Price: $4.19
Serving: 1/6 package, 9oz.
Servings per box: 6
Calories: 360
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 22%, 65mg
Sodium: 34%, 820mg
Protein: 31g
Carbohydrates: 14%, 42g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points

Campbell’s says: Campbell’s perfectly blended baking sauce seasons your chicken for a moist savory meal in no time. A taste so homemade, it could only come from Campbell’s.

Abi says:Just like the dad in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, I take the train to work every day. I even have a 10-ride ticket, though I don’t think it is redeemable for 2 child fares. Unlike the dad in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, I make dinner. The San Francisco train station is across the street from a very nice Safeway, so if I miss my train I have time to browse the aisles for new and interesting things to review.

Too bad this chicken bake is amongst the worst things I’ve ever consumed in my life. I’ve had a lot of bad frozen meals, so I’m used to disappointment. But I also wasted $6.00 worth of fresh chicken, which sucks. I cook meat so rarely that when I do have to handle bloody animal muscles I want some delicious results.

The cooking process for this meal was something of a pain. I put some hot water in a Pyrex baking dish, added the pasta, seasoning, and Campbell’s baking sauce (which was Cream of Nothing in disguise) and stirred. I then placed raw chicken on top of the pasta and watery cream from a can (shudder), then covered the whole thing with foiled and baked it for twenty minutes at 400 degrees. After the initial baking time I uncovered the whole thing, sprinkled breadcrumbs atop it and popped it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Those of you who know anything about chicken know that this is the stupidest way to cook chicken, ever. I basically steamed the chicken, which is a fine idea when working with broccoli or green beans, but completely idiotic when dealing with chicken. I went against my instincts, instincts that were screaming ‘You baked chicken last week and it was marinated and it only took 12 minutes!’ and ended up serving a meal that featured horrible steamed chicken covered in pointless breadcrumbs (they’re pre-browned, which is sick). And that awful chicken rested atop a pile of flavorless pasta. GARLIC chicken? Who do they think they’re kidding? Ugh.

After a few bites of the meal, George and I determined that it was completely inedible. The chicken was tough and bland and basically everything that is possible to hate about chicken. And the pasta? No flavor what so ever. I posited that perhaps it was developed for midwestern supertasters, but really nobody should be eating this.

Thank God I have the most ridiculously packed freezer at Stanford. I went to the kitchen, pulled out a box of Tandoor Chef Chicken Tikka Masala, mentally took back anything bad I ever said about the lack of rice in the dish, and tossed a couple of Trader Joe’s Naan under the broiler (which was still toasty from the worst chicken ever). The chicken tikka masala and naan were so good that my mouth waters as I write this review.

If you want to know how to make good chicken, check out these tips and recipes from Chris Kimball, the editor of Cooks Illustrated (one of my favorite magazines). And if you’re not a fan of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, you’ll find a friend in Deb at Smitten Kitchen. Though, I provide the link with a warning that after reading about S’more Pie you’ll feel the need to purchase a kitchen torch.

Price: $1.00 (super-low sale price)
Serving: 1 container, 10.75oz.
Calories: 190
Fat: 6%, 4g
Sodium: 39%, 940mg
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 11%, 34g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points

Campbell’s says: Campbell’s® Soup at Hand® is a great way to eat right when you’re on the run. Our heat-and-go microwavable cups let you enjoy sippable soup… anytime, anywhere.

Abi says: On the continuum of all pre-made tomato soups I’ve ever had, Campbell’s Creamy Tomato is firmly in the 4 star spot. Sure, it is a complete salt bomb and the mouth of the container is too small for dipping drenching my grilled cheese sandwiches in the soup, but whenever I’m feeling a bit ill (which I was approximately 10 days ago), all I have to do is pull one of these cans of soup out of the cupboard, fire up the microwave, grab a box of tissues, and go downstairs to watch soaps.

Thanks to the packaging-intensive design of this container of soup, I do not need to use any other dishes or utensils to enjoy a piping hot container of tomato and high fructose goodness (23 grams of sugar, wow) and I mean it when I say piping hot. This soup will destroy your tongue if you lack the patience of a saint.

