The Canned Chili Brand You Need To Keep Out Of Your Shopping Cart

Chili is one of life's greatest meals — whether you're looking to use it to dress up some nachos, or you want to enjoy a steaming bowl of it on a cold night. While classic homemade chili that's been simmering for hours is superior to all else, canned chili is wildly convenient and easy — two benefits that you just can't beat sometimes. With so many brands to choose from, it can be hard to determine which one you should grab, or, more importantly, which one you should avoid at all costs. Fortunately, we've already figured that out for you.

Food Republic's taste-tester ranked 14 canned chili brands and discovered one brand that stood out for all the wrong reasons: Gardein. According to our taste-tester, this plant-based canned chili with beans hit all the wrong notes, stating that it had a very off taste that many meatless beef products tend to have. Our tester, who is a former vegan, felt that because there's no actual meat in this chili, the recipe developers tried to make up for it by adding in too much of the faux smoky flavor, creating something that just seemed ... wrong.

Additionally, this chili has a ton of sodium, at 68% of the recommended daily intake per serving, which gives you less control over how salty you like your food. The product has mixed reviews, skewing on the negative side, across the internet. People dislike everything from the color to the texture to the smell of it — with its saltiness repeatedly coming up. If you bought this brand accidentally, pucker up and consider adding canned tomatoes and some spices to mellow things out. 

When choosing a canned chili brand, you're likely looking for a product that will give you a hearty texture, deep flavor, and a nice balance between savory notes, acidity, and sweetness (and sometimes heat if that's your preference). While there are plenty of ingredients you can use to elevate your canned chili, having the right base is the most important part of the process.

So when you find yourself in the canned chili aisle at your local supermarket, you may be surprised that we've dubbed Campbell's Chunky Chili With Beans as the best option available. Most known for its canned chicken noodle soup, Campbell's outshone the rest of the participants thanks to its chili's robust flavor, chunky texture, and hearty ingredients. In fact, verified customer reviews at Target ranked it 4.6/5 stars, with many claiming it's the closest you'll get to homemade in a can.

It also has much less sodium than Gardein's, with only 36% of the daily intake in one serving, giving you a bit more control over saltiness. Additionally, our taste-tester liked that you could actually make out the individual ingredients, meaning that the beans were whole and had a good bite to them, and the veggies weren't all just blended up into a soup. Once you've made yours, don't forget to add some adventurous chili toppings for an even more elevated meal.