Have you ever been slaving over a  burger on the grill and wished that  

you could just pull one out of a can? Well,  believe it or not, canned cheeseburgers  

actually exist, and they were even  kind of popular once upon a time.

It's no secret that boxed mac and cheese  is a pantry staple in the United States.  

In fact, nearly 9 million Americans chowed  down on five or more boxes per month in 2020.  

Incredibly, mac and cheese has  been around since the 1700s,  

though Kraft is credited with popularizing  the dish. Processed cheese made it possible  

to box it up, making for an affordable and  fast option for working-class families.

While boxed mac and cheese is  popular on this side of the pond,  

the United Kingdom has gotten its cheesy  fix from a tin can instead. Both the boxed  

and canned versions tend to be low-cost and  convenient. But even though brands like Heinz  

and Chef Boyardee have brought canned mac to  the U.S., it hasn't really caught on over here.

SpaghettiOs were once a staple  of the American childhood.  

While it's still available in supermarkets  today, it seems to have lost its luster.  

This could in part be due to changing attitudes  towards red meat. In October 2015, for example,  

the World Health Organization identified processed  meat, including hot dogs, as a Group 1 carcinogen.

Nevertheless, you'll still find no shortage  of hot dogs at ball games and in your local  

grocery store's cold case. And you can also  still find classic SpaghettiOs with Franks.  

This version features the brand's signature  slippery O-shaped pasta in tomato sauce  

topped with bite-sized slices of hot dogs,  which are made with chicken, pork, and beef.  

Kids are still eating them, even if the frank  version has lost some traction in recent years.

Unless you were snacking on  pudding cups back in the 70s,  

odds are you don't miss this next entry, as you  probably didn't even realize it ever existed.  

Canned pudding snack packs didn't  just become less popular. Instead,  

they were replaced with upgraded packaging,  designed to avoid cutting lips and fingers.

The Hunt's Snack Pack was first introduced in 1968  

after the brand developed a  shelf-stable milk pudding.  

Suddenly, those looking for a sweet treat didn't  have to spend an hour slaving over a hot stove  

stirring up a thick pudding. Hunt's also created a  mascot: a friendly talking horse named Snack Pack.

"Snack Pack! My brother  loves your delicious dessert,  

but he can't open the can right." "Here's how you do it: slowly now!" 

But within just a few years, the dangerous  cans were replaced with plastic cups,  

similar to those still in use today. Flash-forward  a few decades when an episode of the Netflix show  

Stranger Things featured the throwback snack, and  fans demanded a release of the vintage packaging.  

So who knows? Maybe one day shoppers will  be able to relive those halcyon days.

When you think about canned food, you probably  don't think of cheeseburgers. In fact,  

we'd imagine that a juicy patty between two buns  might just be the last food you'd ever expect to  

find in a can. These backyard barbecue staples  may be quick and simple to prepare, but placing  

them on a shelf for months on end likely doesn't  sound very appetizing to most burger fiends.  

But this hasn't stopped manufacturers from  canning entire cheeseburgers, toppings and all.

While a variety of canned cheeseburgers are  available today, they're mainly found on the  

internet and appear to be aimed at hikers and  preppers. So they're not exactly popular among  

your average college students looking to save  some money on their next dorm room chow down.

Chicken can certainly be found  as an ingredient in canned foods.  

Campbell's Classic Chicken Noodle Soup is one of  the most popular canned soups on the market today,  

after all. But even with this  in mind, you may be shocked  

to learn that you can also buy canned  chicken without the noodles and broth.

Whole chicken in a can is largely a pantry  food of yesteryear. There isn't a lot  

of easily accessible information  about the history of this oddity,  

but as with many canned foods, it was  likely a product of the Great Depression.  

During this time, low-cost, easy-to-prepare canned  foods became a staple in many American diets.

Canned chicken is still popular  today, but an entire chicken in a can  

isn't something you're terribly likely  to see on a grocery store shelf.  

Although, if you're dying to give it a try,  you can still find an option on the web.

"You're just a chicken. Cheep  cheep cheep cheep cheep."

While the first evidence of tamales dates back to  

8,000 B.C., the history of this tasty corn  husk-wrapped dish in the United States  

began in the mid-1800s on the West Coast.  In cities near the border with Mexico,  

such as San Antonio and Los Angeles, street  vendors peddling tamales became so common  

that they were often considered a nuisance.  As a result, officials tried to ban them.

Today, street vendors selling  fresh tamales are far less common.  

While you'll still find them on the menus  of Mexican restaurants across the nation,  

you might have to head to your local grocery store  if you're looking to quickly satisfy your tamale  

craving. Cooking tamales from scratch takes a  lot of time and a lot of skill to get right.  

Microwavable tamales simplify the process,  and theoretically so does the canned version.

Canned tamales were first  created in the early 1900s,  

and while they're still available  today, they're a rare sight.  

This is likely because of the widespread  availability of frozen and fresh alternatives.

