Cup Noodles’ New “Turkey Dinner” Flavor Shouldn’t Work But It Does

My girlfriend puts up with a lot. “Honey, I need to go buy an extra freezer because Jeni’s is sending us 30 pints of ice cream tomorrow.” “Sweetie, I’m going to be out of town for a week; can you unbox all the packages I get and make sure nothing melts?” “Darling, can we stop at Speedway after date night? There’s a new Slurpee.” And it never ends.

She might really be at her wit’s end with this one, though: Cup Noodles sent over an “Emergency Moist Kit” featuring their Walmart-exclusive Thanksgiving flavors. Alongside cups of Turkey Dinner and Pumpkin Pie flavored Cup Noodles, I’m now the proud owner of a brown corduroy hat that says MOIST—and my girlfriend hates it. Pray for her. In the meantime, let’s make a mess of the microwave and review these new Cup Noodles.

Turkey Dinner!

Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles

Walmart

Here’s an embarrassing admission: This is my first ever cup of Cup Noodles. I missed a lot of those crucial early-adulthood experiences by skipping college; I also had my first PBR this year, so I’m really rounding out the college diet today.

Pros: The official flavor description mentions “savory turkey, rich gravy, herbs, onions, garlic, and aromatic stuffing, finished with a creamy note reminiscent of green bean casserole.” They don’t even mention the cranberry I tasted (and found in the ingredients list to make sure I wasn’t nuts)! This is a very robust, layered cup of noodles—better than it has any right to be.

Cons: There’s so much going on, it’s rather hard to pick out the individual flavors making up this dinner-flavored snack. And I wasn’t kidding earlier; this did make a mess of my microwave.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Pumpkin Pie!

Pumpkin Pie Cup Noodles

Walmart

Pros: This is absolutely pumpkin pie flavored ramen, no doubt about it. It gets points for accuracy. If you’re truly looking for a dessert ramen, this will absolutely do the job. 

Cons: It’s so sweet. The spice mix is genuinely pie-esque, which makes the soft soggy noodles all the more confusing. The instructions suggest topping this ramen with whipped cream after cooking “for an even more satisfying pumpkin pie experience.” I had to imagine that, and now you do too. It’s really tough to put a score on something that you both don’t enjoy and acknowledge does exactly what it’s trying to do.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

4.5/10

Sporks