US MRE Menu 6 - Beef Taco

[Unmaned]

I've had this menu a couple of times, so I figured I'd toss up a quick review.

Contents:

-1 "Beef Taco" main
-Tortillas
-Peanut Butter
-Strawberry Jam
-Vanilla Pudding Mix
-Fruit Punch drink mix
-Accessory packet (the usual stuff)

Now, the main is kinda weird. It says it's "beef taco" and even includes tortillas in the menu, but...the beef is incredibly watery. Before and after heating it up, it's so watery that it might as well be chili. Heck, it even tastes like chili, being moderately spicy and having beans in it too. If you told me this stuff was chili, I wouldn't doubt you for a second. But for some reason it's being labeled as "taco" meat, and if you try to use it as that, it just doesn't work. No matter what way I try to fold the tortilla, the beef comes leaking out of one end because it's so ridiculously watery. It tastes perfectly fine, but just does not work as "taco" meat at all.

Then you have the peanut butter and jam....with nothing to put them on. No bread, no crackers, nothing. The solution to this, is just eating the "beef" by itself because it's practically chili anyways, and using the tortillas for the peanut butter and jam. Kinda awkward, but it works. The Fruit Punch is the usual kool-aid tasting stuff. Nothing fancy. Goes decently with the rest of the meal.

The real star of this MRE though, is the vanilla pudding. It's the usual "add 4 ounces of water and shake for 60 seconds" thing, but I also stir it up a little after the shaking, just to make sure it's all mixed in. This pudding, jeez, despite being from an MRE, it's some of the best pudding I've ever had. It's not overly sweet, but it has a very strong french vanilla flavor to it, and the consistency is ridiculously smooth. It's almost like cake frosting, both in texture and flavor. There's also a chocolate flavor variant that I've had, which also tasted very similar to cake batter.

Overall pretty nice. A bit strange that it's being advertised as a "taco" meal even though the beef is closer to chili than taco meat, but otherwise a solid MRE.

[gschultz9]

Nice review of this menu Unmaned! This one really IS a puzzler. It's not unusual to find odd combinations that don't seem to make much sense, but this one really takes the cake! "Taco Meat" that really can't be used in the form of a taco without making a huge mess. And that strange combo of Peanut Butter AND Jelly (which would normally be an excellent combination if only there were a twin pack of Wheat Snack Bread--or even crackers). Sure, you CAN make a PB&J roll-up with the Tortillas, but... well, one would assume that the Tortillas are meant for the Tacos that the name of the menu suggests! WHY?!?

[Unmaned]

Yeah, I don't know what they were thinking here. If they changed it from "beef taco" to "beef chili" and swapped the tortillas for the usual MRE bread, it'd make perfect sense. But as it is, the best way to go about eating this menu is to just eat the "taco meat" by itself and use the tortillas for the peanut butter and strawberry jam.

There was also a "seasoning" inside the accessory packet, but I didn't notice any change in flavor after adding the whole thing to the taco meat. Weird.

[NateP]

In my experience the desserts in MRES seem to be the best part in a lot of menus.

I just recently filmed a review of chicken pesto with an apple turnover dessert. It was by far the best part of the meal in an already really interesting menu. I wonder if that is intentional. To make the dessert the best part and kind of fit in to an American diet which tends to favor sweets.

I'm planning on getting a beef taco meal soon so I think I'm interested in trying it?

[Unmaned]

I'm planning on getting a beef taco meal soon so I think I'm interested in trying it?

Yeah, go for it. Just don't try to actually make a taco with it, and you'll be fine. The meat works better as chili than taco meat.

[TechManDan]

Just had the same menu the other day, except mine didn't have the pudding. It had cheese crackers (combos) instead. Mine was not watery though, standard thick taco meat sauce. Luckily I was able to trade the pb&j for jalapeno cheese from one of my kids.