape House and a Big Red Barn.
The Good-To-Go Company is a company that is focused on producing nutritious and long-lasting survival and backpacking meals.
People Behind the Good To-Go Company
The food recipes come from and the food products are monitored by Jennifer Scism, the head chef. The company is co-founded by a husband and wife team, David Koorits and Jennifer Scism.
Jennifer is a professional chef that has over two decades of experience. She graduated from the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and worked in highly rated restaurants in New York.
In year 2000, Jennifer and Anita Lo opened ‘Annisa’ in New York’s Greenwich village, where Jennifer took the helm as general manager. This restaurant gained huge popularity in year 2005.
After working for 10 years in Annisa, Jennifer moved to the southern coast of Maine in 2010, where she met David Koorits, her husband and business partner. Both of them opened Cape House Catering, catering for events around Maine and New Hampshire for around 2 years before establishing Good To-Go Company.
With such an experienced cook running the show behind Good To-Go company, you can be sure that you’ll be getting food that is tasty, nutritious and well-maintained when you purchase a food from this company.
Good to-Go Backpacking Meals Characteristics
Some key features of the Good-to-Go Backpacking Meals include:
1. Sensitive to your Needs
Good to-Go caters its food to 5 kinds of diet:
a. Carnivore;
b. Gluten Free diet;
c. Pescatarian;
d. Vegan; and
e. Vegetarian
In fact, you can select your meals based on the above kinds of diet using the available filter function at the Good to-Go website.
For Carnivore Diet, there are 4 items you can choose from:
For Gluten Free meals, there’s a wide selection of 20 options you can choose from:
For Pescatarian, there are 6 options you can choose from:
Good To-Go meals have several options for vegetarians and a selection of food specifically catered for vegan, which are these 6 options: (Selections for vegetarians similarly apply for vegans)
In fact, Good to-Go is one of the company selling the best vegan emergency food kit, which is something notable.
This is one of the few backpacking / survival food companies that intentionally caters its food for people with celiac disease and vegans.
You will have the option to purchase gluten-free products or vegetarian food.
Although their facility are not certified to be gluten-free, it has been lab tested for gluten content and it’s proven to be below the FDA standard of 20 ppm (parts per million). They have customers plagued with celiac disease consume their products.
Also, there’s a wide range of vegan and vegetarian products. In fact, most of their products are vegetarian.
The chef intentionally mixed ingredients such as beans and rice which helps create a complete protein.
2. Organic Products
This company is not certifiably organic, but the company makes it a point to work with many organic ingredients i.e. ingredients that comes from farms that are certified to be organic.
The company uses a portion of ingredients that don’t bear this certification for its own reasons, but the company ensures that the ingredients are high-quality.
3. Perfect Balance between being shelf stable and nutrition
Food that designed to have a long shelf-life often have an issue with maintaining its nutritional content. However, Good To-Go meals are made in such a way to provide a decent shelf life without compromising on the food’s nutrition.
Good To-Go meals are dehydrated. The company dehydrates the food by bringing the food to 165 °F for several seconds
This is important because dehydrated food created through such a means are:
a. Often are smaller in size and have its weight reduced because the water content in the food has been removed;
b. Are more shelf stable, being able to last for years; and
c. Nutritional value of the food are not reduced.
4. No Preservatives are used
Since Good To-Go prioritizes keeping its food healthy for consumption, no preservatives are added.
The longer shelf life is primarily attributed by the dehydration process used to prepare the meals.
5. Designed to have longer shelf life
Generally, Good To-Go meals have a decent shelf life of several years, but no longer than five years.
The food is designed to last long because of the
Best Good to-Go Backpacking Meals
In total, there are at least a selection of 15 products you can purchase from Good to-Go.
Also, there are 5-day emergency food kit and the Weekender Variety Pack which consists of carefully selected pouches to fulfill certain needs.
For example, the Weekender Variety Pack #1 is specifically designed to be a weekend meal plan, an excellent choice for your weekend backpacking trip. It consists of the right amount of Thai Curry, Granola and Mexican Quinoa Bowl to get you through the weekend.
