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Pacific Natural Foods Carton Soups
I Paid: $2.69 for a 17.6-ounce box of soup (prices may vary by region)
If there's just one thing you need to know about Pacific Natural Foods' line of carton-packed chunky soups, it's this: The boxes that these soups come in are amazing. Shelf stable and ready to heat, PNF soups arrive in nicely photo-illustrated, securely lined cardboard boxes that require no can opener, scissors, or blowtorch to access. You just push the box's top corners together and rip along a perforated line. Dump into a pot, heat, and you're eating soup.
Better yet: You're eating fairly tasty soup with a conscience. Billed as "all natural" (vague in theory, but realized here with simple, non-chemical-laden ingredient lists), the soups are vegetarian and packed in Tetra Pak cartons made largely from renewable resources.
The Thai Sweet Potato variety had a soothing creaminess imparted by its creamed coconut base, and highly tasty bits of spicy sweet potato backed by a bit of a harsh lime bite. The Roasted Garlic Mushroom Lentil flavor packed a convincingly earthy mushroom undertone, strong garlic flavor, and substantial lentils and potatoes—the vegetables still had some substance and texture, a real victory in the world of supermarket soup.
The best of the varieties I sampled was Poblano Pepper and Corn, which was a home run. Poblano peppers gave the soup a subtle, earthy, but distinct heat, spices (black pepper in particular, I think) brought a nice bright kick, and the corn had great freshness and snap. If you're lucky enough to stumble across PNF soup, stock up—it's got good flavor, a decent ethical sense, and cool packaging. Hard to beat that trifecta.
"We are all in dire need of a decent chicken stick that has no MSG or MSG clones in it."
Not true. Search on Chow for the article where they debunk the urban myth that people are allergic to MSG.
I rather like their roasted red pepper & tomato version-- REALLY yummy if you drizzle a little pesto over the top and stir it in...
Bought a couple of their soups, very bland.
These are a lot better when you use them as a basis for a risotto or to just use thinned with water into making rice.
I find that many of these soups need some sort of fat to jazz them up. A BIG swirl of olive oil works wonders.
I added a spoonful of bacon fat from some hog jowl bacon to the carrot cashew ginger and some chives. It was really, really good. Served with blue corn chips.
I...+READ
These are a lot better when you use them as a basis for a risotto or to just use thinned with water into making rice.
I find that many of these soups need some sort of fat to jazz them up. A BIG swirl of olive oil works wonders.
I added a spoonful of bacon fat from some hog jowl bacon to the carrot cashew ginger and some chives. It was really, really good. Served with blue corn chips.
I agree with previous post. We are all in dire need of a decent chicken stick that has no MSG or MSG clones in it. Perhaps the answer is to make frozen condensed chicken stock. The way orange juice is made. I kind of do that myself. i always use about a third less water when making a pot of soup . And add water after defrosting. Why store a lot of water? And you can control maximum thickness that way.
Look for them at grocery outlet and even some dollar stores. They are close to pull date so don't plan on a winter's worth.-COLLAPSE
Yeah no. I had their chipotle sweet potato. Salty, bland. All over underwhelming. I have a box of the thai sweet potato and now I'm nervous to eat it.
All they need now is to make a chicken stock that actually tastes like chicken and not rotten vegetables...