Similar to Hormel Compleats, Roasted Turkey & Vegetables with Long Grain White & Wild Rice, 10-Ounce Microwavable Bowls (Pack of 6), the Chicken Marinara tasted funny. The minty flavor ruined the meal for me, and left an aftertaste in my mouth that was difficult to get rid of. Texturally it was pretty good for a shelf-stable prepared meal. I wanted to like it more, as the price is reasonable, and the portion size and calorie count are good, but it’s just too minty for me.

This is the first Hormel Compleats product we’ve tried and I have to say, I was plesantly surprised. I’m not a foodie, but I do expect flavor from food, packaged or fresh.

Others have commented about the contents matching the pix on the packaging. Pretty much it looked the same to me although the penne pasta and chicken are mixed well within the marinara sauce.

Plusses:
>>Ease of use: slit some holes, pop in microwave for about 1 minute, 45 seconds. Take out, wait a minute or so, peel off top and eat. (Peeling it off took awhile. It seemed to have some sort of glue that stuck to the sides of the plastic container.)

>>Flavor: The marina sauce was tasty and quite a bit better than some of the bottled marinara sauce I’ve had. Chicken tasted like chicken and penne pasta was firm (but not break your tooth firm) and not mushy, which is important to me.

>>Nutritional Content: If the label is correct, this isn’t too bad at all if you’re looking for both good fiber and protein without exorbitant sugar or sodium. And with only 5% saturated fat, that’s good for fresh or packaged.

>>Great item to store at the office or a second home or anywhere else where food may not be readily available and/or you need some backup.

This should not be viewed as a substitute for making your own pasta to order and using a homemade or other sauce, but it’s not bad when you’re starving and literally want to eat in three minutes.

Cons:
>>Price, which varies depending on where you buy it. Amazon has good prices with subscribe and save but at the $3 and up that convenience stores that seem to stock it charge, not such a value.

>>Availability. Not always easily found in our area. If you like this, amazon subscribe and save is probably the best way to get it fast, in quantity and at good price.

I’ve looked online at the others in the compleats line. Not impressed due to very high sodium (why can’t companies understand that most of us want low sodium. Really low. Folks who want more sodium will just add salt. Good spices and other flavorings can give us the taste we need.).

I suspect that the appeal of this will depend entirely on your own tastebuds. If you’re someone who regularly eats homemade pasta sauce with fresh pasta, this will be a tough substitute. But if you use bottled pasta sauce and packaged pasta, this is akin to a prepaid version of this. You can always rev it up by adding your own veggies (steamed or heated up frozen ones) with it.

If this didn’t require a microwave to heat it up, it would be a perfect item for an emergency food kit.

These microwavable meals that don’t require refrigeration are very convenient, although these Compleats are not quite as convenient as the Chef Boyardee products, where you simply need to remove the cover before heating.

These are very light snacks, at just 10oz. That may or may not be what you want. I find I need to heat them for 2 minutes, rather than the recommended 90 seconds. This particular variety has a somewhat spicy taste, due to the peppers it contains. It has a rather unappetizing, muddy appearance. You also need to stir it before eating.

If you use convenience meals like this every day at work, then you need some variety. This one is worth a try, especially if you are looking for something with a fuller flavor than most chicken meals.

Based on the ranting and raving of a traveling acquaintance I thought I’d try these COMPLEATS meals … specifically the HEALTHY LIFESTYLE ones with lower sodium (Green labels). Storing at room temperature sounded good and the price is not bad. I’ve tried two, and trust me, they look nothing like the picture on the package. Today I tried the CHICKEN MARINARA. The label (picture) on the package looked very appetizing, but once cooked, it looked more like a brown mush. The list of ingredients mentions carrots, celery, onions, green bell peppers, etc.. After stirring around I actually saw ONE little piece of green … bell pepper, I assume.

The stuff has some taste, but has no resemblance to the pictures and needs bread or some other medium to digest it. I won’t try it again.