Not being saint-like, I always burn my tongue. I figure that cold soup is worse than pain. This is not an accurate depiction of my overall intelligence, but it explains how I can continue to eat microwaved food even though I know that most of it is horrid. Post-tongue-burning, this soup induces me to stretch out and fall asleep, which is why I don’t recommend eating soup for lunch at work. You’ll just want to curl up in a ball under your cubicle desk and tell your coworkers to wake you shortly before 5:30pm.

Price: $1.00 (on sale)
Serving: 1 container, 10.75 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 2%, less than 5mg
Sodium: 36%, 870mg
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 7%, 21g
Fiber: 16%, 4g

Cambell’s says: Nothing. That should have been the first indication that something was wrong. Then again, tangelos don’t come with a description and they are delicious.

Abi says: The folks at Campbell’s excel in devising descriptive names for their soups. Yes, this item tastes like velvety potatoes, which is to say: mmmmm, fabric. Why do we even use the word ‘velvety’ to describe the way something feels on the tongue. Have you tried licking velvet? It is fuzzy and somewhat uncomfortable, like trying on bras in front of your mother-in-law. Nobody ever talks about that. Everyone just says things like ‘Oh, that soup was divine. I would even go so far as to say it was veeellllvety.’ As though being velvety is a good thing. True velvetiness means having a minor form of cottonmouth. Except it would be called velvetmouth.

In the case of this soup, ‘Velvety’ is a euphemism for bland. Even the 870 milligrams of salt can’t help out Campbell’s Soup at Hand. Salt has been valued to preserve and flavor foods for multiple millenia, so you’d think we humans would be pretty good at using it effectively. Alas, it is undetectable here.

Thank goodness I bought this on sale, otherwise I’d be kicking myself for paying close to $3.00 for some pureed potatoes.

Campbell’s Chunky Soups make their first appearance on HeatEatReview.com. We’re kicking off with Rebecca’s review of Campbell’s Grilled Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and we’ll continue reviewing plenty of tasty soups as the weather cools here in DC.

Price: $1.58
Serving: 1 cup (half a can)
Calories: 140
Fat: 4%, 2.5g
Sodium: 35%, 850mg
Protein: 8g
Carbs: 7%, 21g
Fiber: 12%, 3g

Campbell’s says: A zesty gumbo loaded with chunks of grilled chicken, sausage and vegetables like celery, red and green peppers plus lots of rice in a savory seasoned broth.

Rebecca says: Gumbo may be the best soup ever. It has almost all of the major food groups: meat, vegetables (the word gumbo comes from the Gullah word for okra), rice and sausage. I try to eat gumbo that someone else is willing to make whenever possible because cookbooks make it sound really complicated. When I saw that Campbell’s offers me a ready-to-eat gumbo with a surprisingly low amount of fat (for a gumbo), I had to try it.

A good gumbo is more like a stew: with a hearty combination of rice, meat, chicken, etc. without too much broth. The Campbell’s version, however, is relatively brothy with maybe 20% more broth than I would like. When you get a spoonful of mostly broth, the “savory seasonings” of the broth are a little overwhelming and you’ll want to get another bite of rice in to erase the pseudo-spicy taste that screams “natural flavorings.”

Other than that, the portions are relatively good - there is a hearty amount of rice and enough okra to really be a gumbo without making you hate okra. There are also some red and green pepper bits (although I didn’t know what they were until I read the can). The chicken actually looks and tastes like chicken and is not too chewy (however, I think the grill marks on the side are ridiculous) and the sausage is decently flavorful, although also a bit chewy.

In response to the claim that Campbell’s Chunky Soup eats like a meal, it’s really only a meal if you eat the whole thing, which is two servings. An entire can is quite filling although you may want a slice of bread on the side to soak up some of the broth.

Next time, I may skim a little broth off the top before I heat it to subdue the excess flavorings and equalize the broth-substance proportions. Yes, there will be a next time. I love me some gumbo, even if it’s in a can.