Good To-Go Thai Curry

Excellent flavor and easy instructions offset the long wait time. This was my personal favorite of the two Good To-Go samples I tried, but had similar hydration issues (no more than other meals of its kind).

Note:  Some of the text below is similar to my review of Good To-Go’s Smoked Three Bean Chili but most of the detail is specific to this meal.

I did this review to supplement Lah’s excellent review of the meal and to give another non-biased account of experience with it. No offense to other reviewers, but several seem to be related to the company in some way and I felt they might not carry the same weight as non-affiliated reviews.  I do appreciate the fairness of these reviewers admitting their relationships to the company.
First off, when evaluating food choices I think it is a good baseline to describe my eating habits on the trail:

• Lots of fresh stuff on short trips especially first day or so
• Meals are usually a base (rice, pasta, barley) with home dehydrated vegetables and flavor/spices
• Supplement the menu for variety with pre-packaged meals and sides, tending to stay with favorites.
• Not usually a boil in bag guy– I find simmering my own meals hydrates them better (using wood burner so no fuel issues)

Testing:

I approach a meal test the same way for pre-packaged as I do for my own recipes and concoctions. Rather than relying on my trail hunger to override my taste buds, I test each meal out at home or the office to ensure I like it in “normal” surroundings. If I enjoy it there, I know I will like it on the trail. This takes the “I’m starving and will eat anything after a long day” factor out of the evaluation.

I have yet to have a meal on the trail taste worse than it did at home. Therefore I feel this is a high-bar test of the product. I do make sure I have worked out extensively that day to ensure that I have an appetite somewhat resembling what I will be like on the trail. I also follow instructions to the letter with the amount of water etc in order to get a consistent comparison. I usually (and did this time) test at lunch during work so I can see if it keeps me full and sustained through the rest of the day.

Results:

The Good To-Go Thai Curry comes in a sturdy package that looks like it can stand up to some abuse. I had no problem shaking it around to mix it and felt confident it would hold the meal after hydrating with no issues. I knew it wouldn’t leak and the shape of the bottom kept it balanced and difficult to tip over. The only, very minor, drawback with the packaging is that it is not clear if the material is recyclable after use and washing.

The instructions were clear as you could ask: just tear the package open, remove the oxygen absorber, add the coconut milk powder, add boiling water, mix well, and wait 20 minutes. During the wait they offer some friendly and mildly humorous advice – always welcome after a long day on the trail.
The coconut milk was powdery and didn’t clump when boiling water was added. I stirred with a utensil then closed and shook/massaged the bag until I felt the mix was thorough. As I mentioned in my review of the Smoked Three Bean Chili, I found the 20 minute wait time a bit long compared to other meals of its kind.

I am a patient cook in camp who simmers his own meals on a regular basis, but would tend to go for this type of meal on one of those days when you reach camp with a ravenous hunger after a really long day on the trail pushing the limits of your endurance. Having to wait about 30 minutes to start the stove, boil water, and hydrate the meal would be a negative, but I guess snacks could fill the gap.
Rehydration of the curry was as good as any pre-packaged backpacking meal I have tried, but still not 100 percent. There were several vegetables that were still a little on the crunchy side, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Maybe the mixing wasn’t as thorough as I thought, or it needs slightly longer than 20 minutes? 

Either way, it was a minor amount of “crunchies” which I expect in this type of dinner. In future I will try hydrating for longer or maybe simmer the meal in a pot, but I wanted to stick to the instructions for this test.

The flavor of the Thai Curry was excellent – the best of the Good To-Go samples I have tried (Smoked Three Bean Chili being the other one). Truth be told, I might be slightly biased as I was raised on curry and it is still my favorite meal. I did add some curry powder to the second half of the meal to simulate what I might do on the trail, and that gave it the right amount of kick for me.

I could also really taste the freshness, and lack of preservatives. This is a simple meal with all natural vegetarian ingredients that you can easily see in each bite. I always enjoy a meal more when I know it is healthy and can taste that difference.

Check out the ingredient list (Good To=Go even points out how easy it is to pronounce them).  Please note that I am not a vegetarian by any means, but can enjoy a variety of food. If you really need meat or a protein boost in a meal I would suggest considering using a little more water and adding dehydrated or freeze dried chicken to the mix. The flavors would seem to work well together at least in theory.
I ate this 3.5 oz serving for lunch at work, after not snacking all morning and doing a full hour on the elliptical before work. I was completely satisfied with the 380 calorie serving and made it no problem to dinner time. I am not sure the 3.5 oz serving would work for a hungry hiker dinner, but feel confident the 7 oz version would fill your tummy!

