It’s not often that the words clean, fresh, and wholesome are used to describe packaged soups. In fact, I’m not sure it’s ever been done, which is why I was so impressed with Cook! SF’s product line. I was first introduced to their soups at the FoodBuzz Food Blogger Festival last fall. Imagine a room filled with hundreds of vendors pimping their food products. My bestie/”director of quality assurance” and I meandered around the vast “Taste Pavilion” sampling just about everything in sight. Just when I think I can’t take one more bite of anything, I hear her shout from across the hall, “Hey Anne, you gotta try this soup.” OK, I probably still have room for some soup.
First, I sampled the curry. Then the chili. Then the curry again. Wait, are they demoing spice packs? This couldn’t be prepackaged soup. Apparently it can. In all the sea of food that day, there were very few products that stood out in my mind, and these soups were among them. So, I threw my hat in the ring to do a product review, and Cook! SF generously provided three soups of my choice: All Bean Chili, Thai Green Curry, and Tomato Soup.
Now you may be wondering why I chose ones I’d already tasted. It’s simple–I still found it hard to believe I was eating packaged soups that day. But it was true. Each soup arrives in a 12 ounce pouch, which can be frozen or stored in the fridge for up to six weeks.
The tomato soup tasted of sweet, fresh tomatoes and was a perfect accompaniment to a grilled cheese sandwich. This, of course, was my husband’s favorite, but then tomato soup is his favorite soup. This disappeared before a picture could be snapped.
Per Cook!’s suggestion, I served the Thai Green Curry over a bed of brown rice. Serving this way stretched the soup out enough for two meals. As you can see from the picture above, the soup is chock full of tofu and veggies. In fact, water isn’t even the first ingredient on the list. How refreshing is that? You can really taste the lemongrass, cilantro, and all the spices that make a curry warm you up.
I love chili served over a bed of lettuce, so I did just that with the All Bean Chili and topped it with a bit of shredded cheese. This chili is loaded with black beans, pinto beans, and lima beans. Love the lima beans in here. Even though the package says it contains 1.5 servings, you’re not going to want to share, so plan on one packet per person.
Overall, I truly enjoyed these soups. As a bonus, all were gluten-free, vegan, and dairy free, but definitely not flavor-free. I have to admit, though, they are a bit pricey ($5.99-$7.49), but I think if you decide to give them a try, you’ll find the value is in the quality. The soups are available at the retailers listed here or can be purchased online.
Note: I received no compensation for this post beyond the three packages of soup discussed above. All opinions expressed above are my own.
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I would love to attend that food blogging event! Can you tell me how to get an invite? Thanks! =)
Hi Lillian! I had signed up to be a FoodBuzz content contributor, so then I was on the email list for their announcements: http://www.federatedmedia.net/application/content-contributor being a content contributor just means they pull your RSS feed and display a thumbnail & link on their site. Every once in a while, they may feature one of your recipes on their top 9 email. Also, just a little tip, when the conference was first announced reg was over $300, but by waiting a bit, they dropped the price to $30 for everyone. Definitely lots of fun meeting fellow bloggers plus lots of opportunity to develop relationships with vendors
Thank you so much Anne! I’ll have to sign up for that also! Maybe I can attend they NY meeting! I would love to meet other food bloggers in person along with some vendors! Thanks for the tip! =)