Gluten Free Soup: Kettle Cuisine Thai Curry Chicken Soup - Product Review #105

Gluten Free Soup: Kettle Cuisine Thai Curry Chicken Soup

PRODUCT NAME:                       Thai Curry Chicken Soup

BRAND:                                      Kettle Cuisine

COST:                                         $4.35

SIZE:                                          10oz                      

COST PER OZ:                           $0.44/oz                  

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:         YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:          GFCO

ORGANIC:                                  NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:          N/A

VEGAN:                                      NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:           NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:           Chelsea, MA

SHELF LIFE:                               1 Year

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.   

         

REVIEW:

 Kettle Cuisine makes a whole line of gluten free soups.  We have tried a few of their soups in the past and liked them.  So a few weeks back when they sent us their newest soup, Thai Curry Chicken Soup, we were eager to try it.

Cooking the soup is simple.  You have 2 different methods to choose from; microwave or stovetop.  For the microwave method, just heat it up in the microwave for 3-4 minutes.  For the stovetop method, just pour the contents into a pot and heat until it’s hot.  The box directions don’t give a time estimate, but in our kitchen, it took about 7-8 minutes.  No matter which method you decide to go with, you will have a nice hot bowl of soup in under 10 minutes. 

The story behind the soups is that Jerry, owner of Kettle Cuisine, makes these gluten free soups for his daughter, Kate, who is on a strict gluten free diet.  His goal is was to make healthy gluten free soups that also tasted good.  To live up to this goal, Kettle Cuisine uses only high quality ingredients in their soups.  They use chickens that are on a vegetarian diet and are raised without antibiotics.  No artificial ingredients are used and it is minimally processed.   

Curry is a strong flavor and can be a tricky flavor to work with.  Kettle Cuisine decided to go with Thai curry which is a lighter and sweeter curry that we think appeals more to the general public.  Thai curry is usually made with coconut milk, which mellows out the strong curry flavor.  We loved the flavor of this soup.  It had a nice mellow curry flavor with just a hint of spice.  We had mixed opinions on the texture.  Some thought it was grainy and others thought it was perfect so it’s all up to preference.  If you’re familiar with Burmese food, the taste reminded me of Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup, but instead of noodles, there was brown rice in it. 

Nutrition Facts and Ingredients

Kettle Cuisine puts a lot of care into their soups.  All their soups are made without artificial ingredients, are minimally processed and the entire line is gluten free. This particular soup is gluten free and dairy free.  Although I like to think of this soup as completely healthy, it isn’t.  It contains 330 calories, 11 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 560 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbs and 13 grams of protein.  While these numbers aren’t horrible, especially if you compare these nutritional values with those on canned soup, it isn’t the healthiest thing you can eat.  This soup does taste great though.  The key is to make sure you look at the nutritional values on the things you eat to make sure you are within your daily values.  So if you decide to have this soup for lunch and dinner, plan the rest of your day’s meals accordingly. 

Overall, we liked this soup a lot.  We had a unanimous thumbs up on flavor, but mixed feelings on texture.  If you like thick soups and the flavor of curry, this is the soup for you.  For more information about Kettle Cuisine’s soups, visit their website at: www.kettlecuisine.com       

Taste: This soup has great flavor.  The curry is very mellow, which we believe appeals to the average person’s palette.  The soup has mushrooms, chicken, brown rice, peppers, and bamboo shoots so it is a nice blend of different textures. 

Labeling:  The labeling on the package is great.  It is clean and easy to read and has a great picture of the soup. 

Packaging:  The soup comes in a microwavable bowl which is placed in paper box.   

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:                 3             

Taste:                     5             

Value:                    3

OVERALL:              3.7

Reviewed 041211 by Calvin C.   

Gluten Free Soup: Kettle Cuisine Southwestern Chicken and Corn Chowder - Product Review #70

Kettle Cuisine Southwestern Chicken and Corn Chowder

PRODUCT NAME:                    Southwestern Chicken and Corn Chowder

BRAND:                                   Kettle Cuisine

COST:                                     $4.35

SIZE:                                       10oz

COST PER OZ:                        $0.44/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       GFCO

ORGANIC:                               NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       N/A

VEGAN:                                   NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:        Chelsea, MA

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:
Southwestern Chicken and Corn Chowder… just saying that puts me in a festive mood. This chowder is just one of many in Kettle Cuisine’s line of gluten free soups. If you were wondering what the difference between a soup and a chowder is… it’s the thickness of it. Soups are usually just broth based, whereas chowders are thickened with cream. So if you’re allergic to dairy, you might want to stick to soups. This chowder is great. It’s all natural, contains no preservatives, no artificial colors, no MSG, no artificial flavorings, not to mention it’s certified gluten free. What more can you ask for?

