Starkist Beef Creations are newer to the market, filling a spot that has been empty for a few years. In the late 2000s, one could find many meats/fish in packets, but this dwindled in the 2010s.
Starkist is again targeting the market with a wide array of protein options, and ground beef is now back. This adds to their extensive line of ready-to-eat flavored Creations Line of tuna and chicken pouches.
Overall, the ingredient list isn’t bad, with mostly whole ingredients (no fake coloring or high fructose corn syrup, and all three contain oats as a thickener, which adds some fiber). The sodium ranges from 350 to 520 mg. It is made with 90/10 fat ground beef.
While I wouldn’t eat it cold out of the bag, if one were to take ½ cup of dry instant rice, prepped, or cooked ramen (not using the “flavor” packet) and toss it with one of these packets, you could have a warming and affordable meal that isn’t terribly high in sodium (the sodium in ramen is nearly all in the flavor packet). I paid $1.48 for each packet via Amazon, so yes, this was well-priced. (OK, let me ponder that…I’d eat it cold if I was hungry, but heated would be optimal.)
My packets came with about 2 years of shelf-life, making them a good stock-up choice.
It’s an alternative to dehydrated or freeze-dried red meat, which isn’t always easy to find. I haven’t found it in stores yet, but I haven’t been to Walmart in a while.
In three flavors currently, of which all three are sold on Amazon for easy purchase:
110 calories and 9 grams of protein
100 calories and 8 grams of protein
100 calories and 9 grams of protein
~Sarah
Starkist does beef now? Who’d a thunk it. Hope it’s dolphin-friendly, haha.
Unless we have deep sea cows now 😉
~Sarah
Sara- How do you rate the flavors? Any particular favorite?
I liked the BBQ one the best. It had a good flavor and aroma – it’s funny that I’d say the BBQ sauce is the main feature. But it is – and it’s good.
While the packets are not something I’d have on hand all the time, they were fine for what they are – and far better than flavored tuna is.
~Sarah
Good to know. My son is stationed in Japan, and sent me a huge box of assorted freeze dried meals, which are all vegetarian. I picked up some Onsi brand meals when I was visiting, and enjoyed them, but some of the other brands he sent this time would benefit from some kind of protein.