Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Kashi Chicken Rustico Pocket Sandwich

Chicken Rustico, Veggie Medley, and Turkey Fiesta

Reviewing microwave pocket sandwiches is, like many of our reports, hit or miss. Most pocket sandwiches are pretty bad. Generally speaking there's too much breading and too little filing. In the last two years we have reviewed a dozen and only two are worth eating, Amy's Black Bean Burrito and Lean Pockets' Ham and Cheese.

I was pretty excited when I came across Kashi's new Pocket Bread sandwiches. Most of the Kashi products that we've tested are pretty darn good and for them to be making a pocket sandwich was promising.

Their Chicken Rustico version is pretty good. Full of chicken and fresh tasting veggies in a rich tomato sauce, this is a not a perfect pocket sandwich but gets closer. The texture of the whole grain bread is a bit doughy and at first seemed a little too thick. As the sandwich cools this is better and the combination of filling and bread is almost balanced, with there being just enough filling (although a bit more would have made for a far better product).

The Veggie Medley is the one of the three that is simply OK. The filling is a bit nondescript and bland. Since bread to filling ratio is just a bit too high, the bland filling can't overcome this drawback and this sandwich ends up being much less satisfying.

The Turkey Fiesta is the best of the three. For some reason the pocket bread was thinner, and this made the sandwich much more balanced. The filling was fantastic with a Southwest flavor that was spicy but not overwhelming. A very satisfying sandwich.

All in all two good picks (Chicken Rustico and Turkey Fiesta) and one best left in the freezer case (Veggie Medley). There are a few drawbacks, however. While there's a lot of fiber in these there's also way too much salt. Both of the acceptable choices come in at over 650 milligrams of sodium and the Veggie Medley is almost 600 mg. This is nearly a deal breaker for something that you would have for lunch and very disappointing coming from a company with an emphasis on health.

The other issue is the price. These are really expensive. They are right at $3.00 each. While that's cheaper and healthier than going to the burger joint, it's still $15.00 per week to take lunch to work. You can buy a great loaf of whole wheat bread, some sliced lean turkey or cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise for that and eat much healthier and better for almost twice as long.

Reviewed: December 12, 2008