Dinty Moore Hearty Meals Beef Stew Review

Dinty Moore Hearty Meals Beef Stew from Hormel Foods is a prepared meal-in-a-can that’s been around for a few decades at least. I remember from boyhood, taking it camping and heating up the can at the fire by sitting it atop the orange-glowing embers for a couple of minutes. It’s a quick yet deliciously hearty beef stew, and nowadays, it has no preservatives. But I don’t think I’ll heat it up in a fire anymore without first removing the stew from the can, as this might cause the chemicals in today’s can linings to leech into the stew. Dinty Moore is indeed my favorite canned beef stew product.

Benefits, Pros, Advantages, and Features

This is a very filling meal. The 24-ounce can I bought recently supplies about three servings, although for me, one of my servings was all I could get from that can.
No preservatives. In fact the ingredients list has mostly potatoes, carrots, beef, and tomatoes in the gravy.
Thick and plentiful, the accompanying gravy provides much of the satisfying flavor. However, it’s made with corn flour, which contributes to the 51 grams per can of carbohydrates in this product.
The amount of sugar in this product is low, at only 3 grams per serving, or about 9 grams for the entire can.
Most larger grocery stores carry Dinty Moore beef stew. So it’s quite simple to locate usually.
At only $2.18 per can, you get a pretty well-rounded meal nutritionally, or at least, the main course in a nutritious meal. While I wouldn’t make a meal every day out of this stew, it comes in handy when time is tight, and I’m unable to make beef stew here in the kitchen.
Being a pre-cooked canned food, this beef stew can be heated in an 1100-watt microwave oven in three to four minutes, to a piping hot aromatic consistency. It’s mouth-watering aroma took over my first floor for a time as I was heating it.
Hormel includes a recipe for shepherd’s pie on the label as well as very simple-to-follow heating instructions for this beef stew.
This is a USDA-certified product.
The can is made from recyclable steel.
Though this is a high sodium food, it does not taste overly salty. The salt actually compliments the beef flavor and harmonizes with the gravy, potatoes, and carrots quite nicely. But then again, maybe I need to de-acclimate my taste buds from so much salt.
Hormel also provides smaller microwave-ready 10-ounce trays of this product, though I have not tried it served in these, since the portions in them are so small.
Generous portions of precooked beef are provided, which have a filing flavor, though this beef tends to be soft and not so chewy.
You can eat this food without first heating, as it’s already cooked during canning.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

They do add some salt and sugar.
This is a high-sodium food in my view, at 970 MG of sodium per serving, or 2910 MG of sodium in the whole can. So I would not eat this food very often, even though it tastes so good.
The beef pieces are very soft; almost mushy. I wish Hormel would make them chewier.
Saturated fat, at 12 grams per entire can seems high, and if you eat the whole can, this gives you sixty percent of the recommended daily allowance for saturated fat. So, no cheesecake for dessert when you eat this beef stew.

Our Rating

As an occasional meal or camp food supply, I’d recommend Dinty Moore Hearty Meals Beef Stew for anyone who enjoys eating beef stew but lacks the time to make a homemade batch of it. It’s reasonably healthy if you forget about the high sodium, it’s convenient to prepare, and it contains among the heartiest stew ingredients: Potatoes, carrots, and of course, beef. So I’d rate this product at 88 out of 100.

Where To Buy Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Look for it in the red, white, and blue pull-top can with the blue and white lettering at your favorite larger grocery store. I found mine at Walmart but have also seen it at Giant Eagle, Martin’s, and Weis, and on the Internet for sale.

References

Revision History

2015-01-16: Added whitespace and rearranged tag and category assignments.
2012-04-09: Originally published.