Hormel Compleats Chicken & Rice - Doesn't match the picture, but tastes pretty good.
Written: Nov 10 '09
Product Rating:
Pros: Easy to store and prepare. Inexpensive, tastes pretty good.
Cons: Doesn't match the picture, way too high in sodium.
The Bottom Line: I like the convenience of easy-to-prepare hot lunches. This one happens to taste pretty good, even if it doesn't look like the picture on the package.
ladyconsumer's Full Review: Hormel Compleats Chicken & Rice, 10-Ounce Microwav...
I enjoy hot lunches, especially ones that are simple to prepare, don't cost a fortune, and don't kill my diet. In addition, I want them to be yummy. A tall order, as it turns out!
Hormel makes a line of meals called Compleats. 10 oz. meals that come in their own bowl, and can be stored at room temperature. This review is for their Chicken & Rice meal.
I was sold on this one, from the picture on the cover. It looks delicious! Rice, pieces of white meal chicken, with peas and carrots. And, in the picture, there's a small amount of sauce. Such a small amount that you might actually miss it.
But the finished product really did not match the picture. I couldn't believe how much sauce there was! There was so much sauce that it was tempting to eat this meal with a spoon, instead of a fork! Basically, the rice, chicken, and veggies were floating in a sauce. This meal more closely resembled a soup or a stew, than a bowl of rice. Had I known how "soupy" this meal was going to be, I might not have purchased it.
Besides being way too heavy on the sauce, the meal was stingy on the "good stuff". Very few peas and carrots, and a bit less chicken than I was expecting.
Not to say it didn't taste good - in fact, it was quite tasty. But it just wasn't what I was expecting. I believe that meals should match their pictures and this one definitely didn't.
As far as nutrition goes, this meal isn't too bad, except for the sodium count. 280 calories, and 11g of fat isn't too terrible for a complete lunch. But the 1170mg of sodium gives me pause. It's such a shame that prepared meals are always so high in sodium!!
The Hormel line is convenient, that's for sure. You can store them for a really long time, at room temperature. This meal has a "best by" date that's 15 months from now, and I bought the meal a few months ago. In other words, they can stay in your pantry for about 18 months. They're also extremely easy to prepare. Simply pierce the plastic film, and microwave for 90 seconds. That's it! These are great for when you only have a few minutes to grab a quick lunch, and you want something hot. You could also boil this meal, but I've never tried it, and can't comment on how it comes out.
With this particular meal I'm disappointed that it doesn't match the picture. Plus, I think it's too high in sodium. But it tastes pretty good, so I might buy it again, especially since they seem to go on sale pretty often, costing around $2 each.
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