Unlike those corn husk-wrapped Mexican snacks,  though, boiled peanuts continue to be sold fresh  

and hot at roadside stands, gas stations, and  convenience stores across the American South.  

Nowadays, boiled peanuts at a wedding  would no doubt be seen as a trendy touch or  

the sign of a laid-back couple. But believe it  or not, they were a common dish served at high  

society parties, especially during August  and September when peanuts are harvested.

The popularity of this salty snack,  as well as its short shelf life,  

may be what inspired manufacturers to can them.  However, the trend hasn't caught on with the same  

vigor as its fresh cousin. While fresh boiled  peanuts are still a regular sight throughout  

Georgia, South Carolina, and other Southern  states, the canned variety is far less common.  

They're available in many different sizes  and with added flavors like Southern barbecue  

and Jalapeno Garlic, but this is a  delicacy that's largely relegated to  

die-hard peanut fans rather than  your average grocery store shopper.

"Anybody want a peanut?"

Another regional canned food that's never  been widely enjoyed in the United States  

is brown bread. Canned brown bread, which  is available with or without raisins,  

is a pantry staple native to the New England area.  And unlike some of the other entries on this list,  

the canned and fresh varieties enjoy  near-equal popularity. Canned bread is  

not only convenient and fast, but it's  also touted as a delicious sweet treat.

"Wow! They have it! Canned bread!"

B&M is the brand behind this popular  bread. The company started in 1867  

and canned a variety of meats, seafood, and corn.  If you've never had bread from a can, you might  

wonder how it's consumed. Don't reach for a spoon  after opening your can; instead, you'll need to  

open both the top and bottom of the can, then  gently shake it until the soft loaf slides out,  

ready to be sliced. It's good on its own or topped  with spreads like butter, jam, or cream cheese. 

While canned brown bread is  still available in New England,  

it's lost some of its popularity and has never  been widely available outside of the region.

Similar to B&M's Brown Bread, this next canned  food likely fell out of popularity because it was  

largely a regional item. Pepper pot soup has been  a staple of Philadelphia for at least a century.  

It was once sold by street  vendors, as well as in taverns.  

There's even a widespread myth that this  soup was what helped George Washington  

and his troops survive a terrible  winter during the Revolutionary War.

And then came along Campbell's, which has long  been made in nearby New Jersey. The company cashed  

in on Philly's signature soup by canning its own  pepper pot soup in 1899. But then sometime in the  

mid-1900s, the soup began to fall out of favor.  Campbell's continued to produce its version for  

several more decades. However, in 2010 — more  than 100 years after it was first released — the  

company discontinued the product, much to  the chagrin of loyal Philadelphia residents.  

If you're still dying to try it, though, you  can find plenty of copycat recipes online.

The 70s, 80s, and 90s saw a boom in movie tie-ins  

with popular food items — particularly  junk food. From fast food to soda cans,  

popular film characters adorned just about  every type of culinary packaging you could  

possibly imagine. But some tie-ins were more  popular — and more appetizing — than others.

Smurfs Beef Ravioli & Pasta by Chef Boyardee  was one of those tie-in products that hasn't  

exactly stood the test of time. Fortunately,  the popular cartoon characters that decorated  

each bright blue can didn't share the same color  with the pasta inside. Instead, Chef Boyardee was  

simply cashing in on the Smurfs craze that had  swept the country in the 80s. While you can still  

enjoy canned ravioli by Chef Boyardee today, the  Smurfs edition fell out of fashion a while ago.  

Several other franchise partnerships have  appeared on Chef Boyardee cans over the years,  

but this is one that isn't likely  to make a comeback any time soon.

"That is freakin' smurf." “Yeah.”

While spray-style cans of Cheese Whiz continue  to be a popular, if questionable, pantry item,  

other varieties of canned cheese have largely  fallen out of favor. But then there's Cougar Gold.  

This is a variety of canned cheese that's  produced by a creamery owned by Washington  

State University. Despite its canned placement,  this strange cheese product would be more at  

home on a fancy charcuterie board than  it would be alongside sprayable cheese. 

In the 1940s, a Washington State professor  answered the American government's call to  

produce cheese that could be better preserved and  sent overseas to troops. Before Cougar Gold, the  

only option for keeping cheese safe to ship was to  dip it in several layers of wax. This process was  

unfortunately prone to cracking, which would cause  the cheese to spoil. Because bacteria can grow  

easily on living foods like cheese and yogurt,  simply placing it in a can wasn't an option.

But then Cougar Gold was born. A special  bacteria culture is added to this cheese,  

which reduces the amount of carbon dioxide  in the can to keep it from blowing out,  

thereby preventing bacterial growth. The result  is a crumbly cheese that's creamy and milky sweet,  

with some gentle sharpness as well. Despite  the groundbreaking process behind Cougar Gold,  

this cheese hasn't caught on and  may be tough to find outside of  

Ferdinand's Ice Cream Shoppe at the  Washington State University Creamery.

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