Over the past few years, ready to eat meals, such as the one you can buy from XMRE, have garnered a lot of popularity, especially due to the rise of prepper culture. As the name suggests, these are ready to eat meals which means you can eat these right out of the package. These meals were specially developed for military use as a way to provide hot meals to soldiers on the battlefield.



It’s a well-known fact that human beings prefer warm food than cold food and they were developed as a solution to provide hot food to soldiers to keep their spirits up. Thanks to the rise of prepper culture, these meals have become hugely popular, and today, there are hundreds of brands offering these meals in hundreds of different varieties. Today you can find almost anything you can think of in a ready to eat packaging.

Over the years, a number of changes have been made to the way these meals are prepared and packaged. In the earlier years, these meals were not developed to be eaten for a longer period of time. At that time, it was suggested that soldiers eat this meal only for a period of at most 10 days. However, the military found that the soldiers were eating these meals for a period far longer than intended during the war.

Thus, the food engineers in military added in some supplements to provide the necessary nutrition and also made a few more additions to the meals including stable chocolate and shelf stable bread among other things. They also made changes to the menu and the packaging as they observed that adding in commercial graphics increased the consumption and acceptance of these meals.

What Is an MRE?

In simple terms, it serves the self-contained, complete meal. It’s just like canned food, but instead of aluminum cans, these packages are made from a combination of aluminum and plastic. A ready to eat meal available in the market today is designed to provide complete nutrition, and the packaging is designed to withstand exposure to the elements and rough conditions. In most cases, each ready to eat meal contains an entrée, a side dish, a spread, bread or crackers, dessert, beverages, hot sauce along with various accessories and a flameless heater.

Each ready to eat meal is designed to provide up to 1250 calories along with at least 1/3 of the daily allowance of minerals and vitamins. What makes ready to eat meals functional and popular is the sealable container. The sealable container is flexible, flat and lighter which means it can be easily carried in a backpack or your pocket.

To prepare a ready to eat meal, the food is cooked inside the MRE pouch. Once the MRE pouch is filled with food, it is sealed and boiled to ensure that no bacteria remain inside the pouch. However, it is important to keep in mind that these ready to eat meals also have a finite shelf life. In most cases, these meals are designed to have a shelf life of up to 5 years though there are some brands that claim to offer a shelf life of up to 25 years, under certain conditions.

How Does Flameless Heater Work?

The thing that makes a ready to eat meal work is the flameless heater that is included in every single MRE pouch. Most brands typically use a magnesium heater to provide the necessary heat. It’s a small pouch of magnesium that is kept in a heat-resistant plastic bag. Once you are ready to eat your meal, you just need to pour a few drops of water into this heat-resistant plastic bag.

The water reacts with the magnesium which results in oxidation of the magnesium powder inside the bag at a faster rate. This oxidation process creates a lot of heat, and this heat can be used to heat your food. Since it is in a heat resistant pouch, you just need to put this pouch into the meal bag in order to reheat your food.

What Is inside a Meal Ready to Eat Package?

A typical meal ready to eat contains all the necessary nutrients to provide a healthy meal. As mentioned above, the average military MRE meal contains around 1250 calories though some of the brands available in the market offer anywhere from 400 to 3000 calories per package. Most of the meals contain all the required condiments including sauces, salt, and pepper along with a variety of utensils as well as dessert in addition to a beverage. Several different versions of these meals are available.

There are individual entrée servings that are meat or grain based. Some brands also sell vegetarian options containing a wide variety of food. Snacks are also served in a ready to eat version. There are also full meals that is typically what you expect when you are buying an MRE package.

How Do Ready to Eat Meals Work?

These meals are designed to be extremely easy to eat whenever you want to eat them. Here is an easy three-step process to understand how these meals work.

First of all, you should thoroughly read the instructions mentioned on your package. Once you have read the instructions, open up your package and make sure you closely follow the instructions. Your meal will be inside the main package in many different packages. The first thing you need to do is find the entrée and open it. The entrée is already prepared which means you can eat it just fine but if you want to heat it, you can go ahead and heat it with the help of heater.

