How much water for freeze-dried meals, and how to rehydrate them
Too little water and the pasta crunches; too much and dinner is soup. The figure on the back of the pouch keeps you between the two.
The short answer
A freeze-dried meal takes the water printed on its pouch, usually 2–3 ml per gram of dry food. STOCKUP Standard mains take 180–290 ml, worked out from each recipe and still to be confirmed in our kitchen. Stir to the corners, close, wait 8 min hot or 20–30 cold.
By STOCKUP · Updated
In this guide (7)
How much water does a freeze-dried meal need?
The amount printed on the pouch, and no other. There is no rule that fits every brand: the maker sets the water for each dish, and Mountain House tells you to read the package because "individual meals vary".1 Across 51 labels from eleven brands that we read, the middle half asks for 2.1 to 3 ml of water per gram of dry food. A dense house style sits at the bottom of that band, with Expedition Foods’ chicken tikka at 150 ml for 84 g,6 and a soupy one at the top, with a Mountain House lasagne at 355 ml for 102 g.7
Ours run from 180 ml for the Pasta Bolognese to 290 ml for the Thai Beef & Prawn Noodle Salad in a Standard pouch, figures worked out from each recipe and still to be confirmed in our own kitchen. Every main, both sizes:
| Pouch | Water, Standard 110 g | Water, Large 200 g | Hot water | Cold water |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chicken & Rice | 210 ml | 370 ml | 8 min | about 20 min |
 Smoky Beef Chilli & Rice | 200 ml | 360 ml | 8 min | about 20 min |
 Pasta Bolognese | 180 ml | 330 ml | 8 min | about 20 min |
 Lentils & Chorizo | 230 ml | 420 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Thai Red Chicken Curry & Rice | 260 ml | 480 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Beef Goulash with Potatoes | 240 ml | 430 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Pork Cheek in Red Wine | 250 ml | 450 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Chicken Tinga Bowl | 220 ml | 400 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Lentil & Vegetable Stew | 270 ml | 490 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Pabellón Criollo | 190 ml | 340 ml | 8 min | about 30 min |
 Thai Beef & Prawn Noodle Salad | 290 ml | 520 ml | 5 min | about 20 min |
 Porcini Mushroom Risotto | 270 ml | 490 ml | 8 min | Hot water only |
Our mains: water per pouch and time, worked out from each recipe and still to be confirmed in our own kitchen
- Chicken & Rice
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 210 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 370 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Smoky Beef Chilli & Rice
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 200 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 360 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Pasta Bolognese
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 180 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 330 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Lentils & Chorizo
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 230 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 420 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Thai Red Chicken Curry & Rice
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 260 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 480 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Beef Goulash with Potatoes
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 240 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 430 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Pork Cheek in Red Wine
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 250 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 450 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Chicken Tinga Bowl
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 220 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 400 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Lentil & Vegetable Stew
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 270 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 490 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Pabellón Criollo
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 190 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 340 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Thai Beef & Prawn Noodle Salad
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 290 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 520 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Porcini Mushroom Risotto
- Water, Standard 110 g
- 270 ml
- Water, Large 200 g
- 490 ml
- Hot water
- 8 min
- Cold water
- Hot water only
The Large pouch takes more water than the Standard, but not twice as much: one batch fills both, so the dish is the same and only the amount changes. The time stays the same too.
Why doesn’t every pouch take the same water?
Because the water on the label is the water the dish lost in the dryer, less what it won’t take back. Sauce, broth and rice drink up nearly all of theirs. Meat and pasta take back less, and fatty meat least of all, so a dish with a lot of sauce asks for more water than a dish of the same weight that is mostly pasta. That’s why our bolognese sits at the bottom of the table and the glass-noodle salad, whose noodles and dressing soak up everything, at the top.
Get it wrong and you know at once. Too much water gives soup with the food at the bottom. Too little leaves hard bits in the pasta and the meat. Good To-Go’s advice is to go easy, since “you can always adjust with a little more once rehydrated”;2 Backpacker’s Pantry says not to add more than the pouch asks for.3 Both are right: start with the printed amount, never more.
How do you rehydrate freeze-dried food with hot water?
Step by step
Open it, take out the sachet
Tear the notch, open the zip and lift out the oxygen absorber. It goes in the bin.Measure the water
Use the amount on the pouch: a mug, a marked bottle or the cup of a stove pot will do. Drinking water, just off the boil.Stir to the corners
Pour, then stir right into the two bottom corners, where the dry food hides. Good To-Go says the same: corners first, then seal.2Close it and wait
Zip it shut and stand it upright. Our mains take 8 minutes; the time for each pouch is in the table above and on its back.Stir again and check
Open, stir, and cut the biggest piece of meat or potato in half with the spoon. Soft right through means dinner. A firm centre means two more minutes, zip closed.
