The Best Canned Chicken At The Grocery Store Is A Splurge, But It's Worth It
One doesn't simply run into a reliable option for canned chicken. Thus, when a brand delivers exceptional flavor, great texture, and health all in one, customers are right to hold onto it. Such is the case with Bumble Bee's All Natural Premium Chicken Breast Chunk In Water with No Antibiotics Ever. Out of all 13 canned chicken brands we ranked, we found Bumble Bee's credible enough to garner rave reviews time and again — despite its slightly higher price tag.
We've made peace with the fact that canned chicken won't taste the same as fresh. That said, the apple doesn't have to fall too far from the tree. What we especially appreciate about Bumble Bee's canned chicken is how full-flavored it is. It can stand alone without anything to dress it like a sauce. A reliable flavor profile offers numerous ways to use canned chicken, and Bumble Bee's canned chicken is so full of flavor that you can even use it as an alternative to the real thing.
One customer on Influenster praised Bumble Bee's canned chicken, stating that it's "never dry" — and that's a big deal. Canned meat often lacks the juiciness of fresh meat. This was the case with Kroger's Premium Chicken Breast, which we ranked third. Yet, Bumble Bee's canned chicken defies the odds with tender, flavorful chunks. Plus, at 230 milligrams of sodium per serving, it has a moderate amount of sodium that beats other brands like Wild Planet (390 milligrams)and Hormel (650 milligrams).
The higher price you pay is worth it
A 10-ounce can of Bumble Bee's canned chicken breast costs $5.93 on Walmart online as of this writing. This price is on the high end compared to that of comparable brands like Great Value's Chunk Chicken ($3.12/12.5 ounces) on the same website and Target's Good & Gather's Premium White Chunk Chicken ($2.29/10 ounces.) Although pricey, this cost is well worth it.
Bumble Bee uses antibiotic-free chickens to make its canned chicken breasts. You may be aware that chickens raised without antibiotics are done so in a bid to fight against antibiotic resistance and thereby prevent impacting human health negatively. The cost, however, of this change to an antibiotic-free practice is burdened by farmers and transferred to consumers eventually. This may contribute to the higher price tag of Bumble Bee's canned chicken.
Besides that, Bumble Bee's canned chicken is of high quality with very few ingredients: Chicken breast meat, water, and salt. In the business of canned chicken, less is more, especially when incorporating it in a dish that demands that its flavors be prominent, like our chicken pasta salad. So, while canned chicken from Good & Gather has additional ingredients such as modified food starch to help keep its texture intact, Bumble Bee's can do without — which speaks to its quality.