Reader Food Panel: Knorr Sides earn kids’ approval

Knorr is helping Moms and Dads sneak a few extra vegetables onto dinner plates. And it’s working.

Most of the children on our tasting panel gobbled up the new Knorr Sides Plus Veggies in the Roasted Chicken Rice Flavor, giving it 4 1/2 stars for flavor.

“I could eat this five times a week,” said Bryton Martin, 12.

Samantha Hubbard, 4, and Katie Kazanis, 6, loved it, too. “I could have this every night,” Katie said. She ate two bowls of the rice during our tasting. One of the samples probably belonged to her brother. Drew Kazanis was the only kid on the panel who was not a fan. “Just the look of it makes me barf,” he said.

The new side dish packages boast that they are made with two full servings of vegetables. But that’s two servings per package, which contains two servings each. (That’s about a half-cup of vegetables in each serving, if you’re keeping score at home.)

The adult tasters liked the Roasted Chicken Rice dish, as well. They gave it four stars for taste and three for value.

“Rice-a-roni with vegetables… nice flavor. It seems to have lots of vegetables,” said Marcia Oranen.

The adults also gave the Southwestern Style Rice flavor a thumbs up, but our younger tasters said they’d pass. Adults gave it four stars, the kids gave it just two.

“It’s a bit more spicy than it looks, but (it) still tastes good,” said Martin.

Other kids complained that it was too spicy and didn’t taste good either. Drew Kazanis said, “It is very tempting to try, but when you do, it tastes bad.”

Some of our adult tasters said it wasn’t spicy enough, but most liked it. Some commented that they liked the bean, corn and bell pepper in the mix.

“Nice spicy flavor. I like this and would probably buy it,” Oranen said.

Knorr Sides Plus, Roasted Chicken Rice

Price: $1.99 per 5.3-ounce package

Nutrition per serving: 320 calories, 7.5 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 21 percent fat calories), 8 grams protein, 56 grams carbohydrate, 5 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber.

Kids

Taste: “ “ “ “ 1/2

Comments: “Tastes like Top Ramen. I like the carrots. I could have this every night.” – Katie Kazanis, 6

“This is the best. I even like the vegetables.” – Samantha Hubbard, 4

“Just the look of it makes me barf.” – Drew Kazanis, 9

Adults

Taste: “ “ “ “

Value: “ “ “

Comments:

“Complex, rich, delightful in every way.” – Andy Hoye

“Nice balance of rice and vegetables.” – Skip Hubbard

“Very good. Lotsa flavor. Moist and delicious.” – Larry Inman

Knorr Sides Plus, Southwestern Style Rice

Price: $1.99 per 4.9-ounce package

Nutrition per serving: 310 calories, 7.5 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 22 percent fat calories), 8 grams protein, 51 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 660 milligrams sodium.

Kids

Taste: “ “

Comments: “Kind of spicy for me.” – Pierce Hubbard, 7

“I really, really liked it, so I gave it five (stars).” – Samantha Hubbard, 4

“It looks like spaghetti. It is very tempting to try, but when you do, it tastes bad.” – Drew Kazanis, 9

Adults

Taste: “ “ “ “

Value: “ “ “

Comments:

“Very Southwest… I liked the corn and beans added.” – Peggy Kazanis

“Never thought of putting chili beans in with Spanish rice.” – Marilyn Moore

“A little on the bland side for me. Kick it up a notch and it’d be great.” – Skip Hubbard