While the 5-Day Emergency Food Kit is designed to prepare you for most survival situations, giving you a short-term emergency food supply on hand. The food are specifically selected to be calorie dense, where 5 breakfasts and 10 entrées are carefully selected for this purpose.
If you are not in a particular kind of diet, and you want to start trying out some Good To-Go products, it may be difficult to decide on which product may be a good fit for you.
After hours of reviewing the various Good to-Go meals, here’s a list of the most popular meals sold by Good to-Go.
NOTE: I have intentionally listed out all products from the MOST POPULAR & SOUGHT AFTER items based on market research and my personal opinion.
If you want to have a quick look, here’s a comparison table:
| Image | Product | Calories (1 serving) | Water Needed (1 serving) | Shelf Life | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Thai Curry | 380 | 300 ml | 5 years | $$ | Check BEST Price |
  | Pad Thai | 430 | 250 ml | 4 years | $$ | Check BEST Price |
  | Mushroom Risotto | 410 | 250 ml | 5 years | $$ | Check BEST Price |
  | BIBIMBAP | 370 | 225 ml | 5 years | $$ | Check BEST Price |
REMOVE UNNECESSARY GUESSWORK AS YOU FIND OUT THE BEST GOOD TO-GO MEALS AVAIALBLE!
1. Thai Curry
This is THE MOST popular product by the Good To-Go Company.
In fact, this product sells out pretty fast. If you can’t get it on Amazon, you can get it from Good To-Go’s online store (provided you are located in the United States).
This product won the Backpacker Magazine Editors’ Choice Award in year 2014, and remains a popular choice for backpackers.
Characteristics – The Thai Curry is a spicy yellow coconut curry which is filled with healthy ingredients such as broccoli, cauliflower, peas and green beans.
The full list of ingredients include: Green Beans, Jasmine Rice, Onion, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Peas, Coconut Milk Powder (Freshly Pressed Coconut Milk, Maltodextrin (from corn), Sodium Caseinate), Fish Sauce (Water, Anchovy Extract, Salt, Sugar), Garlic, Grape Seed Oil, Lemongrass, Dark Brown Sugar, Tamarind Concentrate (Tamarind, Water), Ginger, Turmeric Powder, Coriander, Cumin, Cinnamon, Dried Thai Chilies, Cardamom, Yellow Mustard Seeds, Black Peppercorns, Fennel Seeds, Cloves, Kaffir Lime Leaf Powder, and Bay Leaf.
The Thai Chilies give the dish just the right amount of spice, which even provides immunity benefits.
The fragrant jasmine rice is added to give an authentic Thai flavour, while the coconut milk and lemongrass helps amplify the unique flavour.
The Thai Curry backpacking meal is gluten-free, suitable for people with celiac disease and Pescatarian.
The Thai Curry has a shelf life of 5 years, which is pretty decent.
Here’s a snapshot of the nutrition you’ll be getting:
Easy Preparation – The Thai Curry meal is easy to prepare, suitable for backpacking.
First, you’ll need to tear the pouch open, and remove the oxygen absorber and the coconut milk powder pouch.
Second, add the coconut milk powder into the bag.
Third, start pouring boiling water into the bag. For Single serving, add a quarter cup (300 milli liters) of water, while for double serving, add two and a half cups (600 milli liters) of boiling water.
If you use 300 ml of water, it will come out soupy. If you prefer the thai curry to be thick, you can use 200 ml of water.
Fourth, stir the contents in the bag and then reseal it.
Fifth, you’ll have to let the food soak for at least 20 minutes. The recommended amount of time is 20 minutes, but you may want to let it soak longer. If you didn’t let the food soak long enough, you will get quite a few bites of hardened food.
Thoughts – This is an outstanding backpacking meal! It is comparable with other gourmet backpacking food and delicious enough to be one of the top picks.
The food is filled with flavour and spice, which is perfect for lunch or dinner. The spice level is good enough to give some kick, but by no means can it be considered overpowering.
The food is filling enough and has a good amount of spice in it. It’s suitable to act as both a main course or a side dish.
