Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans

Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Chili is often a terrific option for people looking to increase their protein intake without simply diving into a slab of beef, but many recipes for chili will include wheat in the mixture and so finding chili that is truly gluten free is usually impossible at most restaurants and means that most chili on store shelves is off-limits as well. 

An option for wheat-free chili that is found in the freezer section of the grocery store is that of Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans, which is not only a gluten-free item, but is also dairy free (until you decide to slather it with shredded cheddar). While likely not sufficient for a full meal, the size of this small entree would likely be enough for a light lunch so long as it was joined by something else such as a bag of gluten-free chips.

Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Chili is often a food that can either be completely full of vegetables, meat and beans or it can be a soupy mixture where a spoon becomes necessary and this particular type of chili is definitely in the middle somewhere. It's not a completely soupy mixture where there doesn't seem to be any heft to the finished product, but it's not a chunky variety of chili by any means.

But when it comes to gluten free chili options, there aren't very many from which to choose, so the fact that this particular type of chili isn't just watery soup is a good sign. It's also easy to make and anyone with a microwave and a few minutes of time can get a hot bowl of chili with this entree. The calories and other assorted nutrients seem to be accommodating toward most diets as well, so nobody needs to worry about eating one of these little bowls for lunch.

Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Of course, when the chili emerges from the microwave, it's likely that it would be greatly helped by the addition of some cheese for a bit of flair as the chili itself isn't exactly hearty or entirely flavorful. Perhaps it's the vice of the freezer section, but the recipe utilized by Kettle Cuisine isn't a taste which is all that memorable. For gluten free options of the chili variety, it might be better to consider the Hormel varieties of chili as they have many hearty and tasty varieties that their website confirms as being gluten free.

Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Kettle Cuisine Chili with Beans Report Card:

The Good Stuff:

This entree is small, but it does taste like chili. And it's gluten free. So those are positives. But there aren't a lot of reasons why this particular gluten-free item would stand out against others of the same type.

What Could be Better:

The overall taste of this chili isn't something that will impress anyone who is a true fan of chili, but it will do the job if someone has a hankering for chili and there don't seem to be any handy cans of Hormel nearby. Covering the finished product with a half pound of cheese seems to do the trick for improving the taste.