Packet vs homemade: Minestrone

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We compare 1 cup (250ml) serves of Continental Hearty Italian Minestrone Cup a Soup with homemade Tuscan minestrone.

Packet

Continental Hearty Italian Minestrone

Ingredients (when reconstituted with water): Tomato (57%), vegetables (14% — onion, carrot, green pea, sweet corn), noodles (11%), maltodextrin, corn starch, sugar, salt, parsley, sunflower oil, flavour, flavour enhancers (621, 635), mineral salt (potassium chloride), colour (carmine).

vs

Homemade

Tuscan minestrone

Ingredients: Olive oil spray, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, macaroni pasta, reduced-salt vegetable stock, water, bay leaves, reduced-salt tomatoes, cannellini or kidney beans, green beans, flat-leaf parsley, fresh basil, freshly ground black pepper, parmesan (optional), soy and linseed bread.

Nutrition information per 1 cup (250ml) serve

Taste

We tasted both soups and, as it wasn’t a blind tasting, it was pretty obvious which was which. Despite its saltiness, contributing to a displeasing aftertaste, the packet soup was tastier than expected, however the lack of veges puts it firmly in the snack category. Overall, it didn’t compare to the more substantial and natural-tasting homemade version.

Conclusion

Our Tuscan minestrone is way more sustaining with higher protein and fibre. To be fair, the packet soup is 71 per cent vegetables (mostly tomato) so although the fibre is not stated it should have some, but not nearly as much as our soup, which is full of chunky veges and fibre-rich legumes. The high sodium content of the packet soup is concerning — that’s nearly one-third of our daily limit for sodium!