Additionally, the Good To-Go team didn’t compromise on the nutrition. Just take a look at the ingredient list and you can see that it’s made up of various anti-inflammatory ingredients.
2. Pad Thai
The second most-popular meal selected from the many Good To-Go backpacking meal options is the Pad Thai. The Pad Thai often sells out in Amazon. I would recommend ordering Pad Thai through Good to-Go official website, especially if you’re located within the United States.
In essence, it is Rice Noodles with wild American Shrimp Sauce and Peanuts. Although it sounds SIMPLE, the taste is definitely UNIQUE.
Characteristics – The Pad Thai is designed to capture all four Thai flavors including sweet, sour, saltiness and spiciness.
The full list of ingredients include: Traditional Banh Pho Rice Noodles, Carrots, Whole Pasteurized Eggs, Onion, Bean Sprouts, Brown Sugar, Textured Vegetable Protein (Defatted Soy Flour), Dry Roasted Peanuts, Grapeseed Oil, Fish Salt (Anchovy, Sea Salt), Rice Flour, Garlic, Tamarind Powder (Tamarind), Wild American Dried Ground Shrimp, Dried Scallions, Dried Cilantro, Lime Juice Powder (Maltodextrin, Lime Juice, Lime Oil), Turmeric, and Dried Thai Chiles.
Here’s a snapshot of the nutrition:
The main ingredients that makes this dish unique is the Traditional Banh Pho rice noodles and the carefully selected and prepared Wild American Dried Ground Shrimp.
The pasteurized egg pack and crunchy peanuts are added to enhance the taste.
Even with these fresh ingredients, the Pad Thai is made to last up to 4 years.
Easy Preparation – Similar to what I described above, you’ll just have to:
a. Tear the pouch open and remove the oxygen absorber and peanut pouch;
b. Add the peanuts into the bag;
c. Add BOILING water into the bag. For single serving, add 250 ml of boiling water; for double serving, add 500 ml.
d. Stir the contents in the bag and then reseal it.
e. It is recommended that you let the contents in the bag soak for at least 15 minutes.
Thoughts – This is definitely one of the top backpacking meals available for lunch or dinner, especially if you’re craving for real nutritious handmade cooked meals.
There’s a good amount of flavor, it’s filling and it’s lightweight enough to carry in a backpacking trip. The flavor comes from the good texture
Single portions are usually able to fill you up adequately.
Plus, they are definitely palatable, has a good balance of sodium, definitely a meal that can satisfy your hunger after hours of hiking.
3. Mushroom Risotto
Overview – If you love classic risotto, you’ll love the Good to-Go Mushroom Risotto. This is 3rd on the list for a good reason, because it’s similarly well-loved and cherished by the backpacking community.
The Mushroom Risotto also gets sold out in Amazon pretty often, so you may want to buy it on the Good to-Go official website.
Characteristics – The Mushroom Risotto is a traditional and simple dish made out of few ingredients (I can count them with my fingers! Well … almost … )
The food is made from Arborio Rice, Cremini Mushrooms, Onions, White Wine, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Nutritional Yeast, Garlic, Sweet Rice Flour, Walnuts, Basil, Kosher Salt, Thyme and Black Pepper.
Some important ingredient highlights include the traditional arborio rice and Cremini Mushroom which gives it most of its taste.
Additional ingredients like the Nutritional Yeast helps add creaminess to the dish while keeping it meat-free.
The Mushroom Risotto backpacking meal has a long 5-year shelf life which makes it suitable to stockpile for SHTF situation.
Some serving sizes you can purchase include:
a. Single serving, 3.4 Oz
b. Double serving, 6.6 Oz
c. 6-Pack of Double Serving Pouches
d. 6-Pack of Single Serving Pouches
Here’s a snapshot of the nutrition:
Preparation – Preparing the Good to-Go Mushroom Risotto is simpler than any other meals in the list.
First, tear the pouch open and take out the oxygen absorber.
Next, add boiling water into the bag. For single serving, you’ll need to add 250 ml of boiling water, while for double serving, you’ll need to add 500 ml of boiling water.
