Packet soups are a great option for lunch or a snack to keep you satiated. If you’re opting for soup as a lunch time meal it’s important to ensure there are enough calories and protein (chicken or minestrone tend to be good options). If you’re on a 1000-1300 calorie/day meal plan aiming for a soup that is around 200-300 calories for lunch is a great option. To make it more of a substantial meal, you can even pair it with a slice of wholegrain or rye bread if the calories aren’t high enough.
Here are our reviews of some of the popular soups on the market.
Pitango Free Range Chicken & Vegetable Soup Pouch
This soup is probably as close to home made as you’re going to get! It’s made fresh and contains minimal preservatives/additives. If you eat the whole 500g it’s a big, hearty meal for a cold day. To meet your 300-400 calorie requirements for lunch or dinner you could pair it with a slice of high protein/high fibre bread to dip in. It’s very low in fat and sugar with less than a teaspoon of both in each serve. It’s also very high in fibre as it contains lots of vegetables (45%) meeting one third of your daily requirements for fibre. The only negative for this soup is the high sodium content which acts as a preservative and to appeal to more people’s palates. The Australian dietary guidelines for sodium is no more than 2000mg/day. So, this soup would be fine if you restricted your intake of salt for the rest of the day.
Heinz Soup of the day Thai style chicken & chilli soup
This soup is super tasty and creamy, but as a result has a higher fat content including 5.6g of saturated fat. Saturated fat is best limited to less than 10-15g/day depending on your total calorie intake. This soup is a little bit spicy but nothing too hot if you like something with a bit of a kick! It’s got just over a teaspoon of sugar and does have quite a sweet taste. It’s also much lower in fibre than the Pitango brand at 2.6g/serve but this is because it only contains 20% vegetables. At 7.3g of protein it stacks up quite well here and will help to keep you fuller for longer. Once again, the sodium content is quite high but this appears to be the case with all the packet soups on offer no matter how wholesome they are!
La Zuppa Tuscan Chicken & Vegetables with Rice Soup Pouch
This soup is one we regularly recommend to clients because it is low in calories, but high in fibre and protein. Plus it’s tasty! At <200 calories per serve it makes a good lunch or dinner meal with a slice of high fibre/protein bread. It’s got less than a teaspoon of fat and around half a teaspoon of sugar. We also love that it’s got nearly half of your daily fibre requirements because it’s packed with low calories vegies like celery, onion, broccoli and cabbage as well as lentils. With a whopping 15.2g of protein it will also keep you feeling full. For all these reasons it’s our go-to soup brand to recommend to clients if they’re after an easy, low calorie, high fibre, high protein soup to have as an emergency convenience meal in the cupboard.
Strength Meals Co Chicken Laksa High Protein Soup
This soup is targeted at individuals aiming for a high protein meal all in one. At 377 calories it’s suitable for lunch or dinner all on its own. It is much higher in fat than the other options listed however it does have the most protein because it’s packed with chicken breast. At 3.7g of fibre it’s also fairly low in fibre. For something like this we’d suggest add a cup of frozen peas or baby spinach to the bowl to up the vegetable and fibre content to make it a more balanced meal.
Hart & Soul Chicken Low Calorie Bone Broth
We often get questions about bone broth and if they’re good to include in a balanced diet. In terms of a snack, it’s an okay option to warm you up if you’re feeling peckish of an afternoon. This option is very low in fat and energy (at only 56 calories), but because it’s got 5g of protein it should help you feel a little bit satiated. Once again very high in sodium like all the packet soups on offer. However just monitor your sodium intake for the rest of the day to make up for this. We recommend adding some frozen vegies or baby spinach to this soup to up the fibre content (which is zero currently) but all in all, it’s an okay snack.
La Zuppa Hearty Chicken & Vegetable with Rice Soup Bowl
Another La Zuppa favourite is a slightly larger snack for those of you after something a bit more substantial to get you through until dinner. Very low in fat, and with 10g of protein it will help you stave off afternoon cravings and leave you feeling satisfied. Containing 30% vegetables, the fibre content will also help to feed the “good gut” bacteria we want to flourish. As a bonus it comes in an easy to use microwavable container - so there’s minimal washing up!
Dari’s Beef and Mushroom Soup
We’ve included this soup because of it’s whopping 14.3 grams of protein! This will definitely leave you feeling satiated in the afternoon and appeal to meat lovers. Interestingly it contains three grams of saturated fat and some trans fats. These fats are linked with a higher risk of heart disease and stroke and should be limited. This soup also has very minimal fibre at 1.7grams.
LifeShape LED Chicken & Vegetable Soup
We can’t review soups without including the LifeShape LED Chicken & Vegetable Soup to see how it compares to the others on offer. As you can see it contains one of the highest amounts of protein of all the soups which will keep you fuller for longer. With 4g of fibre in this small serve, it will also help you to meet your daily fibre target of 25-30g per day. It’s low in fat, and packed with nutrients despite being only 160 calories. It’s also super easy to make and provides a nice savoury option for afternoon tea.
Woolworth Chicken Flavoured Noodle Soup Packet
This soup is low in calories, protein, and fibre. Having one of these packet soups is like having a cup of tea. It won’t help you feel full or give you any nutrition. An okay option if you’re after something savoury that isn’t a cup of tea and won’t up your calories for the day. However watch the sodium content and ensure you’re minimising your salt intake for the rest of your meals.
Continental Soup Sensations – Garden Cauliflower & Four Cheese
This soup is tasty but very high in fat for such a small serve of soup. It’s also quite low in protein and fibre so it won’t keep you feeling full for very long. We would recommend something else as an afternoon snack due to the low nutrients and high fat content. If you’re trying to lose weight, this would be the opposite of a nourishing snack and not something we recommend.
Coles Chicken Corn with Croutons Soup
This soup is like the Continental one in that all of the energy is coming from fat. Unfortunately it doesn’t provide much nutritional value. There’s negligible protein, no fibre, and it’s high in salt. We’d definitely opt for a different afternoon snack which provides some protein and nutrients to help you reach your weight loss goals.
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