I’m always a bit anxious ordering perishable foods by mail: what if I’m not home and the box sits in the sun for hours and hours, going bad before I can even give it a taste or get it into the fridge or freezer? Still, companies have figured this one out long ago with ice packs, dry ice, etc, and so when LA-based Soupure approached me and asked if I wanted to try some of their new vegan soups, I wasn’t too surprised when they promised to send me a sampler set.
Here’s what arrived:
Since i know you can’t read all the labels, here they are, back row to front, left to right: Zucchini Basil, Spicy Asparagus Leek, Japanese Sweet Potato, Pumpkin Miso, Beef Bone Broth and, in the closer row, Split Pea Chlorophyll, Tomato Basil, Carrot Ginger, Strawberry Cashew and Chicken Bone Broth. The very front is Lentil Chickpea in the pouch.
Many of them are vegan, and all are organic, dairy-free, non-GMO and responsibly sourced. What’s not to like?
The question, of course, is taste. So after discussion with my daughter, we decided to have a taste test of the three flavors we figured we’d like the best: Carrot Ginger, Split Pea and Tomato Basil:
By lucky coincidence, we even had appropriately colored bowls to keep with the theme. Verdict: My 13yo liked all the flavors but as a tomato soup connoisseur she felt this was a bit bland. Me? I liked the carrot and tomato but the split pea? Fantastic. Like best-soup-I-have-eaten-in-years fantastic. Thick, creamy, with a deep flavor, it was really excellent, and to then look on the side of the bottle and see that it was actually vegan, grain free, soy free and had no added sugar? A complete winner.
Each bottle, by the way, is 16oz, and the split pea, at least, has 200 calories in that quantity, along with 200mg of sodium and 8g of protein. Since I know some people count…
The other flavors are more exotic so we’ve been slowly trying them and finding it a varied experience. Some are “interesting” but others are also quite splendid, notably the Lentil Chickpea, which is perfect with a thick slice of bread for dipping. I mean, doesn’t this look delicious:
Soupure has a subscription service if you get hooked on a particular soup and also have a couple of different “cleanses”, as is trendy in many foodie circles: a Starter cleanse, a Moderate cleanse and an Advanced cleanse that has your diet revolve around specially prepared soups for 5-7 days. I’m not quite ready for that so those were just things I read about with interest.
Soupure itself is indeed a food startup. The company describes itself as “on a mission to redefine how we think of food. We bring together the robust flavors of organic produce with convenience. Fueling today’s active consumer, Soupure is part of the new food movement, bringing to market solutions for whole food nutrition on the go.”
Based on the soups we’ve tried, I can definitely say this is a tasty mission. Now to see if I can get some more of that amazing split pea soup…
Note: These fancy soups are not inexpensive: Each bottle runs $12.00 and there’s a flat $25 shipping fee for the perishables. Probably not a great idea to get just one bottle, but a half-dozen to boost your nutrition without resorting to animal proteins? That might just be a smart move for some folk.
Learn more at soupure.com
Disclosure: Soupure sent a box of soups to us for the purposes of this article. And they’re yummy.