Do take note that there’s a small line at the outside of the bag, which indicates the amount of water you need to put into the bag.
Third, stir the contents of the bag.
After that, you’ll just have to let the contents of the bag soak for at least 20 minutes.
You may want to let the contents soak a bit longer or stir the contents in the bag after 10 minutes in to make sure everything is cooked well.
Thoughts – The Mushroom Risotto backpacking meal is really versatile, you can consume it in any situation. You can bring it on a hiking trip, a backpacking trip, or even when you’re stocking up for a survival situation or you’re just travelling on an airplane.
It’s a simple and delicious meal that can fill your hunger and cravings in any situation. In fact, it may be one of the most delicious backpacking meals you’ll be able to get. I can vouch for it. If it was cheaper, I can even eat it everyday for lunch or dinner.
The Mushroom Risotto is delicious. You can even say that it has gourmet food taste.
The flavour is original, and not too salty unlike most backpacking meals. It comes with a basil flavor.
The mushrooms added to the meal gives a meaty texture which is unique.
One tip is that you should let it cook for a longer time especially if you’re on higher altitude or in colder weather.
4. BIBIMBAP
Overview – The Good to-Go Bibimbap is another popular product amongst backpackers because of its unique taste.
This is basically spicy Korean ‘mixed rice’ with a balanced touch of sesame, carrots and spinach.
Characteristics – The Bibimbap is carefully crafted from this list of ingredients:
Carrots, Medium Grain White Rice, Onions, White Distilled Vinegar, Dried Zucchini, Gochugaru (Korean Red Chili Pepper), Brown Sugar, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Sesame Oil, Raw Sesame Seeds, Garlic, Red Miso Powder (Fermented Soybeans, Salt), Dried Spinach, Sea Salt and Dried Scallion.
All of these ingredients are carefully calibrated to cater for a flavorful and nutritious meal.
Some of the key ingredients include the Gochujang, a unique flavorful sauce that made using Korean chili and fermented miso.
The add-ons like the spinach, mushroom and carrots help add to the taste and nutrition.
This meal has a shelf life of 5 years.
The available serving sizes include:
a. Single serving, 3.4 Oz
b. Double serving, 6.7 Oz
c. 6-Pack of Double Serving Pouches
d. 6-Pack of Single Serving Pouches
Here’s a snapshot of the nutrition facts:
Preparation – The way to prepare the Bibimbap is identical to how you need to prepare the Mushroom Risotto. Basically, there’s 4 steps:
First, tear open the pouch and remove the oxygen absorber.
Second, add boiling water into the bag. For single servings, you’ll need to add 225 ml of boiling water. For double serving, you’ll need to add at least 450 ml of boiling water.
Third, you’ll need to stir the contents of the bag.
Fourth, you’ll need to wait for at least 20 minutes.
Of course, I’ll recommend stirring the contents of the bag 10 minutes in, just to make sure that the food is cooked well.
Thoughts – Although this is a backpacking meal, the Good to-Go Bibimbap actually tastes like the real thing.
The Bibimbap is a pretty spicy and has a spicy meter of hot medium. The spicy meter is located at the back of the bag. You may want to avoid this if you are not able to eat spicy food.
Also, if you’re keeping this for hiking, make sure that you’ll be able to stomach the spiciness.
If you like spicy food, want to get a nutritious meal and want eat something that has a gourmet feel while you’re outdoors, the Bibimbap is a good choice.
It has really good flavor and is just the right amount of food.
The Bibimbap can also be used as a filling for tortillas.
All in all, it’s easy to pack, has great taste and is very filling. Definitely a food worthwhile to store for an SHTF situation.
5. CLASSIC MARINARA WITH PASTA
Overview – The Good to-Go Classic Marinara with Pasta is basically what it is as described, which is Pasta with thick and tasty marinara sauce.
Marinara sauce is basically seasoned tomato sauce. If you like to eat a treat from Good to-Go that isn’t spicy, this is a suitable pick.
