Bottom Line: The Chunky Ghost Pepper Chicken Noodle Soup from Campbell’s is quite good as canned soups go and really packs some heat.
It is soup season as Fall is upon us and the outside temperatures are starting to drop (unless you are here in Texas where the only temp seems to be hot and hotter). And while it is always nice to make up a big batch of homemade soup that you can feed on for a few days (keep an eye out for some upcoming recipes), sometimes you need a quick meal and canned soup hits the spot. I’m not talking about that old condensed soup from a bygone age (though you can still find it in the stores), I’m referring to the newer, premium soups that you can pop right out of the can and slurp down. And we have had some nice spicy options on those of late as I previously covered with the Chunky Spicy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo (more on that here) and the Progresso Spicy Tomato Soup (more on that here).
Just recently, Campbell’s decided to kick things up even more with their new Chunky Ghost Pepper Chicken Noodle Soup. Following is the description they give for that (trademarks included at our lawyer’s request):
Campbell’s® Chunky® Ghost Pepper Chicken Noodle Soup isn’t just tasty—it’s made to spice up your life. With spicy and bold flavors, this spicy take on a comfort food classic is capable of fueling even the heartiest appetite. This fiery, ready-to-eat chicken soup is crafted with big pieces of chicken meat, red peppers, vegetables, enriched egg noodles and a sizzling broth seasoned with ghost pepper and chili pepper extracts.
As far as the soup portion of this, it is fairly standard premium canned soup which is not a bad thing because these have come a long way from the gelatinous condensed stuff you mix with water with the old-style soups. This is not homemade or gourmet, but still rather tasty for a quick meal. The noodles are not mushy at all and have a decent texture. The pieces of chicken have some good taste (soaking up lots of flavor from the broth) and they are fairly generous with those. There are visible bits of carrots and celery and even some notable diced tomatoes. The overall taste is rich and well-seasoned and not too salty, though I did add just a touch of Cajun spices to give it a boost. It does have that metallic taste in the background that is not uncommon from canned soups, but the other flavors mostly cover that up. And I might have liked a little more stuff and a little less broth, but that is mostly a nitpick. (That broth is certainly good for dipping some bread in, maybe a crusty piece of garlic toast.)
As for the heat, this can of soup definitely packs a punch! I wouldn’t put it at Ghost Pepper level, but it is approaching Hot on my scale and that is without adding any extra hot sauce. In fact, I added nothing to my bowl except the seasoning I mentioned above which does not bring much heat. The meek need not bother with adding this to their shopping cart, but chiliheads will certainly sop up every drop. And if that Fall cold has your head stuffed up, this will certainly clear you up for a while at least. I did not expect this to be in the Fiery range or beyond since it comes from a major company that caters to the average consumer. But I am impressed with the heat level it does deliver. And it’s a pretty good bowl of soup to boot.
Calorie-wise, they claim it is 130 cals for a cup of the stuff, but you know you are going to eat the whole can. That’s only 280 cals total, though, so no need to feel guilty. That even gives you plenty of extra room for a piece of garlic bread or maybe even a small grilled cheese sandwich. But even just the can itself is filling, so perhaps it will hold you over for a while.
I’ve seen no indication that this is considered a limited-time-only item, but these companies do tend to cycle through their products. I found this at Kroger and you can probably track it down at Super Walmart and Super Target as well. Sadly, my local HEB has almost none of the spicy soups including this one, so don’t count on them. But if you do find the Ghost Pepper Chicken Noodle Soup, I advise picking up a few cans especially as we are heading into cold-weather season.
Nutrition Info:
Ingredients: Chicken Stock, Chicken Meat, Carrots, Enriched Egg Noodles (Wheat Flour, Eggs, Egg Whites, Wheat Protein Isolate [Wheat Gluten, Phosphate, Lactic Acid], Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Celery, Red Peppers, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Water, Modified Cornstarch, Tomato Paste, Salt, Chicken Fat, Distilled Vinegar, Yeast Extract, Potassium Salt, Paprika, Sugar, Soy Protein Concentrate, Dried Onions, Chili Pepper Extract, Flavoring, Sodium Phosphate, Ghost Chili Pepper Extract, Cooked Chicken Skins, Spice, Beta Carotene For Color, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Dried Chicken, Egg Yolks, Soy Lecithin. Contains: Egg, Wheat, Soy.
Serving Size: 1 Cup (240 ml)
Calories: 130
Fat: 3.5g (1g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 17g
Carbs: 8g
Sodium: 790mg