Written by Guest reviewer
on Wednesday, 18 September 2019.
Tagged: convenience, health, nutrition, Product snapshot, review, soup
Soup can be a nourishing, healthy meal any time of the year, not to mention that it is inexpensive and easy to prepare. However, many people don’t have the time to make a pot of soup at home or they find it inconvenient to carry soup to work.
Fortunately, there is a great new option now available: Hart & Soul Pouch Soups. Here I look at three of these easy pouches so you can decide if they are for you.
Unlike canned or refrigerated soups, these single-serve pouches can be carried around in your bag to have as a snack or part of a meal. All they need is boiling water to make them come alive!
What I love about these soups is that they come as a concentrated paste, so the final cup of liquid soup is nicer than soups made from dry powders.
Hart & Soul pouch soups come in six flavours:
They are sold as single-serve 100 g pouches and are available from Woolworths supermarkets.
I have tried all flavours and all of them taste wonderful. However, I’m partial to the Asian-style ones. My top three are Laksa Noodle, Pho and Tom Yum which I’ve reviewed here. No, they don’t taste exactly like “the real deal” but they are very nice regardless.
All of them contain chilli, but only the Tom Yum (which is fairly mild anyway) has a spiciness indicator at the back of the pouch. The Laksa Noodle tastes the spiciest (hottest) of the three.
One of the features I like is that the soups use konjac noodles instead of conventional noodles. Konjac noodles are virtually free of carbohydrates and contain prebiotic fibre, which feeds our gut microbiome. This also allows the manufacturer to keep most of the soups gluten-free and low-kilojoule. You can read more about konjac noodles here.
All the soups are nutritious but vary in the fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium they deliver. See below for their nutrition information panel (taken from the back of the packs). As expected, each pouch gives one serving which is 255 mL in volume (just over 1 cup).
As per the company’s philosophy, none of the soups contain preservatives, GMOs or artificial ingredients and they cater for a few dietary requirements such as vegan or gluten-free.
|
Laksa Noodle |
Pho |
|
Tom Yum |
|
|
Nutrition |
Per serve |
Per 100 g* |
Per serve |
Per 100 g* |
Per serve |
Per 100 g* |
Energy kJ/Cal |
889/212 |
34/83 |
121/29 |
48/12 |
275/65 |
108/25 |
Protein, g |
3.1 |
1.2 |
2.7 |
1.0 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
Fat, total. g |
14 |
5.5 |
< 1.0 |
< 1.0 |
2.8 |
1.1 |
– saturated, g |
7.7 |
3.0 |
< 1.0 |
< 1 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
Carb, g |
20.9 |
8.2 |
3.3 |
1.3 |
8.5 |
3.3 |
– sugars, g |
6.6 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
2.8 |
1.1 |
Sodium, mg |
564 |
221 |
896 |
351 |
901 |
353 |
*100 g of the prepared soup
Coconut Milk (30%), Konjac Noodles (16%), (Water, Konjac Powder, Natural Firming Agent (Calcium, Hydroxide)), Water, Lemongrass, Tofu (10%) (Soybean, Water, Natural Firming Agent (Calcium, Sulfate)), Shallot, Coconut Sugar, Rice Bran Oil, Galangal, Spices, Salt, Garlic, Chili, Corn Starch, Ginger, Natural Colour (Paprika, Oleoresin). |
Water, Konjac Noodles (23%) (Water, Konjac Powder, Natural Firming Agent (Calcium Hydroxide)), New Zealand Beef (8%), Onion, Fish Sauce, Sugar, Spices, Chili, Salt, Coriander, Basil, Garlic. |
Water, mushroom (26%). Lemongrass, Galangal, Chili, Soybean Oil, Garlic, Shallot, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Fish Sauce, Lime Juice, Parsley, Pepper. |
Absolutely. These and other Hart & Soul products are a pantry staple in my household. They are convenient, not overly processed and taste great. You can find our earlier review of Hart & Soul Cup Soups here.
Thanks to dietitian Gaby Mora for this taste test. You can find more of Gaby’s writings at https://gabymora.com.au.
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