Stiftung Warentest
These prepared soups taste like you cooked them yourself
Soups from the refrigerated section in the test
© Shutterstock
In hectic daily life, there is often not enough time to cook fresh. The emergency solution: soups from the refrigerated section. Stiftung Warentest tested a total of 15 tomato and lentil soups and came to a surprising test result.
Bagged soups have been out for a long time: if you don’t have time to cook during your lunch break or after work, you’re increasingly turning to the wide range of prepared soups from the refrigerated section – but usually with a bad conscience. Apparently completely for no reason, as it turns out now.
As the Stiftung Warentest analyzed about eight tomato soups and seven lentil soups regarding their sensory, microbiological and nutritional quality as well as the pollution and user-friendliness of the package. The surprising test result: Almost all prepared soups are rated as “good” and some even taste as if they were cooked at home.
Stiftung Warentest: Fresh soups in the test
tomato soups
Soups from the refrigerated section are presented as fresh, healthy and modern – a customer promises that 14 of the 15 products tested are also preserved. Stiftung Warentest rates seven tomato soups as “good”. These included the tomato test winner of “Rewe to go” for around 2.99 euros retail price for 450 milliliters, which convinced the experts with a taste rating of 1.0.
Next to them are “Kuhlmann’s Hof Tomato Soup with Basil”, “Kuhlmann’s Kitchen Fresh Tomato Cream Supp”, “Roggenkamp Organics Premium Organic Tomato Supp with Orange & Star Anise Organic”, “Convency Fresh Soup Coconut Tomato”, “Hofküche Tomato Cream Supp” “. Vegetarian “and” Market Soup Tomato Basil “.
The bottom line of the big soup test is the “Kitchen Brothers Fresh Organic Tomato Basil Supp Organic” for around 2.79 euros retail price for 450 milliliters. It could not convince the testers of taste and therefore received the rating “satisfactory”.
lentil soups
All seven lentil soups tested from the refrigerated section tasted particular and were rated as such by Stiftung Warentest’s experts: They were all convincing – the test winner here was “Kuhlmann’s Hof lentil soup with coriander and curry”.
In second place is “ConVency Fresh Soup Coconut Lense” for about 3.19 euros retail price for 480 milliliters. Although it received the highest rating of 1.0 in terms of taste, it did not convince the testers in terms of nutritional quality and statement. Followed by “Hofküche yellow lentil soup vegan”, “Pink Swabian lentil stew organic”, “Pick a pea organic food Oriental lentil soup organic”, “Our country organic lentil soup organic” and the “Kitchen Brothers Fresh Organic Lentil Kearsup”. Organic “.
Taste how you cooked it yourself
The big surprise in the soup test: several of the fresh tomato and lentil soups tasted wonderfully delicious and were rated “very good” in the tasting. They score with a lot of aroma and their original recipes. Almost all soups were generously refined with spices such as turmeric or coriander and spices such as ginger and chili pepper.
Products from the refrigerated section also have the edge over canned soups. They are only pasteurized and have clear advantages thanks to this production method. The testers also checked all heated soups for plasticizers that can migrate from the package into the food. Fortunately, this test was negative.
Calorie trap soup?
Although the tested tomato and lentil soups are almost consistently convincing in taste, there are clear differences in calories. Some of the tomato soups are almost so light that they could pass as a snack. The lentil soups, on the other hand, always provide enough energy for a main meal – including some bread to fill you up. However, beware of soups with coconut milk: they usually taste great, but are also rich in fat.
Soups are healthy
On cold days, soups warm you from the inside, are full of vitamins and minerals and – if they are prepared without cream, crème fraîche & Co. – Delivers low calories. They also help the body relieve stress naturally. Soup fans can eat their fill without a guilty conscience and without having to worry about not getting stuck in their favorite jeans after a few weeks. With prepared soups, a look at the list of ingredients helps reveal caloric sins.
Sources used: Stiftung Warentest