I don’t eat much Campbell’s soup, mostly because their condensed tomato soup (a sodium-rich guilty pleasure since I was a kid) contains high fructose corn syrup and I stopped eating that garbage years ago. Every once in awhile one of their premium products will pique my curiosity, though, as was the case recently with Campbell’s Slow Kettle Style Soups Kickin’ Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder (“with flame roasted onions & cayenne pepper,” the label boasts).

At $3.08 on sale in South-Central Kentucky, Campbell’s Kickin’ Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder isn’t exactly what I’d call a bargain, but the price isn’t bad considering it’s made with real crab meat.

That’s right, real crab meat — no imitation crab meat here. It’s hard to even find crab meat made with real crab meat in most Kentucky supermarkets anymore, so that alone was enough to make me try it.

The corn flavor overpowers everything else in most corn chowders and this one is no exception. However, there’s still plenty of crab flavor and enough pepper to provide a warm finish without being overly spicy.

The crab meat is abundant, but don’t expect to find lumps of crab floating around in this soup — it’s all fine strands. The chowder itself is smooth, creamy and rich (but not too rich), providing a nice balance of flavors overall.

All in all, Campbell’s Kickin’ Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder makes for a nice change of pace from typical canned soup fare and is worth a try if you’re in the mood for a bisque-like soup infused with appreciable crab flavor — but only if you like corn.

Decent shelf-stable seafood products can be hard to find and while I wouldn’t eat this soup every day (even if someone else were buying it), Campbell’s Kickin’ Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder is definitely worthy of making an occasional guest appearance on my menu.

List Of Ingredients

Water, corn, crab, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, canola and/or soybean), celery, roasted onions, green peppers, red peppers. Contains less than 2 percent of: modified food starch, skim milk, wheat flour, flavoring (crab, yeast extract), sugar, cream (milk), salt, whey protein concentrate (milk), spice, pollock, yeast extract, paprika, flavoring (shrimp, cod, clams), sunflower lecithin, dried garlic.

Nutrition Facts

• Package Size: 15.5 oz (440 g)
• Serving Size: 1 cup (240 mL)
• Servings Per Container: about 2
• Calories: 230
• Calories From Fat: 130
• Total Fat: 14 g
• Saturated Fat: 2 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: n/a
• Monounsaturated Fat: n/a
• Cholesterol: 30 mg
• Sodium: 680 mg
• Potassium: 230 mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 18 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Sugars: 4 g
• Protein: 7 g
• Vitamin A: 0%
• Vitamin C: 4%
• Calcium: 8%
• Iron: 4%