Hello! Today, I’m introducing a new lunchbox menu from CU, a convenience store pasta menu in collaboration with Heinz Ketchup, called Heinz Meatball Pasta. In this CU lunchbox, various menus have been introduced in collaboration with Heinz, and today, I will review the first pasta menu among them. Heinz sauce is famous for its unique umami and deep flavor, so I’m looking forward to it. Let’s find out what kind of menu it is!
CU Heinz Meatball Pasta Price and Features
When I first heard about the collaboration with Heinz, I wondered if they made the sauce with tomato ketchup, but upon reflection, Heinz doesn’t only make ketchup. This menu seems to be made with Heinz Spaghetti Tomato Beef Sauce. The price is 5,200 won.
The total content is 337g, with a calorie count of 587Kcal, and sodium is at 94% of the daily recommended intake. The content is similar to a typical pasta lunchbox. The calorie count is not as high as expected, probably because the sauce is mild. The sodium level is relatively high. According to the ingredients, Heinz Spaghetti Sauce is the main ingredient, and the meatballs are made with domestic pork.
CU Heinz Meatball Pasta Components
Let’s take a quick look at the components. As it is a meatball pasta, the pasta, sauce, and meatball composition is the core and entirety of the lunchbox.
In fact, meatballs have been a common menu item in convenience store lunchboxes, and the tomato sauce is quite thick, probably because it’s still uncooked. Although it’s called beef sauce, there aren’t many chunks of meat. Once cooked properly, it will be much easier to mix!
Taste of CU Heinz Meatball Pasta
First, I cooked it in the microwave for a little over 2 minutes. Such menus should be cooked thoroughly to make mixing easy and eating enjoyable, so I recommend cooking it to your preference. Once cooked, the sauce, which was thickly clumped, melts to a suitable state for mixing.
After mixing it all, the visual seems a bit early! There are some chunks in the sauce, but apart from being slightly greasy, there aren’t many minced meat or meat pieces! However, the meatballs somewhat compensate for this.
I took a bite right away. The basic taste wasn’t much different from regular tomato spaghetti! However, perhaps because it’s a Heinz product, the umami of the tomato sauce was richer, and it felt a bit saltier.
And as it goes on, unlike typical convenience store tomato sauce, there’s an indescribable flavor lingering in the mouth. It’s a bit confusing whether this is the meat taste or not.
And since this menu is meatball pasta, I tried it with the meatballs! It tastes close to the retort meatballs often seen in convenience store lunchboxes, but if you mix it properly with the pasta sauce, you can enjoy a pretty decent taste.
Overall, it was a slightly heavy-tasting beef tomato meatball pasta! The sauce was rich yet not overly spicy, salty, or stimulating, so I personally enjoyed it quite a bit.
It was quite cost-effective, and the portion was large enough to be filling! Except for being a bit greasy, it was a pretty satisfying menu. If you’re looking for a simple pasta lunchbox for a meal, it might be worth trying!
