Harmony House Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit vs. the Trail Ready Soup & Chili Pack: Which is Right for You?

Backpackers love our dried soup and chili mixes and blends because they are tasty, nutritious, lightweight, and easy to cook on the trail. To make meal planning for long distance backpacking trips simple, Harmony House offers two different dehydrated soup and chili variety packs. Yes, you can get all of the meals for your next backpacking trip shipped to you in one box! Hikers can choose between our Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit or our Trail Ready Gourmet Soup & Chili Pack.


No matter which option you choose, that Harmony House box will arrive at your door packed with a variety of ready-to-cook dried soup and chili meals. All the trail meals in these packages contain premium quality dehydrated veggies and beans. All are gluten free, vegan, and certified kosher. So what’s the difference between the two options?


To help hikers choose the right dried soup and chili pack for their next trail adventure, we compare our Kit and Pack and give answers to the most common questions about the two.

What is the Main Difference Between the Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit and the Trail Ready Gourmet Soup & Chili Pack?


The Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit contains only unseasoned mixes. If you are looking for low sodium backpacking meals, this is the kit for you. These mixes contain all the dehydrated veggies and beans you want in your soup or chili with NONE of the salt. You control the type and amount of seasoning.


The Trail Ready Gourmet Soup & Chili Pack comes to you seasoned. If you are looking for a dehydrated soup or chili mix that is super simple and requires no seasoning adjustments, this is your “just add water, simmer, and eat” option.

Which dehydrated soup and chili varieties come in each kit?

The Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit includes:


(2) Chickenish Soup Mix

(2) Black Bean Chili Mix

(2) Mixed Bean Chili Mix

(2) Italian Vegetable Soup Mix

(2) Corn Chowder Mix

(2) Vegetable Chili Mix

(1) Beefish Stew Mix

(1) Split Pea Soup Mix

(1) Lentil Soup Mix

(1) Navy Bean Soup Mix

(1) Northern Bean Stew Mix

(1) Beefish Soup Mix with Mushrooms


Remember, these mixes contain NO salt, pepper, or any other kind of seasoning. If you like Harmony House seasoning blends, but want to control the amount included, we do offer a Soup & Chili Seasoning Kit that contains our four most popular flavoring blends: Chickenish Seasoning, Beefish Seasoning, Tomato Plus Seasoning, and Chili Boost Seasoning. These seasonings are all 100% vegan.


The Trail Ready Gourmet Soup & Chili Pack includes:


(2) Garden Veggie Chickenish Soup

(2) Unbelievable Black Bean Chili

(2) Southwest Style Mixed Bean Chili

(2) Mama Mia Italian Vegetable Soup

(2) Creamy Good Corn Chowder

(2) Verylicious Veggie Chili

(1) Hearty Texas Beefish Stew

(1) Super Savory Split Pea Soup

(1) Greek Lentil Soup with Quinoa

(1) Captain John's Navy Bean Soup

(1) Great Northern Bean Stew

(1) Beefish Quinoa with Mushrooms

How many servings will I get out of each option?

The Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit contains 18, one cup zip pouches. You will get six to eight servings out of each zip pouch–120 servings total. The dehydrated mixes in this kit will yield 60+ cups of yummy hot soup and chili.


The Trail Ready Gourmet Soup & Chili Pack contains 18 mini-zip pouches. You will get four servings per pouch–72 servings total. Dried mixes contained in this pack will yield 30+ cups of cooked soup and chili!

What is the shelf life for each of these options?

Both the Backpacking Soup & Chili Kit and the Trail Ready Soup & Chili Pack come with a suggested 12-24 month shelf-life.

Which Option is Best for Vegetarians?

All Harmony House Soup and Chili mixes and blends are completely vegan–they are free of all meat and dairy products. Vegans and vegetarians will be able to eat all the varieties of soup and chili that are contained in the Soup & Chili Kit and Pack.

Will You Ship a Resupply Box to a Post Office Along the Trail?

Yes! We will ship either of these options to you as you are hiking. Many long distance hikers ask us to ship packages to trail town post offices so they can resupply along the way. If you have questions about having the Soup & Chili Kit or Trail Ready Pack mailed to you on your hike, feel free to give us a call at (800) 696-1395.

Other Backpacking Meal Planning Help from Harmony House

Still have questions? We want to help you choose the right option for you. Here are a few other resources that can help:


Check out our entire range of dried soup mixes!


We offer a Dried Soup Comparison Chart to show you a side-by-side comparison of each type of soup and chili package we sell.


Read more of our meal planning tips and recipes for backpackers, hikers, and campers.


Ever since our Backpacking Kit won the Backpacker Magazine Editor’s Choice award in 2007, Harmony House has come to be known as one of the best sources of dried food for camping and long distance hiking trips. We are proud to be the supplier of choice for so many members of the long-distance hiking community. Thanks for your business.
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(800) 696-1395 or
(828) 306-1610

Fax: (800) 696-7874

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