Walmart's Best Marketside Soup Is A Quintessential Southern Staple

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To get good-quality items for the lowest prices at Walmart, you can't do better than the chain's exclusive store brands. You may already know Walmart's bettergoods and Great Value brands, but Marketside is a third, underrated product line that sells pre-prepared foods like sandwiches, salads, and soups — but only some of these are at the perfect intersection of taste and value. For one, the Chicken & Sausage Gumbo is worth every cent, as it won first place when we ranked Walmart Marketside soups from worst to best.

While some other Marketside soups are lacking in flavor or skimpy on the meat and veggies, the Chicken & Sausage Gumbo carries a truly rich taste of spices and a genuine roux, one of the main ingredients in real gumbo. This Louisiana specialty is also supposed to be hearty with decently large chunks of ingredients, and Walmart's version delivers, as it's full of sliced andouille sausage, shredded chicken, chunks of chopped okra, and white rice. The ingredients list even contains the "holy trinity" of onions, celery, and bell pepper, a sacred mirepoix-like trio in Cajun cuisine.

Our taste tester loved the deep, smoky savoriness of this gumbo. Many store-bought soups taste like they were carelessly mixed together and barely cooked through before packaging, but this Marketside product has a slow-simmered quality that almost tastes homemade. It's not identical to a chicken gumbo recipe from scratch, but at a price of $4.87 for a one-pound tub, it's a tasty version of the Southern staple that's none too expensive.

Out of all of Marketside's soups, Walmart customers agree that the Chicken & Sausage Gumbo is a must-try. Reviewers on Walmart's website compliment the rich spiciness of the dish and the generous pieces of sausage, chicken, and veggies. "I am a BIG fan of this soup!!" one shopper wrote. "Really delicious. And chock full of protein — lots of chicken, very distinct sausage flavor". Another reviewer said, "Hailing from New Orleans, we have a critical palette when it comes to seafood and gumbo. ... I will vouch for this as one of the best I've ever had store bought!".

The only major downside of this Walmart soup is that it's actually a bit too spicy for some people. To fix this, try spooning the gumbo over extra rice or serving it with oyster crackers, which will temper the intensity of the flavor. On the other hand, some lovers of big-and-bold gumbo find the taste of the Marketside version a bit tame, so they add some extra hot sauce – it all depends on your own spice tolerance.

This Marketside gem actually makes a great base for all sorts of ingredients to upgrade your gumbo. To add some seafood flair, try mixing in savory fish sauce alongside some cooked shrimp, mussels, or crab. If you prefer gumbo thickened with file powder, this Walmart soup is light-bodied enough to accommodate a spoonful or two. You can even enhance your gumbo with beer, which would add some extra complexity to any pre-made version.