Review: Recpak One Complete Meal

Check out this review of Recpak One Complete Meal if you're looking for a simple way to consume enough calories on backpacking trips and tough adventures. These ultralight, no mess meals might be a game-changer!

Review: Recpak One Complete Meal
If you don't have time to boil water and wait for a meal to rehydrate, are on the move and need fuel, or simply don't want to eat, Recpak One Complete Meal is a game-changer on adventures!

Have you ever been on an adventure and found yourself either too busy to eat, so hungry you're about to puke, or simply unable to eat even though you need to? If so, Recpak One Complete Meal is an adventure meal you need to check out.

This strange little pouch of powder is ultralight, creates virtually no mess and takes all of one minute to turn into one complete meal of 700 calories. It's a game changer for what adventure fuel can be! For many Recpak is a meal that will make the difference in getting enough calories to sustain prolonged physical output versus totally bonking.

On a recent trip, I was able to try all three Recpak One Complete Meal pouches. Keep scrolling to learn what they're all about!

Recpak One Complete Meal being held out against a mountain during a backpacking trip
Recpak One Complete Meals are ultralight and super easy to prepare: simply pour in water and shake it up really well! Instant nutrition.

Recpak One Complete Meal Menu

Current offerings from RecPak

Meal SouthwestHikes Reviewed Check It Out
Coffee Yes See the Coffee
Vanilla Chai Yes See the Vanilla Chai
Chocolate Yes See the Chocolate

Quick Rundown of Recpak One Complete Meals

  • Nutritionally optimized outdoor meal replacement
  • Instant food, just add water and shake
  • Each Recpak is 700 calories with 42 grams of protein
  • Excellent source of 22 essential nutrients
  • Doesn't create a mess and is easy to pack out
  • Ultralight meal option
the nutrition label and ingredient list on a recpak one complete meal
Each Recpak is 700 calories with 42 grams of protein. They are nutritionally balanced making them perfect for high adventures! The ingredients list is long, but do some googling and these are all very normal and important ingredients.

My Experience with Recpak One Complete Meal

I am one of those backpackers who will simply stop eating when the physical effort becomes extreme. I completely lose my appetite and the thought of eating can make me feel queasy. But I also know I literally need to consume calories to replenish my body. I am a big fan of meal replacement powders like Soylent and Huel, so when I found out about Recpak, I was pretty sure this was going to be a total game changer for me.

Initially, I was delighted by the ultralight pouch the powder comes in and the fact that I would have no meal clean up after drinking it. When I first whipped up my Recpak, the stoke was high. I hate waiting on meals to rehydrate, so instant food is a big win in my book! The first sip however...

a hiker puts a recpak one complete meal into a backpack during a lunch break
The Recpak pouch has a screw-on cap so you can drink part of a meal now and save the rest for the next break. It's a durable design and I didn't have any issues with leaking or pouch tearing during the hikes I brought them on.

I'm not going to lie. It was weird. Recpak meals are thick. It makes sense, because they're calorie dense and the first ingredient is oat flour. But I must say I was taken off guard by the texture. Not a big fan of it, and while I became used to it, I never started to enjoy it. I don't think I've ever experienced a texture of drink like it before. Think of a warm smoothie. Recpak One Complete Meals are sort of like that. It's very strange.

Texture aside, the taste of Recpak Meals are totally fine. Chocolate is my favorite, followed by Vanilla Chai and then Coffee. They are not scrumptious by any means, but that's also not the point of them. So I am not too disappointed by their taste.

I do notice a significant increase in my energy after I eat them. So that's great and exactly the point of them! They are fuel. I love that they're not messy, that the Recpac pouch doesn't leak, and that they take up very little space in a backpack compared to the usual backpacking meals.

Overall, I think these are pretty clutch. On big adventures and gnarly backpacking trips, I will probably toss one or two in my backpack as emergency fuel for those times when I simply cannot get food down, or for the off chance that a trip goes sideways and I find myself out longer than planned. But these are in no way something I would use to replace multiple meals during a trip.


Recpak One Complete Meal - Pros and Cons

Recpak One Complete Meal: Pros and Cons

The Recpak One Complete Meals are a great fuel option if you don't have time to boil water and wait, or if you have a finnicky tummy on adventures. Check out the pros and cons below:

Pros Cons
Incredibly easy to make and eat Texture is a little rough
Great macros for tough adventures Very expensive
Ultralight Only 3 flavors
No mess
Makes consuming enough calories easy

Click here to learn more and try out Recpak One Complete Meals on your next adventure!


My review is independent of the supplier and reflects my own opinions. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if purchases are made through those links at no additional cost to you.