Conclusion:

Overall this is an excellent choice for an easy backpacking meal that fills the corners and tastes good. The only down side I found was the long wait time that still resulted in some vegetables not fully hydrated. I can simmer my own meals within 20 minutes, but that may be too much work for most folks.

I don’t think any meal will convert me to a regular package meal guy, but I recognize this is better than most others I have tried and may be on my list for longer trips to help with backpack weight and menu variety. This is a very good choice for the fuel conscious and non-fiddlers in camp. The Thai Curry is a healthy alternative to overly processed options with much longer ingredient lists. 

I rate this highly with only a reduction for the hydration issue common to many meals of this type. The Smoked Three Bean Chili was not as flavorful in my (curry biased) opinion but I rated it slightly higher since it had less “crunchies”.  Hope you enjoyed this review and find this meal as tasty and convenient as I did!

This is a fresh, healthy and tasty alternative to the every growing line of pre-packaged backpacker meals. The taste and ingredient list are excellent but the re hydration period is quite a bit longer than other similar products.

I would highly recommend this product for those looking specifically for an all-natural, gluten-free option. And since I'm a huge fan of Thai food, this is a well-received addition to my outdoors kit.

A note: I’ve included some of the same commentary for all three Good To Go reviews—Smoked Three Bean Chili, Thai Curry, and Herbed Mushroom Risotto. For particulars of each meal, skip to the section titled 'Taste'.

Here's what was included in my sample box...note the bonus 'happy' beverages!

About Me:  I have progressed somewhat in my backcountry cuisine habits but will never achieve true greatness. You won't likely ever catch me porting fresh, raw ingredients into the wilderness to ingeniously craft baked goods in a dutch oven. I’m just not much of a cook at home and so my choices in backcountry foods are even more basic. I also like to travel light, fast, and for long distances, which just doesn’t equate to grand culinary efforts.

For years, my budget for three square meals on a backpacking trip consisted of 1-2 Clif bars for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and a pasta side mixed with tuna for dinner. Oh, and don’t forget the desert chocolate! I’ve added in the usual suspects such as dried fruit, nuts, beef jerky, etc., but my strategy has always been very minimalistic. Where many are willing to carry more weight in order to have fresh food, I always saw this as an opportunity to cut weight.

Fortunately I’ve also been able to get by doing more for less in terms of caloric burn/ intake, at least for periods up to a week. But I realize this won’t work for everyone nor would it probably work for me if I were to ever take on an extended thru-hike.

A size comparison of Good To Go meals to other market competitors

The area where I stand to realize great improvement is in the quality of the dehydrated foods that I carry in my pack. A few years ago I started upgrading from the ramen and pasta packets to the trendier purpose-made meals, the likes of Mountain House and Backpacker’s Pantry.

While it’s true that most of these options provide very lightweight, quick, easy, AND tasty/filling meals, they’re still not exactly what you’d call healthy. Mainly they’re chocked full of sodium, some with as much as 45% DV per serving!  These, like so many packaged foods, also tend to have a lot of artificial ingredients and preservatives.

So I am glad to see a small, family owned start-up company like Good To Go filling the niche of healthier, more natural backpacking meals. They have taken all the benefits of the self-contained packaging and filled it with more nutritious, better-tasting, real food.

Taste: I must admit that I'm a huge fan of Thai food and curries in general. So I had to exercise constraint in not ripping into this sample immediately. Finally after a 10-mile paddle (one-way) to one of the most remote Florida Keys, I felt satisfied that I had earned the right to do my taste test. And the wait and effort, plus view, were worth it!

First, I was surprised to find that the powdered coconut milk comes in a separate packet, I guess to preserve freshness. Upon discovering this incredible product, I now want to know where I can find more of this stuff! It is delicious by itself but adds a lot of richness to the meal. It would also go great in drinks, mixed with oatmeal, etc. But I digress. I also enjoyed the large chunks of vegetables. It really did not feel like I was eating a backpacking meal.

I enjoyed this meal at high noon on the beach, with a cold Singha beer to accentuate things. The medium spice from the curry and the heat of the sun were not quite quenched by this, so I later took the show into the water. It was nice to be able to enjoy these flavors in such a lovely tropical setting...I could almost envision being back on the beach in Thailand from my travels years ago.