Your meal package will also contain a flameless heater which will come with additional instructions on how to use it. Typically, you are required to add around an ounce of water to the heater in order to activate it and initiate the chemical reaction. In case your meal does not include a flameless heater, you will need to put the MRE meal in boiling water for a period of around five minutes. That’s all the time you need to reheat your meal.

You can also leave your meal package in the sunlight in order to heat it. If you are at home, you can empty the meal in another dish and put it in the microwave to reheat it.

Once your meal has been heated, you need to wait for some time in order to allow the package to cool down enough to allow you to open it without burning yourself. Make sure to open the package facing away to keep yourself safe. You are now ready to enjoy your MRE meal.

Advantages of Meals Ready to Eat

There are several advantages offered by meals ready to eat and this is the reason, these meals are not only used by soldiers but also by various non-profit organizations during disasters to provide disaster relief. The general public also buys these meals from various brands. However, it is important for you to understand that the general public is not allowed to buy military meals ready to eat and the brands that sell such meals offer civilian meals ready to eat. Typically, people like to stock up on these meal packages to prepare for any kind of emergency. It is a good idea to store such meals to prepare for any emergency as you may find it difficult to get food during an emergency.

One of the biggest advantages of these meals is that these have a great shelf life. When stored in the right conditions, most meals can last anywhere from five years to 10 years. In fact, under the right conditions, these meals can even last up to 25 years. These are packaged in an indestructible pouch that is puncture resistant and floats. Also, the packaging is able to withstand difficult conditions, and it is easy to open.

These meals are easy to transport and offer adequate nutrition. You can quickly prepare these meals and also eat them quickly during a backpacking camping trip. One of the most common misconceptions associated with MRE meals is that these do not offer proper nutrition. It is true that the MRE meals prepared initially did not have all the necessary nutrients as these were not designed to be eaten for a longer period of time. However, things have changed a lot over the years, and these days, manufacturers pay attention to the nutrients inside the package to ensure that the buyer gets all the required nutrients even when they do not have access to the fresh food supply. These meals will not only serve your calorific needs but will also provide you all the necessary minerals and vitamins to ensure a healthy diet.

Another common misconception associated with these meals is that these do not taste good. It’s true that the military meals do not pay much attention to taste but meals ready to eat that are sold to civilians are designed to be delicious and use quality ingredients. In fact, the techniques used in packaging these meals ensure that the flavor of food is preserved. Thanks to the increased demand, today you can find almost all kind of recipes in MRE packaging. In simple terms, you have a number of options when it comes to choosing recipes. Many packages have a wide variety of options ranging from different kinds of starters to different kinds of side dishes to a variety of choices in desserts and beverages.

There is no other option available in the market that offers you reliable food supply as compared to these meal packages. Whether you are out on a camping trip or in a situation where you need a reliable food supply, you can depend on these meals to provide the necessary nutrition for as many days as you want. These meals are also great to eat during emergencies, and you won’t have to worry about food when you are stuck at a place due to an emergency. Experts recommend having at least three weeks meals on hand in order to be prepared for any kind of emergency. You should store these meals in an easily accessible place along with bottled water to ensure that you are prepared for an emergency.

Buying Meals Ready to Eat

As mentioned in the beginning, there is a huge demand for such meals, and many people want to try out these meals due to increased awareness and availability of a wide variety of recipes. However, many people are perturbed by the high prices of these meals.

While it is true that some brands that sell these meals have priced these out of reach of common folks, but it does not mean that you cannot get high quality and delicious ready to eat meals at an affordable price. There are a huge number of companies selling these meals. The first thing you need to do is find more about various companies offering these meals in your location. You can buy these meals online, in big box stores and various other places. Most of the online retailers usually offer special deals every now and then on particular varieties. The best way to find information on such deals is to sign up for the newsletter of the company.

Whenever you find a deal on a particular type of meal that you like, you can stock up and save a lot of money. Many companies also offer sample sales which is also a way for you to build up your inventory. Many online retailers also regularly offer sales on these meals, and it is also another way for you to add to your inventory and have MRE meals at an affordable price.

Another way to save money on these meals is to buy in bulk. If you do not want to buy in bulk, you may join a prep group or make your own group with your friends in order to save money by buying in bulk. Most manufacturers will offer you steep discounts on buying in bulk.

Overall, there are several ways for you to save a lot of money on these meals.