Bottom Line: The Spicy Jambalaya from Progresso is good for the canned stuff and it kicks things up with some nice heat.
The colder weather is upon us, and what is better this time of year than a steaming hot bowl of soup? While homemade soup is usually best, sometimes you just don’t have the time, and these days the canned-soup industry has come up with some pretty decent options. And if you happen to be looking for some spicey soup, Progresso has you covered. They have a whole line with “Spice It Up” in a red banner at the top of the can and that includes chicken noodle, tomato, clam chowder, and the one I happened to pick up: Spicy Jambalaya.
I’ve seen people recommending their spicy soups, especially on Reddit at r/spicy (a great place to fritter away an hour or two a day). Jambalaya is a Cajun concoction that can either be more of a soup or more of a rice dish, depending upon how it is prepared. Obviously, Progresso went the soup route and they added andouille sausage and ham with vegetables and rice in a rich chicken broth. And this is a soup that you pour straight out of the can as opposed to the condensed kind that you mix with water or milk.
The taste is similar to a hearty, rich chicken soup. It has small cubes of ham along with crumbles of andouille sausage. The latter has decent taste (and you get more of it), the ham is mostly there for texture. There are a few veggies floating around amidst the rice and the broth is rather thick. If you didn’t see jambalaya on the can, you might mistake this for gumbo without okra (and gumbo should not have okra). It does not taste too salty as many canned soups do and definitely needs some Louisiana-style sauce to kick up the flavor. But it is still decent for what it is, though it does have a hint of metallic after-taste in the background typical of soup from a can
The heat is there right away, working up to the Medium level after a few bites. And that burn lingers for a bit. The gauge on the can shows this at the Hot level, but I would not go that far. It is definitely hotter than what you might expect from canned soup, but I still kicked it up more. A little bit of Tabasco gets this up to the promised Hot level while also giving a nice boost to the taste.
Calorie-wise, one serving is 130 cals and the whole can is only 280, so feel free to cook up a piece of garlic toast to go along with it. That pairs pretty well with the soup and you are still in a reasonable calorie range. If you are watching your salt intake, though, this may push you over the edge at around 1350mg for the whole can!
My HEB does not carry the “Spice It Up” line, but I found these in Kroger while visiting in Houston. I also see them online from Walmart and Target, so they may be available in stores. I don’t believe these are limited-time-only, so I expect they will stick around as long as people are buying them off the shelves. The jambalaya won’t replace something you can get from a good Cajun restaurant, or even a pot of the homemade stuff. But for a quick and easy meal, this is pretty tasty and it brings a kick.
Tale of the Tape:
Ingredients: Chicken Broth, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Tomatoes, Andouille Sausage Crumbles With Smoke Flavor Added (Pork, Water, 2% Or Less Of The Following: Garlic, Salt, Spices, Paprika, Sugar, Dehydrated Garlic, Natural Flavor, Maltodextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Corn Syrup Solids, Natural Smoke Flavor, Sodium Phosphates, Rendered Pork Fat, Yeast Extract, (Canola Oil), Rice, Cooked Ham Water Added (Cured With Water, Salt, Dextrose, Sodium Phosphate, Natural Smoke Flavor, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite), Celery, Green Sweet Pepper. Contains Less Than 2% Of: Modified Food Starch, Corn And Soy Protein *Hydrolyzed), Maltodextrin, Red Chile Pepper, Onion, Salt, Spice, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Tomato Extract, Dextrose, Flavor, Dried Parsley, Natural Flavor, Calcium Chloride, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Dried Vinegar.
Serving Size: 1 cup (246g)
Calories: 130
Fat: 3.5g (1g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 19g
Sodium: 660mg