The Pot Pie Taste Roulette

      Pot pie is a favorite amongst my family. My mother makes a mean pot pie, but she makes them on very rare occasions. I knew a store bought brand of pot pie wouldn't be as amazing as my mother's, but I wouldn't mind compensating for a lesser delicious microwaveable pot pie to settle my cravings!

The chicken pot pie brands

     Therefore I bought three brands of Pot Pies: Swanson. Banquet, and Marie Calenders. Through trying these three brands I was wanting to see if a not so famous brand may be better than the almighty Marie Calenders!

      I wanted to test the pies without bias, so I sat in another room while my Aunt Mary prepared the pies in the kitchen. I told her to scoop a spoonful of each pot pie into a separate bowl. Also to make sure I got a valid taste of each pie, I washed down the taste in between each bowl with some water.

Let the taste test begin!

      After this I began my pot pie adventure! Looking at the first bowl of pot pie I noticed it was colorful with vegetables, mostly peas, the bread looked thin and somewhat flakey, and was a nice light brown color. Tasting it, the gravy was a bit salty, but still had a good creamy flavor. The chicken was very tender and juicy. The vegetables tasted like vegetables should taste, and the breading was the right amount of crisp and soft.

     With the second bowl I noticed this pot pie was not as colorful as the first. The breading was barely even brown, and looked too thin. My expectations were lowered by the appearance of this one. I took a bite, and it automatically hit me that there was no gravy at all in this pot pie! It was so dry! The carrots even seemed off, leaving an awkward after taste in my mouth. The breading was dry, and hard. Chewing the bread was similar to chewing a chip!

    The last pot pie was colorful like the first, it had a very similar appearance except the breading looked thick but was also flaky. I love my bread, so I was excited to try this one. I noticed the vegetables didn't have as much flavor as the first one. Eating the carrots was like chewing a tiny square of nothing. Although the gravy wasn't as salty as the first one, and the chicken tasted identical to the first. The breading was thicker and fluffier, while the first was much thinner but also fluffy. For me the first pie and this one had a tie in taste.

    Afterwards, my Aunt Mary revealed the brands. The first one I had tried was Banquet, the second, Swanson, and the third, Marie Calendar's. Meaning Banquet, the 63 cent pie was better than Swanson, the 79 cent pie, and tied with Marie Calendar's, a $2 and 50 cent pie! This came as a shock to my Aunt Mary who was a Marie Calendar fan. She decided to give each a taste as well. Her results were about the same as mine, with Marie and Banquet's pie a tie, and Swanson's pie being way too dry.

    I would recommend both Marie and Banquet to any pot pie lovers. Yes, Marie's is a bit more expensive, but it's about three times the size as Banquet. Therefore if you're looking to feed two people, you should go with Marie Calendar's, but if it's just for you, I'd go ahead and get Banquet. As fas as Swanson, stay far far away, unless you're a fan of dry pot pies, without gravy, and a strange after taste!