Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli

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Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli - Closeup

Looks: Once you’ve shaken them out of the can and swirled them around a bit, the ravioli do have the same basic shape as depicted on the wrapper, and the sauce is almost the right color. However, the meat inside is not a healthy brown, but rather a sickly gray. (The pasta too is miscolored – more a pasty white than a golden yellow.) Additionally, the sauce doesn’t coat the ravioli like it’s supposed to, and the pasta pieces are more like flared-out boxes of meat than fluffy little beef pillows. 2.5 out of 5

Taste: There isn’t much. The sauce is really the only thing with a flavor, so it’s a good thing it’s decent for having come out of a can that may have been on the shelf for years. The “pasta” is so soft that you can chew the whole meal with just your tongue and the roof of your mouth, so add another point to the score if you’re suffering from lockjaw. 1 out of 5

31 Comments

  1. kas says:

    I love Chef Boyardee ravioli. Maybe it’s because I’m a college student?

  2. Steve says:

    I won’t quibble about the taste, but I’d say the picture on the can is pretty representative of what’s in the can. Certainly on the order of 4/5.

  3. indie_uxyz says:

    I’m not really one for frozen foods, but I definitely appreciate the spice writing. I think I’m going to refer to my girlfriend as my “fluffy little beef pillows”.

  4. spacepig says:

    Damn if the chef doesn’t look awful proud of his creation there.

  5. njudah says:

    not only are they kinda gross and salty, you could make your own pasta with sauce combo, split ’em up into containers, and freeze some for future use, and they would taste better and cost a LOT less.

    I bought a can of these things when I first moved into my apartment and had no food and the only store open was the corner store. It was a can of FAIL. But after I got settled, I made my own simple sauce with turkey sausage, a pound of pasta, and split ’em up. Total cost of ingredients was a little over $3 (sales!) and way better than this stuff.

    • Andy says:

      Your time is valueless? How about the cost of the gas or electric to cook your pasta and sauce? I’m not arguing that the cost for the ingredients for your meals was less than a couple of cans of Chef Boy Ar Dee canned pasta, but when you take the time to shop for those fresh(er) ingredients, the time to cook them, plus the time to clean up and then repackage them in freezer containers, and then you have the defrost time when you want to eat your meals at a later date.
      You will never hear me argue that some canned pasta is better than home made, but there is a built in time cost to making fresh meals that you’re not factoring in to your calculations.

      • AnnaTheTerrible says:

        The same amount of time spent driving to the store and picking out a couple cans of canned pasta is not that much different then the time spent picking out a couple fresh tomatoes. Yeah, it might take less time to pop open a can and toss the contents into a microwave than to spend and extra few minutes preparing a dish from scratch, but you’ re paying for that time saved with your health. So you need to calculate how much your life is worth v.s. how much free time youre saving and determine if that easy open can of trash is worth your pound of flesh.

      • Julianne says:

        dear nujudah,
        you can suck a dic these raviollis are to die for fuck you for critizing my tastey husband your foolish. maaybe if you took a fuck tast of these tast ass boodle you’d now that nthign is better then the sweet realze of spaggiettios though your open thrpuat suck dicl lovr spaggiet love 99

  6. ketchup says:

    This is one of the best creations of all time. Monsieur Boyardee is my hero.

  7. Anonymous says:

    is chef boyardee real???

    • Isolder74 says:

      Yes, there really was a guy named Chef Boiardi. The spelling on the can is so you will say his name right.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I love Chef Boyardee Ravioli, that said some cans the sauce does seem a bit too watery and not thick enough.

    A good test to see if it is going to be watery is to shake the can, if you can hear sloshing sounds then it is a good bet that it is going to be watery. With all things this test is not 100% accurate.

  9. Rodney from Canada says:

    I wunder if the meat is real cause if it was they be more costly for the cans. I use to hate it cause I thought it was a imitation to food lol now kind of love it.