Prep: The long re-hydration period is probably the biggest downside. Instructions call for a full 20 minutes after boiling water has been added. This wouldn’t be a big deal if one is settled down in camp for the night. The package can be sealed and set aside while various other chores are accomplished and the time will go by quickly. The package suggests that you ponder ‘how big the universe is’…good advice I think.

Even though I made the meal for lunch, I had some time on this trip to be able to enjoy my meal. All the ingredients re-hydrated well, perhaps because I also made sure to add plenty of water. It ended up being a little runny but this is close to what curries are often like.

Packaging: The packaging is top notch. I didn’t struggle to open it, it sealed easily, and the bottom expands sufficiently in order to stand upright unsupported. I was impressed by how slim and compact the package is compared to other similar products.

I would note that in this picture, the sample is being compared to double-serving packages, so it’s not a fair comparison. But it does give you an idea of scale if you’re familiar with these other products. My only suggestion would be to include a fill line on the packaging to know how much water to add. I tend to just pour water in until it ‘looks good’…so perhaps it’s time I invest in marking lines on my pot.

Satiety & Energy:

I had the curry for lunch as part of full day, 20-mile paddle. I ate another small item with lunch but now I can't even remember what it was. I had brought a lot of food but after the meal, I wasn't hungry anymore. Essentially it was the curry that lasted me through the day. It was a long and very tiring day, but my exhaustion was more due to the heat and the fact that I hadn't paddled that distance in over a year. In fact, I hadn't even paddled a short distance in months.

So all things considered, I felt the curry was very satiating and energy rich. I didn't even feel hungry until later that night, but perhaps this also had to do with the couple of beers that we downed after we got back to the marina.

Since I’m used to eating very little during the day and then splurging on double-serving meals for dinner, I would probably opt for the same strategy with this product. That or bring other foods to pair it with. I’m not a vegetarian so I would probably consider pairing it with beef jerky or some sort of packet protein like tuna.

I did note that of all the various meal samples I have on stock, the Good To Go meals have by far the most calories per serving, from 340 to 410. If you’re looking for better bang for your buck in terms of caloric density, these would be a good choice. However, at around 3.4 oz per serving, they are not quite as lightweight as some of the others (though still plenty light for backpacking).

This weight per serving would probably be reduced slightly if you opt for the double-serving package and plan to split the contents between meals or two persons (does anyone actually do this in the backcountry, I’m curious to know?)

Claims:

All three Good To Go selections are both gluten free and vegetarian (except the Thai Curry, which is pescatarian). They are advertised as being ‘real food’ and in reading the ingredient list, this claim is not exaggerated.

In fact, just looking inside the packets, you can recognize actual food stuffs…in the case of the Thai Curry, there are whole chunks of broccoli florets!

Mmmm...look at those chunks of vegetables

I would also point out that the three selection are generally much lower in sodium than their counterparts. The Thai Curry has the most at 500mg, the chili has only 360 mg and is also pretty is high in protein at 16 g. So in my experience, these meals did provide a fresh, healthy and tasty alternative to the every growing line of backpacker meals.

Best For: I would recommend these products especially for outdoors people that are particularly conscious of food ingredients. My friend Megan is a good example. She loves the outdoors and also enjoys spending hours prepping amazing foods for the trail. She is vegan and thus has to essentially create all her own meals from scratch. Knowing this, I asked her to try the Smoked Three Bean Chili on a hike and after reading the ingredient list, she agreed that she could eat it. She also agreed that the taste was great for a pre-packaged, dehydrated meal.

Final thoughts: Aside from the good taste and nutritious nature of the products, I also like the idea of supporting small American businesses. The co-founder of the company, Jennifer Scism, is a former New York City chef who now resides with her husband and business partner in Maine. It's the little things, like a handwritten postcard from Jennifer included in my sample package, that impress upon me the sincerity and genuineness of such small businesses. 

As always, I thank them and Trailspace for the opportunity to do some TASTE-testing (my favorite kind of gear testing!) and I wish them all the best in their new endeavors.

Restaurant-quality food on the trail. Simple as that.

I’ve tried the Thai Curry from Good-to-Go twice and both times the food was delicious and easy to prepare. Generally speaking, I avoid pouch meals and prefer to make my own with a combination of store bought goods and home dehydrated goods. However, those meals tend to be more simple and straightforward.