Most of the water goes in early. On freeze-dried cooked chickpeas, the weight gain came fastest in the first 2 minutes, slowed between 2 and 10, and levelled off at about 20; water at 90–100 °C had put 12.4 % more in by minute 10 than water at room temperature.4 The waiting time is for the dense pieces, not the sauce.
How do you rehydrate it with cold water?
The same amount of water, cold, and more patience. Mountain House puts it simply: give it “about twice as long”.1 Ours take about 20 minutes for the chicken and rice and about 30 minutes for dishes with bigger pieces of meat or potato, such as the Lentils & Chorizo. Stir at the start and again halfway, and expect the meat a little firmer than with hot water.
A few pouches break the pattern. The Porcini Mushroom Risotto is hot water only, like the broths. The Guacamole goes the other way, cold water only. The Thai Beef & Prawn Noodle Salad is meant to be eaten cold and takes cold water first. Which pouches work cold, and where that matters, is in freeze-dried meals with cold water; soaking ordinary trail food without a stove is in cold soaking.
Breakfasts, desserts and sides
They come in one size each and follow the same method. Their water is set for the dish as you eat it: porridge thick, a dip spreadable.
| Pouch | Net weight | Water | Hot water | Cold water |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Porridge & Fruit | 90 g | 250 ml | 5 min | about 20 min |
 Perico Scrambled Eggs | 70 g | 270 ml | 5 min | about 20 min |
 Rice Pudding with Cinnamon | 80 g | 180 ml | 5 min | about 30 min |
 Red Berry Compote | 60 g | 150 ml | 3 min | about 20 min |
 Guacamole | 40 g | 120 ml | Cold water only | 5 min |
 Salsa Roja | 25 g | 160 ml | 5 min | about 20 min |
 Hummus | 50 g | 80 ml | 3 min | about 20 min |
 Black Bean Dip | 50 g | 120 ml | 5 min | about 20 min |
 Mashed Potato | 60 g | 200 ml | 5 min | Hot water only |
Breakfasts, desserts and sides: water and time, worked out from each recipe and still to be confirmed in our own kitchen
- Porridge & Fruit
- Net weight
- 90 g
- Water
- 250 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Perico Scrambled Eggs
- Net weight
- 70 g
- Water
- 270 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Rice Pudding with Cinnamon
- Net weight
- 80 g
- Water
- 180 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 30 min
- Red Berry Compote
- Net weight
- 60 g
- Water
- 150 ml
- Hot water
- 3 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Guacamole
- Net weight
- 40 g
- Water
- 120 ml
- Hot water
- Cold water only
- Cold water
- 5 min
- Salsa Roja
- Net weight
- 25 g
- Water
- 160 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Hummus
- Net weight
- 50 g
- Water
- 80 ml
- Hot water
- 3 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Black Bean Dip
- Net weight
- 50 g
- Water
- 120 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- about 20 min
- Mashed Potato
- Net weight
- 60 g
- Water
- 200 ml
- Hot water
- 5 min
- Cold water
- Hot water only
Broth is different: it’s made by the cup, 250 ml of hot water to each cup’s worth of powder, and a pouch makes 6 cups. A shake is one sachet and 250 ml of cold water, shaken.
What if it comes out too thin or too firm?
At altitude, water boils below 100 °C and a pouch in the wind cools fast. Wrap it in a hat or a jacket while it stands, and allow a couple of minutes more.
How long can a made-up pouch stand?
Not long. Once the water is in, it’s cooked food at room temperature, and AESAN, Spain’s food safety agency, says cooked leftovers should not stand out for more than 2 hours.5 Make it up when you’re ready to eat, and eat it from the pouch. The water itself has to be fit to drink; if it comes from a stream, treat it first, as in how to make water safe to drink. Over several days on foot the water for the pouches adds up, and food for a multi-day hike counts it in.
From our range
Chicken & RiceStandard
Sources
Accessed 9 November 2026
- Frequently asked questions (opens an external website)
- How to prepare your meal (opens an external website)
- How to prepare freeze-dried meals (opens an external website)
- Freeze-dried cooked chickpeas: considering a suitable alternative to prepare tasty reconstituted dishes (opens an external website)
- Prevenir intoxicaciones alimentarias en verano (opens an external website)
- Chicken tikka with rice (opens an external website)
- Mountain House lasagna with meat sauce (opens an external website)
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