What to Expect in the Next Iteration of MREs
December 17, 2025The old saying “variety is the spice of life” is especially true when it comes to food. While service members in combat will eat whatever they’re given, having good meals that match what they might eat at home is important for morale and readiness.
Every year, food scientists at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center’s Combat Feeding Division in Natick, Massachusetts, work to develop new components for meals ready-to-eat. They’re based on warfighter feedback received by each service to add variety or replace unpopular items. Researchers also look at trends in the commercial sector to see what might play well on newer menus.
What’s Coming, What’s Going
The next iteration of MREs is MRE 46, which is expected to come out in 2026. The menu’s developers said that in MRE 46, they plan to replace the beef taco filling, pork sausage patty and jalapeno pepper jack beef patty — all of which were not rated high among surveyed service members — with a Cuban-style beef picadillo with vegetables, buffalo-style chicken, and a Thai-style red curry with chicken and rice.