The Thai curry is flavorful and worth the few extra dollars. I’ll continue picking up one of Good-to-Go’s pouched meals for multi-day trips in order to have a reliably delicious meal in my pack that can be consumed when I’m tired and need that extra bit of flavor and energy.

Taste:
Thai curry is made in our house fairly regularly, and I like to order it when visiting Thai restaurants. I wouldn’t consider myself a Thai curry connoisseur by any means, but I’ve had my fair share of good and not so good Thai curry, and this most certainly falls into the good category.

The flavor is balanced well with the spices you’d expect to find in Thai curry, including ginger, garlic, turmeric (hence the yellow color), Thai chilies, fish sauce, cumin, coriander, cloves, pepper, cardamom, etc. For me, it could use a little more ginger and onion (they are present but weaker flavored), but those are personal taste preferences that I realize could turn others away.

Prep:
The simplicity of pouch meals is that with nothing more than some hot water and time, the food is ready. With that said, this certainly requires time (20 minutes minimum). The first one I had I was impatient for and ate after 12-15 minutes, which led to a still semi-crunchy texture.

However, the second time I tried it was during a canoe trip, which allowed me time to boil water and pour it in the pouch. I then got back in the boat and paddled for another 20-30 minutes until finding a good spot to pull off and have lunch. I recommend waiting the full recommended 20 minutes, as the texture is better and all ingredients are fully cooked.

The first time I ate this directly from the pouch, but the second time I plopped it on a couple soft burrito shells, which served as a makeshift naan, and complimented the Thai curry very nicely.

Satiety:
The first pouch I split with my wife, which was not filling for two. The second time I devoured on my own, which was plenty for me. For sufficient fill and energy, I recommend treating this as a single serving (which the pouch is labeled as).  

Packaging:
The zip top pouch makes it very easy to pack in and pack out, without worrying about spillage. The pouch seems much larger than necessary. A long-handled spoon is not required, but certainly comes in handy due to the pouch’s volume.

Other than a smaller bag, another recommendation of mine is that I’d like to see a “Fill to Here” line added to the inside of the pouch, that way even if you don’t have a measuring device, you know exactly how much water to add to the pouch.

Recommendation:
This Thai curry is good for anyone who enjoys the robust flavors and spices of Thai curry and the convenience of pouched meals while hiking, canoeing, climbing, camping, etc. If you’ve never had Thai curry in the backcountry, I strongly recommend this product. If you've never had Thai curry period, what are you waiting for? 

A dehydrated pouch meal providing restaurant quality flavor? Yeah. Good To-Go Thai Curry really is that good. Believe the hype. GTG really does excel.

So yes, I'll admit that almost any food tastes better on the trail (With the possible exception of Libby Beef Crumbles!), but I was not expecting Good To-Go's Thai Curry to be this fantastic. Had I not been eating out of a pouch while squatting over a camp stove, I would have believed this had come from a restaurant. 

The first thing I liked about the Thai Curry was the list of ingredients. Most noteworthy on the packaging is that there are no artificial additives. Everything in the list is real food.

The second thing I liked was the Nutrition Facts. As a marathon runner (and, therefore, a guy who is always ready to eat), I've learned that not all calories are created equal. Protein, Fat, and Fiber are going to leave me much more sated than sugars and starches.  

While 380 calories may not be enough for some long hikes, the 10g of protein and 7g of fiber are a good start in filling up the digestive system for a few hours. After 10 miles of hiking with a 35lb pack, this meal, along with a cup of hot chocolate and 4 shortbread cookies, completely satisfied my appetite until breakfast the next morning.

On the trail I opened up the pouch and was instantly greeted with the aroma of coconut. Adding in boiling water only intensified the delicious smell.

I've been mindful of other reviews talking about the difficulty of re-hydration with this meal. So I was careful not to shortcut the instructions. Boiling water, and I gave the meal an extra 10 minutes of cooking time as I contemplated "how big the universe is." The long cook time meant I was famished by the time it was ready (Well, by famished I mean I tore into my store of cookies and devoured half of them before dinner.) 

The extra cooking time really paid off. I had a hot, perfectly rehydrated meal that truly tasted like it had come from a restaurant. Honestly, how can this taste so good when every other dehydrated meal I have tried tastes like oversalted fake food???? 

