Despite the fact that “dried cranberries” appear on the ingredients list, I can assure you that Thanksgiving Dinner-Flavored Cup Noodles are not as bad as they sound.

Think Temu chicken masala, or a cup of chicken stroganoff you can make in the microwave.

It’s not the best instant ramen noodles you’ll have in the world. But given my experience with previous Cup Noodles nightmares, I feel like I dodged a styrofoam bullet.

Lest we forget, Nissin is the same brand that gave us Pickle Cup Noodles and S’mores Cup Noodles.

What exactly is in this product? The label is pretty vague, calling it “Cup Noodles Turkey Dinner Flavor with other natural flavors ramen noodles in sauce.”

There are 13 words that are used to describe what is in this cup. The only one that actually helps define the flavor is “turkey.”

There are hints of other Thanksgiving dinner components in the picture behind the text. Those are backed up by the fact that “dried green beans, dried cranberries and dried corn” are listed among the ingredients.

Do they not want us to know what the “natural flavors are?” Come on, Nissin. You put dried cranberries in there. Confess to your ramen-based crimes against society!

Well, it turns out that my concerns about the cranberries were overstated.

When you finally pop the lid and slurp this stuff down, all you really taste are noodles and a sauce that tastes like turkey gravy.

If you looked closely at the ingredients before you added water, you might have spied the dried cranberries and other components.

But once everything it cooked, everything is enveloped in the overwhelming turkey melange. Even if you do find a piece of green bean, it’s more like a garnish than anything. The overall flavor remains unchanged.

This is actually a pretty tasty execution of a goofy concept.

Gravy and noodles is a combination that is known to work. This simply streamlines the process into something that can be microwaved.

It’s not the most prestigious serving of noodles you’ll have. But the taste isn’t bad.

I have a confession to make. The picture above isn’t what it looks like when you actually make these noodles. I propped up the noodles so you can see them coming out of the top.

In reality, the preparation process is much less visually appealing.

As per usual, the cup will tell you to add water to the fill line and microwave the whole thing for 4 minutes before letting it sit for another minute.

Once that’s done, you’ll have a cup that looks like this.

See what I mean? It’s not as interesting.

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“I ate it so you don’t have to” is a regular food column about off-beat eats, both good and bad. I picked the name years ago and now we’re sort of stuck with it.

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