Characteristics – The ingredients used to make the Good to-Go Pasta with marinara are:
Canned Tomatoes (Peeled Tomatoes, Tomato Puree, Salt, Citric Acid, Basil Leaf), Brown Rice Pasta (Brown Rice, Rice Bran, Water), Onion, Tomato Paste (Vine Ripened Tomatoes), Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Agave Nectar, Garlic, Nutritional Yeast, Kosher Salt, Dried Basil, Dried Oregano, Dried Thyme, Black Pepper and Red Pepper Flakes.
The most prominent ingredients are the brown rice pasta (gives you sufficient carbs to get through the day) and the marinara sauce which is made from tomato paste and classic Italian herbs.
This pasta is gluten-free and vegan.
It has a shelf life of 5 years.
If you’re interested in a snapshot of the nutritional information, here it is:
Preparation – You’ll be able to prepare the meal in 3 simple steps.
First, open the pouch and remove the oxygen absorber.
Second, boiling water into the pouch. For single serving, you’ll need to add one cup with 225 ml of boiling water, while for double serving, you’ll need to add 450 ml of boiling water.
Third, stir the contents in the bag and let it sit for at least 20 minutes.
You’ll be able to start chowing down on the pasta after step 3.
Thoughts – The Good to-Go pasta with Marinara sauce goes especially well with additions such as your favorite protein.
People who doesn’t have a stomach for spicy food should definitely try this.
Many people including myself find this entrée to be tasty and filling, it can easily replace and be one of your favorite meals for lunch or dinner. The taste and texture of the food feels similar to homemade meals.
The pasta is a good option for you to grab a bite if you don’t want to eat out.
If you’re health conscious, this pasta is a great selection for you as well. It is only made with 600mg of sodium (for the pouch 2 servings), which is much less than most meals sold in the market.
You can even eat this pasta as a snack too. For me, this spaghetti is a meal that hits the spot, but the serving size is a bit too small.
6. Mexican Quinoa Bowl
Overview – You can enjoy Mexico’s national dish even when you are backpacking outdoors. The Good to-Go Mexican Quinoa Bowl primarily contains black beans and butternut squash.
Characteristics – This traditional Mexican Quinoa Bowl contains ingredients like:
Quinoa, Dried Black Beans, Winter Squash, Corn, Onion, Dried Butternut Squash, Dried Tomato Flakes, Poblano Pepper, Agave, Grapeseed Oil, Garlic, Cacao Powder, Sesame Seeds, Sea Salt, Cumin, Cinnamon, Ancho Chili Powder, Coriander, Fennel Seed, Dried Scallion, Dried Cilantro and Mexican Oregano.
The Butternut Squash and Black Beans are dressed in a unique sauce made from traditional ingredients including organic Cacao Powder which has a good amount of antioxidants and iron, cinnamon and cumin.
Good to-Go also generously included butternut squash, tomato and corn in this meal as well, which makes this meal taste much richer.
Plus, it’s gluten-free and vegan too.
The food has a pretty decent shelf life of 4 years.
Here’s a snapshot of the nutrition facts:
Preparation – The Mexican Quinoa Bowl is extremely easy to prepare.
All you have to do is open the pouch, remove the oxygen absorbers, add boiling water (for single serving, you’ll need to add 225 ml of water, as for double serving you’ll need to add 450 ml of water), stir and then let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
Thoughts – Besides being an excellent filling for a burrito, this backpacking meal is tasty and suitable for most.
The Good to-Go Mexican Quinoa Bowl tastes genuine, and is at least better than Mexican bowls in fast food restaurants.
Also, unlike most manufactures that falsely claim to contain 2 servings of food, this meal is a true 2-serving meal that can fill your hunger.
You can eat the Mexican Quinoa Bowl together with other Good to-Go dishes such as the Thai Curry. If you tend to eat more, this entrée is good for pairing up with other Good to-Go backpacking meals.
This is a delicious vegan meal that you won’t imagine yourself eating, until you have come across this backpacking meal.
You can even stock this up as a survival food so that you have an entrée that’s tasty, filling and nutritious when shit hits the fan.
Conclusion
I hope that this review gives you a good idea of what Good to-Go has to offer. You have a wide variety of options to choose from, although I have only selected the most popular items they have to offer.