Of course, the real problem is the price, running at a cost between $6.75 and $11.50. That's as much as a bowl of curry costs in a restaurant. Had I not won this meal, I wouldn't have bought it. I do a lot of my own dehydrating--taking my wife's delicious leftovers out onto the trail for under $1 per serving. 

If you're not budget conscious, then definitely buy this meal. In the meantime, I'm going to put it on my birthday and Christmas lists in hope of getting others to stock me up on it.

This is some of the best food regardless of fact that is camp food...this one is my favourite.

Jen and Dave are good friends, but I don't think I am biased. Jen is an amazing chef. This is a brilliant idea and frankly I'm shocked that there is no real competition. Dave is the whole reason she came up with the idea.

Thank you, Dave! I'm truly excited for my next backcountry trip cause I know exactly what I will be eating and it will be amazing.

Love the Thai Curry. Haven't actually tried it in the backcountry yet, only in my home. Who cares though? It's delicious no matter where you are.

This can be used on any kind of trip where weight is a factor, but the real bonus here is how tasty it is. No more ramen for me.

AWESOME camp food!

By far this is the tastiest camp food I've ever tried!!! Better yet, it's not full of sodium or other nasty stuff. Real Thai curry flavor and lots of veggies. Great texture too, not all mush like some other options. Would recommend again and again!

Full disclosure: I am friends with the owners of Good To-Go. I've had the opportunity to sample these recipes as they were evolving before production, and Jen keeps making them better and better! What you've got here is the best recipe yet. 

Excellent taste, easy to prepare, with just enough bite on a cold evening.

This is the second Good to-Go meal I have tried. On a snowy Lassen campout last weekend, it sounded like the perfect tummy warming dinner. The taste did not disappoint. Just the right amount of bite to warm things up without being oppressive.

Prep was easy. Empty the coconut milk packet into the pouch, add boiling water and stir, wait 20 minutes (beer time!), and eat. I finished feeling completely warmed and satisfied.

The packaging is fairly minimal for a meal this size, and wouldn't be that difficult to pack out (though in this case, I just put it in a trash receptacle). Their meals come in both single and double serving sizes.

My only complaint, and I've experienced this with another Good to-Go meal... some of the vegetables did not rehydrate, and I found myself crunching on some of them, even after allowing an extra five minutes to cook. I did an earlier review for their pasta meal... which again, was delicious, but after allowing double the time to cook, some of the pasta was still hard to eat.

If Good to-Go could figure out how to solve this, they would be perfect meals... tasty and satisfying!

This is G2G's Gastronomical Leader of the Pack.

I have eaten a lot of trail food, and this bag of mouth-watering, then pleasing+genuine THAI flavors, is the epitome of a really great, out-there dish!  AND, leagues beyond the typical over-dried, salty, flavorless trail fixin's you find in most backpacks (including all of mine, up until G2G!).   

Here's the thing: I want to really LIKE — and feel connected to —  the company (the people!) who make food and other goods that I prefer to eat and to use. Before this company gets really big, please try to meet David and Jen, Good To Go's co-owners, founders, and better yet: husband and wife team.  They are salt-of-the-earth normal, creative, fun, funny and just all-around lovable folks.  

Can't get better than that. Try a Good To Go meal....you'll never go back. 

DISCLOSURE: I fully disclose that I have done business — and am friends — with the founders of Good To-Go.

If you like lots of flavor this is your meal!

My favorite trail meal! Spicy and flavorful, this beats most of my local restaurants.

The instructions are dead on with timing and water required, add time for cold weather. The broccoli holds its texture better than you think and the coconut milk is an amazing detail. Try this, I think you will love it!

Good enough to eat with candles and a tablecloth.

I'm not an outdoors guy at all, save a few walking tours where a taxi brings your packs to the next B & B in England.

But I am somewhere between a glutton and a gourmet, and we got three packs of this food recently and decided to make all three at once for dinner.

I was completely blown away by the flavor. I'm not a lightweight, I cook, I have two personal friends who are high-end chefs, I've eaten at a dozen of the nation's best restaurants. This stuff is out of this world. This isn't freeze dried; it is real high-end food made by a prize winning NYC chef — seriously — and dehydrated. Easy instructions.

I'd eat this at home, in fact, I'd have no qualms about SERVING this at home to guests! Easy prep, just needs boiled water. Totally filled me up, very dense (in a good way), plenty of high quality calories. I still cannot believe something like this is dehydrated.  

DISCLOSURE: I am in investor in Good To-Go and have a relationship with the owners.