What Happened To Campbell's Canned Pepper Pot Soup?

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Campbell's Pepper Pot soup may now be out of production, but when it was around, Andy Warhol was a fan. The artist painted his infamous Campbell's Soup Can artwork in 1962, and the Pepper Pot can was part of that collection. Campbell's established its canned condensed soup in 1899. Pepper Pot was one of the brand's original canned soups. It stayed on the shelf for over a century until 2010, when it became just another discontinued canned food from a past era. The product declined in popularity, possibly due to not fitting into the evolving tastes of today's consumers. Another possible reason for its discontinuation may have been due to beef tripe being used as an ingredient, which doesn't appeal to many soup eaters anymore. 

In addition to the aforementioned beef tripe, which is a part of the cow's stomach lining that is edible, Campbell's Pepper Pot soup contained jalapeño peppers, red pepper flakes, carrots, onions, potatoes, tomato paste, and beef broth. The spicy stew's origins can be traced back to West Africa and the Caribbean islands, before being brought to the United States. Pepper pot soup became a Philadelphia street food staple, sold in the 1800s by African American women. 

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Pepper Pot is now a footnote in the history of Campbell's soup, but fear not. There are several other soup varieties one can slurp on if they miss the spicy stew. Rao's Tuscan-Style Beef soup contains a savory beef broth with thick beef chunks and has a bright tomato undertone. The Italian-inspired broth has a mixture of veggies, including carrots, onions, celery, and tomatoes. Another hearty canned soup reminiscent of Campbell's Pepper Pot is Dinty Moore's Beef Stew. The bowl can be cooked on the stovetop, in the slow cooker, and in the microwave. It has pieces of beef, carrots, and potatoes soaked in a delectable broth (but doesn't feature Pepper Pot's signature kick of spice).

The Progresso soup line also sells stews that can be seen as alternatives to the Pepper Pot bisque. Its comparable flavors include Steak and Vegetables, its Slow Cooked Vegetable Beef, and its Beef Pot Roast with Country Vegetables. These soups have similar ingredients to the O.G. Pepper Pot, and if fans want to add an extra dash of nostalgia, they can stir in sliced jalapeños, red pepper flakes, or both, to make their bowl spicier and tangier.