Ainsley Harriott New England Style Vegetable Chowder Cup Soup

I work in an office full time so have tried a lot of cup soups in my time, mainly because these are easy to make up and I seem to never have time in the morning to make some sandwiches. I mostly start on the cup soups when I am on a healthy eating mission so have just began to have these during my lunches again.

I have found in the past that a lot of the cup soups I have tried are watery and tasteless so I thought I would go for something different this time.

A couple of friends at work had tried the Ainsley Harriott soups and recommended them so I thought I would give these a go. They were also on buy one get one free in Sainsburys at the time I bought them but are 92p separately when not on offer.

The soup is part of the Ainsley Harriott World Kitchen and is advertised as a delightfully chunky all American classic. So let’s see if it is….

**Packaging**

The packaging is black and blue with a picture of Ainsley Harriott on the front along with a picture of the soup. I have to admit that the picture of the soup doesn’t look anything like how it does when you make it up yourself but more on that later.

There are four sachets in each box, ingredients are shown as follows, so as you can see, not the freshest soup in the world!

Dried Gloucose Syrup, Potato Starch, Flavourings (contain Celeriac), Vegetable Oil, Potato Powder (9%), Dried Vegetables (8%) (Carrot, Red Pepper, Sweetcorn, Leek), Salt, Onion Powder, Yeast Extract, Milk Protein, Emulsifiers (Dipotassum Phosphate, Trisodium Citrate), Colour (Curcumin), Dried Parsley, Ground Black Pepper

There is allergy advice on the box to show that the soup contains cow’s milk and celeriac. There is also information to inform you that there are no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours so that’s a plus point to these soups.

The packaging is recyclable and informs you that the soups are vegetarian. On the side of the box further advertising is made for other flavours of the soup. The best before end date is shown at the top of the box and isn’t until May 2012 so you get plenty of life out of the soups.

**Preparation**

1. Empty the contents of one sachet into a mug or cup
2. Add 200ml of boiling water and stir well
3. Leave to stand for one minute

**Verdict**

When adding the water to this soup you will notice that it doesn’t automatically turn into a nice smooth soup. There are lumps of dry powder in it which after plenty of stirring and trying to mash up at the side of the cup, will eventually disappear. I have to say that once it is stirred in completely, the soup is a lot thicker than ones I have previously tried and has a nice texture.

The picture on the box shows a lot of vegetable brimming at the top but I think this must have been a rare packet they used the day they took this picture as mine never looks the same.

There are mainly bits of carrots and sweetcorn floating to the top of the cup. Whilst with other soups you can barely taste these as they are so small, with this one you can taste the vegetables as they are a pretty decent size. The soup itself is not watery and has a nice flavour to it, it tastes like vegetable soup and is enjoyable if you’re not expecting too much.

The soup has a lot more taste than other soups I have tried, and this with a roll at lunchtime is filling enough for me and enjoyable. Obviously, it is never going to be as good as tinned soups or fresh soups but for a lunchtime snack I would recommend giving it a go. I have also tried the tomato and herb one which I enjoyed as well.

There are 97 calories in each sachet, 2.7g fat and 1.93 salt so is helpful to give them a go when you’re trying to diet or cut down.