Cooking this soup up is a breeze. You have 2 options, microwave or stovetop. The lack of a microwave in our studio forced us to the stovetop option, but it was still easy. Just release the frozen contents of the bowl into a pot and turn the heat to medium. I decided to add about a half cup of water just to speed it up a little. Make sure you watch it closely and stir it so it doesn’t burn. Chowder is thicker and contains cream, which tends to burn easily if you let it sit too long.

This Southwester Chicken with Corn Chowder was delicious. Kettle Cuisine uses high quality ingredients in their products. Take for example the fresh green and red peppers and the tender grilled chicken in this chowder that is raised without antibiotics on a vegetarian diet. Add to that the corn and the long list of spices and you have a fiesta in a bowl.

Although this soup tastes great, it isn’t the healthiest thing in the world. It contains 230 calories, 10 g of fat, 50 mg of cholesterol, and 620 mg of sodium. These numbers are all a little high, but I decided to compare it to the nutrition facts of a similar regular Southwester Chicken and Corn Chowder. The nutrition facts seem to be about the same. The kettle cuisine version has double the cholesterol, but 140mg less sodium. Point of this is to make sure you are aware of what you are eating and how much it impacts your recommended daily values.

Overall, this chowder tastes great, but as much as we love things that taste great, not all of them are great for us. When eating this, make sure you watch what you eat for the rest of the day.

Taste: Great tasting chowder that is nice and thick like it is supposed to be. The pieces of chicken were much larger than I had expected and was really tender.

Labeling: The labeling on this product is similar to the labeling on the Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles we reviewed yesterday. All of the important information about the soup right on the front. One thing that I didn’t mention on yesterday’s review was the nice picture on the front. I don’t think our bowl looked as good, but it sure tasted good.

Packaging: Usual packaging. It comes in a microwave safe container so it can go right from your freezer to your microwave, to your stomach.

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:
Texture:         5
Taste:             4
Value:            3
OVERALL:      4

Reviewed 021011 by Calvin C.

Gluten Free Soup: Kettle Cuisine New England Clam Chowder - Product Review #66

Gluten Free Soup: Kettle Cuisine New England Clam Chowder

PRODUCT NAME:                   New England Clam Chowder

BRAND:                                  Kettle Cuisine

COST:                                    $4.35

SIZE:                                      10oz

COST PER OZ:                        $0.44/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      UNKNOWN

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       N/A

ORGANIC:                               NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       N/A

VEGAN:                                   NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:         NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:         Chelsea, MA

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:
Being located on the coast, with easy access to fresh seafood, we have access to some of the best clam chowder in the world. And who doesn’t like clam chowder with its large pieces of clams, chunks of tender potato, and vegetables? It has its own distinct flavor. Each spoonful just melts in your mouth and warms you right up. It’s perfect on a nice cold day. Kettle Cuisine has made a gluten free version of this cream based chowder and it’s a pretty good one.

Like the other Kettle Cuisine soups we reviewed, this one also comes frozen in a microwave safe container, which makes enjoying this chowder on the go a breeze. Just pop it in the microwave for 3-5 minutes and it’s ready. We decided to go with the stovetop method of heating this chowder up, which is just as easy. It just takes a little longer. Put it in a pot and heat on medium to low heat for about 6-7 minutes. As with all chowders, it is a little thick and contains cream so you need to stir it regularly to make sure that it doesn’t burn and stick to the bottom of the pot.

We have been pretty impressed by the taste of Kettle Cuisine’s soups and chowders. This clam chowder did not disappoint. It had a very nice flavor consistent with what we expected from a clam chowder. The clam meat was not overly chewy like in typical canned soups and the potatoes and celery were nice and tender. When you scoop a spoonful into your mouth, everything just melts in your mouth. One thing that we noticed though is that this clam chowder was a little grainy.

Of the 3 Kettle Cuisine soups we have tried, this one is the least healthy one. With 330 calories, 18 grams of fat, 80mg of cholesterol, 6 grams of sugar and a whopping 800 mg of sodium, you definitely have to be careful with this soup. It does have 15 grams of protein though which is nice. Another thing that we noticed was that this soup did not have the Certified Gluten Free label on it like the other 2 soups. I’m not sure if this product actually isn’t part of the certified gluten free line or if the packaging is just older. The nutrition facts aside, this chowder really does taste great.

Taste: Great distinct clam chowder flavor with tender pieces of celery and potatoes. The only complaint that we had was that the texture was a little grainy.

Labeling: The labeling on this product is similar to the labeling on the other Kettle Cuisine. The one thing that we did notice that was different from the other Kettle Cuisine soups we have tried is that this one is missing the Certified Gluten Free Label.

Packaging: Usual packaging. It comes in a microwave safe container so it can go right from your freezer to your microwave, to your stomach.

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:
Texture:         3
Taste:             5
Value:            3
OVERALL:      3.7

Reviewed 021111 by Calvin C.