Old El Paso’s New Broths Might Be Repeating A Mistake

It seems like Old El Paso has seriously been focusing on expanding its product line this year. It’s not like the Mexican and Tex-Mex food brand was especially modest before 2026, but as the months have ticked along, we’ve seen plenty of new offerings from it – some of them slightly left-of-center. We’ve had some new funky soups, some new stuffed nacho flavors, and plenty more besides. That product development never lets up. 

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Now, Old El Paso has quietly dropped two new broths, and in typical style, they’ve got a bit more going on in them than just basic chicken or beef flavors. The question is: Will they stick the landing?

Old El Paso Broths

We learned about these new broths yesterday from @candyhunting, and they’re already in stores as we speak (or read, or type). They are:

• Old El Paso Tinga-Style Chicken Broth: This broth, as is probably very clear, takes inspiration from tinga, a chicken dish made with tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, and onions. As such, you can reasonably expect it to lead with smoky, savory, salty, slightly spicy notes. 
• Old El Paso Birria-Style Beef Broth: It’s birria time! This is far from the first time that Old El Paso has flirted with birria flavors (more on that in a moment), but now, we’re getting them in pure liquid form. Umami will be the predominant note here, with gentle earthiness and spiciness and (hopefully) some proper beef flavors. 

It’s worth pointing out that these are designed to be bases of dishes, not to give you all the flavor needed in one go. Think of them like amped-up broths, which is exactly what they are, instead of a one-stop shop. @candyhunting found them at Woodman’s, but they’ll probably be elsewhere, too. 

We’ve Been Here Before…

As I mentioned above, these broths feel like variations on a theme in some ways – and that’s got us slightly worried. Old El Paso’s birria excursions haven’t been received particularly well by all parties: While we liked its beef birria ramen last year, its birria taco kits weren’t as beloved. One person who tried them a few months ago on Reddit referred to them as “bland asf” (probably can’t translate what “asf” means here, but if you’re not sure, a quick Google will tell ya), which doesn’t bode well, unless Old El Paso has changed the recipe here. The risk, as well, is that both of these will just be salty, with no real complexity. If you want to try them, though, they’re available now.