Aldi Review: Chef's Cupboard Southwestern-Style Black Bean Soup

On my trip to Aldi yesterday, I noticed a new product lurking in the Special Buys aisle - Chef's Cupboard Southwestern-Style Black Bean Soup. I picked up a couple of cartons, and since it was almost lunchtime by the time I got home, I had the perfect opportunity to give one a try.

Chef's Cupboard Southwestern-Style Black Bean Soup

The soup comes in a 17 ounce easy-open carton and the label says it serves two, but I had no problem finishing it up by myself. And I thought it was rather good. The soupy part was rich and well-spiced, and had just a hint of spicy heat to it. Not enough to be painful in any way, but it did give the flavor a nice little kick. The beans were nice and firm, not mushy at all, and there were identifiable pieces of onion and carrot as well. It tasted much fresher than typical canned soup.

Bowl of black bean soup

At first glance, I thought there should have been more beans in the soup, but I think it was just that the beans had sunk to the bottom of the saucepan I heated it in. There were actually plenty - I finished the broth and still had beans in the bottom of the bowl.

The soup was perfectly good on it's own, and I could see where you could easily kick it up a notch and make a heartier main dish out of it by adding a cup of leftover shredded chicken and serving it over rice. In fact, that's exactly how I'm going to prepare the other carton I picked up - I'll just add a little salad and a chunk of crusty bread, maybe a little shredded cheese on top, and I'll have a nice meal for very little money.

The Chef's Cupboard Southwestern-Style Black Bean Soup is a Special Buy this week, so I'm going to go ahead and pick up a couple more cartons while I can. It's going to come in mighty handy on one of those cold winter evenings ahead...

-Jeff the Aldi Shopper