6/26/06 | Chunky Chicken Soup
[ Currently Eating: Cheese and Spinach Quesadilla ]
One of these days I WILL get around to making homemade chicken soup. Until then, we’ll continue to see a good variety on canned soups here on Cheap Eats. Like this Chunky Herb Roasted Chicken Soup with Potatoes and Garlic which I happened to pick up the other day to try out.
I haven’t had Chunky Soups for years. The famous “Soup That Eats Like A Meal” wasn’t on my list of cheap soups to buy. One of the main reasons is that I never seemed to find the bulk packages of Chunky at CostCo. So we got to try many more of the Progresso soups. Both of these types of soup are the “ready to eat variety” versus the condensed Campbell’s soup where you add water.
I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to splurge on two cans of this Chunky Chicken soup when it wasn’t on sale at Albertson’s. That’s a big no-no with soups. They set me back $2.50 EACH. Man, what happened to cans of soup for 30 cents? I know I’ve been harsh before on plain old Campbell’s condensed chicken soup before, but I’ve had a slight change of heart lately after getting completely gouged by ready-to-drink soup that costs 4 times as much. It’s my own fault though… never buy canned soup unless it’s on sale.
So I guess I wouldn’t have been as disappointed if the soup was actually kick ass tasting chicken soup with lots of goodies. But the actual taste of the soup was almost like eating Chicken Sludge. I have to admit that I ALWAYS add water or milk to any ready to drink soup. I don’t know who Campbell’s test-tasters are, but they apparently like soup with the consistency of library paste. There it is again: library paste. How come that comes up so often??
Even when adding a good amount of water, it was still thick. To their credit, I guess that’s what fans of Chunky are looking for. I wish they could do it without just dumping in a ton of cornstarch though.
The vegetables were sub-par compared to Progresso’s Chicken Soups. The usual potatoes, carrots and celery. I didn’t really get that much of a good “garlic” flavor which was a disappointment since that was supposed to be a large component of the soup according to the label. The potatoes chunks were pretty nice size.
Here’s the most disturbing thing for me about the soup, however. We all know that the actual “chicken” in any canned chicken soup can be sketchy. I’ve had good luck with Progresso’s although I think some of their pieces are chopped and formed. But for the most part, it’s breast meat chicken (I took several pieces apart with my fingers, I’m pretty sure it was almost all real).
However, with the Chunky soup there are pieces of dark meat chicken that are average sized but mixed in with that are “alternate” pale, pseudo-chicken herb paste bits. I am not sure what these alien thingies are. I forgot to take a comparison photo, but they’re round circles of what tastes like mushy herbed flour. It’s almost like they decided to put mini-dumplings in it.
I don’t know who they think they’re trying to fool. Those faux-chicken bits are disturbing in an X-files type of way. No one is going to even think they’re from any part of a chicken. They should have just been honest and called it: Herbed Roasted Chicken with Mini Alien Dumplings and Potatoes. Instead, they tried to pass these strange Chupacabra flour bits off as real chicken. That’s sad, Mr. Mulder.
Price: $2.50
Found At: Albertson’s
Cheap Eats Score: 4/10 but 5/10 if you like the X-Files
June 26th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Over the years, I’ve tried the Progresso and other Chunky soups, and have ended up throwing them out. (Except for ramen, I always make my own soup. Didn’t you have a poll about that?)
The ONLY one I have found to be fairly decent is the Campbell’s Chunky Grilled Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, and that’s just because a friend insisted I try it. It’s not horrible.
The others? GAK. Too preserve-ity, too cornstarch-y, too ick-y.
I feel kinda bad for people who think that this is all there is to soup.
June 26th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
I googled something about grocery budgeting and landed here.
>
I find some varieties of Campbell’s Chunky soup at Dollar General for $1.50 a can. Their Sirloin Burger over white rice is a childhood favorite meal that I make for my own tribe on occasion.
My recent “find” was an 8-pack of Progresso minestrone, at Big Lot’s, $8.
Interesting site, btw.
June 26th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
So you’re normally a Progresso fan, eh? As I was reading the part about alien herb dumpling-type things, I thought of a Progresso soup that I bought. (2/$5-ugh they got me too) Progresso Chicken & Herb Dumpling…same type of deal but with JUMBO dumplings. Atleast the can told me ahead of time, but it was too over-bearing. Endless spoonfuls of dumpling and starch sauce. I am not sure if I found chicken or not. I tried pretty hard then I had to toss the whole bowl.
For that reason I won’t dare try this Campbell’s mystery chicken herb dumpling concoction
On a nicer note, Campbell’s Chunky Steak & Potato Soup is GREAT!
June 27th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
why must they load on the sodium in these soups? it is like they are trying to fool you in to thinking that the soup is good because it has massive sodium amounts. sodium in massive amount doesn’t make the soup taste or be good for you. healthy choice soaps are very good though
June 28th, 2006 at 3:10 am
I can smell the MSG from here…
Peggasus – I’ve tried Campbell’s Chunky Grilled Chicken & Sausage Gumbo and you are right – it’s actually (dare I say) good for canned soup.
I generally don’t eat canned soup, but I guess it’s good to have some on hand in case the Alien Dumplings from Planet Starchychickenglop attack.
June 29th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Hey, CE editor: Here’s a post I wrote months ago about making homemade chicken soup:
http://fooddocs.blogspot.com/2006/02/soup-is-good-food.html
You should try it. You’ll never go back.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:56 am
peggasus – chicken and sausage gumbo sounds interesting. oh, thanks for the chicken soup recipe. sounds very similar to what I made back in the day.
lori – i never tried the progresso minestrone but that is pretty darn cheap.
skibs – interesting, someone else told me about steak and potato soup, i’ll have to give that a try sometime.
chaos – soaps?? =)
shawn – i was once abducted by Alien Dumplings… they tried to inject me with Ramen MSG soup base…
July 3rd, 2006 at 6:10 am
I tend to take this for lunch at work when I cant get in the mood to make anything. Pretty handy to just dump in a bowl and nuke.
September 2nd, 2006 at 3:46 pm
Hi. Just came across this site talking about Campbell’s soups. I have a beef. A few years ago, Campbells changed the recipe of their condensed Minestrone soup. I loved the old recipe and was so disappointed when they changed it. I don’t care for the new (current) recipe at all and don’t go near it. All inquiries to Campbells concerning this were ignored. I can understand being a bit on guard to protect their recipes but to totally ignore their customers is sure not good PR and would result in their PR guy being fired on the spot if I were in charge. Just had to get that off my chest.
November 12th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I’m a huge fan of American Chicken Noodle soup (I’m Chinese American, and the kind my mom makes is very different). I really like Campbell’s Select Chicken with Egg Noodles. The Chunky version seems pretty much the same to me. I find it very tasty and great for a dorm meal (I don’t eat much).