Baxters Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

...ingredients and the write up Baxters give this product. It is completely vegetarian friendly and contains (surprisingly, I thought) less than 2% fat! I was amazed that I’d only consumed 79 calories and 4.2 g of fat in the whole tin – less than some of my ‘diet’ soups I buy every now and again! I was disappointed that the soup contains only 6% red peppers and 8% butternut squash puree (not even the actual vegetable), but it tasted like it contained ...
...distinctive, as it shows the Baxters logo in red on the top front, and underneath it shows a lovely bowl of soup, which is in contrast to its various shades of green background – this makes the bowl of soup stand out and look (in my view) even more appealing. It has the ‘Audrey Baxter’ printed signature placed underneath the picture of the bowl, which we are now all pretty familiar with.

The tin describes the soup as being “brimming ... more

I haven’t been too well lately and have been moping around the house feeling a bit sorry for myself. Towards the end of last week, I was feeling particularly down in the dumps and couldn’t be bothered to cook myself anything extravagant to eat, but was feeling a little peckish. It was a toss-up between scrambling myself some eggs or opening a can of something – the eggs lost (as I’d given the last of the milk to the cat) and the can won!

I scrounged around amongst the various tins in my cupboard and stumbled across a forgotten tin of Baxter’s Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup. I didn’t feel like anything particularly ‘heavy’ and decided that this was probably a good option – anyway, the picture on the front looked quite appealing, as it shows a lovely large bowl of creamy soup, topped with red peppers and a sprig of thyme - perfect, I thought!

I opened the tin via its ring-pull can on the top, but unfortunately it snapped off! I turned the tin upside down and proceeded to use my can opener to get to the contents inside. It smelled lovely – even before I’d heated it up. The colour is a dark creamy brown, speckled with red and lighter bits of cream (which I’m guessing is both of the primary ingredients, i.e. butternut squash and red pepper), and a lot thicker in consistency that I’d thought it would be.

I emptied the contents onto a small saucepan, and gently heated on my hob, stirring occasionally with a large wooden spoon. I don’t like to heat tinned soups in my microwave, as for some reason, I never think they taste as nice as when they’re heated using the hob. Once heated, I poured the soup into one of my soup bowls and carried it through the dining room, where I sat and watched an old episode of Dallas on UK TV Gold – (there was nothing else on worth watching).

Upon first tasting the soup, It hit me that it tasted a little ‘sweet’ – difficult to describe really, but once it hits the back of the throat, it has a ‘sweet hit’ if you know what I mean. It was incredibly creamy and I could really taste both the butternut squash and the red pepper. It smelled gorgeous, and I could clearly detect the aroma of both the butternut squash and the red pepper, together with a hint of both celery and onion. It was not too salty and had the perfect blend of ingredients – very ‘more-ish’. I then remembered that I had a little packet of croutons secreted at the back of another kitchen cupboard, and set about trying to locate them. I finally did, and duly sprinkled them on top of my soup. It was simply gorgeous. I finished the whole tin in one sitting and felt like I’d eaten a hearty meal afterwards.

Upon closer inspection, afterwards (as I remove all of the labels from my tins to recycle them) I looked more closely at the list of ingredients and the write up Baxters give this product. It is completely vegetarian friendly and contains (surprisingly, I thought) less than 2% fat! I was amazed that I’d only consumed 79 calories and 4.2 g of fat in the whole tin – less than some of my ‘diet’ soups I buy every now and again! I was disappointed that the soup contains only 6% red peppers and 8% butternut squash puree (not even the actual vegetable), but it tasted like it contained more of the primary ingredients than it actually claims to!

The tin itself is fairly distinctive, as it shows the Baxters logo in red on the top front, and underneath it shows a lovely bowl of soup, which is in contrast to its various shades of green background – this makes the bowl of soup stand out and look (in my view) even more appealing. It has the ‘Audrey Baxter’ printed signature placed underneath the picture of the bowl, which we are now all pretty familiar with.

The tin describes the soup as being “brimming with intense flavour”, and that it contains “juicy red peppers” and “sweet, soft butternut squash”, and the description is pretty much spot on, in my view. The soup can be heated for approximately three minutes in a microwave oven, if preferred, but as I say, I think this ruins the taste somehow. It only needs a few minutes to heat in a saucepan, taking care not to boil rapidly, as this again spoils the taste.

The tin is also careful to state that once the soup has been heated and then allowed to cool, then care must be taken not to re-heat. Personally, I don’t think I’d leave any to cool down, as if I ate it again, (which I will) I’ll eat the whole tin in one go! However, if you know you are only going to consume half of the tin, you can pour the rest into a non-metallic container and store in the fridge for up to two days and then heat up as usual.

I bought this tin of Baxter’s Soup from my local branch of Sainsbury’s about a month ago, and it’s only last week I finally got around to trying it out. I think I originally bought it for my husband, as he occasionally likes a tin of soup (usually Heinz Tomato) and this looked a bit different. It contains 415g and costs in the region of 55p. I think it’s a fairly new variety to the Baxters range and is a brand I’ve bought many times and generally trust. Unfortunately, it does contain milk, soya, wheat and gluten, so anyone with an allergy to any of these ingredients would have to take care. It is low in salt, and calories but tastes divine.

The only downside was that the ring pull actually came off in my hand and I had to use a tin opener, but I can’t really hold this against the actual contents or taste of the soup. Besides, I try to avoid tins with ring pulls, as I often find that as the very last part of the lid is pulled away from the tin itself, I’m covered in tiny splashes of whatever was in the tin in the first place. I find the traditional can opener method much more effective.

I am a big fan of soups, and regularly make my own versions for myself and my family to enjoy, particularly during the winter months. On occasion, these have been butternut squash and red pepper, amongst many others. I have to say, that given the choice, a homemade soup would win hands down every time, but the Baxter’s version is certainly a close second, and when you’ve been feeling as rough as I have over the past week or so, and you’re not up to making your own, then this is something I would definitely recommend. 

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