  10. Rich says:

    @njudah

    So you are saying when you make said food as opposed to store bought it has the potential to be healthier and taste better? You need to tell more people about your revelation…

  11. What’s in an astronaut’s favorite sandwich? Launch meat.

  12. Bryan says:

    HOW MUCH DOES IT COST IN AMERICA?

  13. What happened to the quality and flavor of your canned ravioli and other products? The sauce is much thinner now, and thier is quite a noticable difference in the flavor.the reduction of the Italian spices is quite noticable too.I still purchase them for the kids,but I believe that they notice the changes also.Not happy at all with the changes. William Stewart. Pa.

  14. Patti Edens says:

    Ditto what William Stewart said. The sauce is thin and the taste is not as good as before. It now has an uncooked tomato sauce taste. Yuck.

    Will it ever be like before or are we stuck with this version?

  15. Katie says:

    i’m usually ok with the taste of chef boyardee, it’s the aftermath i’m not ok with- bad stomachache 🙁

  16. jeff says:

    Here’s one thing I noticed the new big fat ravioli don’t taste as good as the regular ones I new as a kid. I agree with patti edens uncooked tomato sauce.

  17. Norman L. Lavalley says:

    To Whom it may Concern,
    Whatever became of that “GREAT SPAGHETTI KIT” that you
    used to have back in the 60,s and 70,s??? And also the “SPAGHETTI SAUCE”, that I used
    to die for??? Well I,m still glad you have your other products here in Toronto,Canada.
    Don,t ever take them away cos,you,d have alot of sad people
    up here and I don,t care what anyone say,s “YOUR STILL the BEST.”

    The Most Ardent Fan.
    Norman.

  18. Lon says:

    I used to love, love, love this stuff, but I hadn’t had it for a long time and my wife was going outta town for a week, so…. when I was at the grocery the other day, they had it on sale, 10 for $10. I unfortunately stocked up. The can advertised that the “Easy Open Lids Are Back”, but the flavor however, was gone! Maybe I’m wrong, but I remember the sauce being a little thicker. This stuff was more like watery tomato soup.And the meat, well lets just not even talk about the meat, or the nauseating taste it left behind as a friendly reminder that you should never by canned meat that’s hidden inside a slimy reddish-yellow pasta puff. If ya wanna try to duplicate this stuff on your own though, you’re going to need a jumbo sized shopping cart. Here’s a partial list of ingredients from the back of an old can. The list was even longer on the new can I had:
    Ingredients

    Water, Tomatoes (Water, Tomato Puree), Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Folic Acid), Beef, Crackermeal (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Folic Acid), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Soybean Oil, Salt, Carrots, Textured Soy Protein Concentrate (Soy Protein Concentrate and Caramel Coloring), Onions, Flavorings, Caramel Coloring, Potassium Chloride, Oleoresin Paprika, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Enzyme Modified Cheese [Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), and Annatto (Color)] and Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate. CONTAINS: MILK, SOY, WHEAT

    Enjoy!

  19. Jesse says:

    A few things, you older individuals, your tastebuds change over time, so all that flavor you are missing is a reflection of your age. Also the color of the beef is not a reflection of the wholesomeness, but of the preservatives. I am also a fan of this stuff, but my tastebuds have changed as well. I eat it because it is a comfort food. I too wish they still had the spagetti meal.

  20. Marc Ben-Meir says:

    I am searching for the shelf life of the beef ravioli. One site says 720. 720 what
    please.

  21. Marc Ben-Meir says:

    Shelf life?

  22. Chris says:

    I’m eating a can of this right now, and actually it is good! I heat mine in a pot on the stove with about a cup of extra water, heat until it is all boiling like a cauldron, and add cayenne pepper.

  23. Danny says:

    This was a childhood favorite of mine that holds up to my adult scrutiny. Something Potted Meat and Deviled Ham could not do.

  24. Sophie says:

    I have such a soft spot for these! I don’t have them often, but when I do it’s usually straight from the can. 🙂

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