Kettle Cuisine Gluten-Free Thai Curry Chicken Soup Review

Gluten-Free Soup Review

Kettle Cuisine Thai Chicken Soup with Red Curry (image courtesy of their site) 

Delicious Thai Curry Soup from Kettle Cuisine

I have reviewed Kettle Cuisine soup in the past here on the Gluten-Free Blog, and found their products to be consistently high-quality and worthy of recommendation. I always intended to post additional reviews of the various Kettle Cuisine soups  — having only taken time to formally review the fantastic Chicken Noodle variety thus far — since I also really enjoy the New England Clam Chowder and some other varieties.  And, I just had to finally make time to review another delicious variety I just came across: the Kettle Cuisine Thai-Curry Chicken Soup.

This soup is really, really good!  My wife and I both tried this for the first time recently, and we were absolutely amazed it was a "prepared" product.  We both commented that if we had been served this soup at a restaurant, we would have enjoyed it and never suspected it came out of the freezer!  And, that is saying something, since we both enjoy a variety of Asian / Thai cuisine.

Here is how Kettle Cuisine describes this wonderful Gluten-Free Thai-Curry Chicken soup (at the time of this writing):

All natural chicken, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, bell peppers and brown rice are combined with aromatic green curry, lemongrass and coconut milk in our made-from-scratch chicken stock to create a perfect balance of authentic Southeast Asian flavors.

I think the description is accurate, as I believe they really managed to come up with a near-perfect balance of flavors.  I could distinctly detect the lemongrass in among the curry spices and the coconut-infused base, and the synergistic flavors were quite pleasing.  My only complaint (not at all specific to this product) is that I wish the sodium-levels were reduced some (vs. the current 560mg/bowl), but I also understand why the salt is there and how it will help the flavor-appeal for many consumers  — we just happen to be oddballs that do not add salt to most things we cook.

I found the soup enjoyable and will eat it again... a little added salt will not keep me away from this, and certainly makes up for the preparation simplicity! The product comes in a 10-oz frozen container that you simply microwave for 3-4 minutes (time may vary a bit depending on your microwave); no thawing is required... you just take it from your freezer (where it has a nice, long shelf-life/freezer-life of a year or just over), place it in the microwave, and heat.

Delicious Soup, in a Hurry...

Bottom line: I can recommend this soup since it is a high-quality gluten-free product.  As with any product, personal preferences may vary, but I feel pretty comfortable thinking this soup will appeal to anyone that enjoys Southeast Asian inspired flavors and cuisine. It was delightful!  And, it just happens to be gluten-free! The soup happens to be dairy-free also, if that is a concern.

Continue to read this Gluten-Free Blog for all sorts of gluten-free recipes, product-reviews, and related information. In addition, visit my Gluten-Free Recipes Site where many of the recipes I have featured on this blog are available for free.

Kaia Foods Coupon: Gluten-Free Granola Review too

Kaia Foods 20%-OFF Coupon / Discount-Code!

Great Gluten-Free Sprouted Granola and more!

I came across the fantastic Kaia foods granola products at our local Whole Foods store recently, and I really enjoyed the fact that they are a hearty 100% Raw, Certified Organic, Certified Gluten-Free, Vegan, Sprouted and dehydrated (not baked) high-quality and nutritious granola.  This is by no means average granola, but instead it is a robust premium blend of completely raw ingredients that comes together to form a tasty treat with excellent texture.

I especially enjoyed the "Cocoa Bliss" variety (pictured above) which features sprouted buckwheat*, agave nectar*, raisins*, flax seeds*, sprouted sunflower seeds*, cacao powder*, sprouted pumpkin seeds*, sprouted walnuts*, dried coconut*, vanilla extract*, and sea salt. (*organic)

When reading the ingredient list, I has some questions about the sprouted walnuts and contacted Kaia foods for more detail.  I was particularly curious as to how they acquired sprouted walnuts as I had never seen such a thing.  Here is a quoted response from Kaia foods about this ingredient and their current plans for further improving on a great product:

We do have sprouted walnuts listed on our packaging when in fact they are soaked outside of their shells, but not soaked to the point where they form sprouts. We found that soaking our walnuts cuts down on the harsh acid that they release that can cause soars on the roofs of our mouths. The soaked walnuts also make for a creamier bite. Just so you know, we are in the process of revamping our recipes and we are actually removing all of the walnuts from our recipes. We found that the overall package stays fresher, longer, without the walnuts. So please stay tuned for our new and improved Cocoa Bliss flavor, we hope that you enjoy it.

Well, that was neat to hear about.  I definitely like the current formulation and I expect their next iteration will be equally tasty (not sure what they plan to replace the walnuts with, but hopefully something that complements the other ingredients nicely as the walnuts currently do).

The Kaia Foods 20%-OFF Discount for an entire year!

When I inquired about their Coco Bliss granola, Kaia foods was nice enough to not only explain their ingredients and manufacturing process, but they also were kind enough to offer me a Coupon-Code for 20% off all their products for all my Gluten-Free Blog readers.  You can get this discount when you shop on their online store (which I have done and confirmed this coupon-code works fine), and during the checkout process there is a field for entering the following coupon code:

GLUTENFREEBLOG

The Kaia foods web-store [UPDATE 2017: Kaia site appears to be no longer; not sure if they are still making this product or not, but I hope so since it was fantastic!]

This is a great deal, and this coupon-code should be in effect til approximately December, 2012!  I can get the various Kaia granola, cookies, and snack foods now via their online web store for a better price than I recently purchased a batch for at Whole Foods.  There is a $5.00 fixed-price shipping (per order) which is easily outweighed by this 20% discount (e.g., just purchasing 3 bags of granola at this sale price covers the shipping, and above that is all a bonus savings).

I ordered some of their other organic and raw-ingredient products and look forward to trying them and perhaps even posting more comments about them here.  They offer the following products:

• Buckwheat Granolas: Cocoa Bliss Buckwheat Granola, Cherry Pie  Buckwheat Granola, Date & Spice Buckwheat Granola, Raisin Cinnamon Buckwheat Granola,
• Alive and Radiant Cookies: including the "Raweo" cookies — these are what Oreo cookies should be! All  organic, gluten-free, vegan, and raw-ingredients!  It is about as healthy as you can get with a "cookie".  There are a few varieties: the Original Raweo Cookie and the Oh So Fudgie Raweo Cookie and even a Raweo Chai cookie.  Kaia foods cookies also include a Luscious Lemon Swirl variety and a Contrast Cookie.
• Alive & Radiant Kale Krunch and the Kaia Kale Chips: I have not tried these yet, but I do like toasted kale so I would bet I would like these.  I toast my kale in the oven and turn it into a light and crunchy snack, but you could never package such a delicate creation.  Kaia seems to have created some interesting snacks based around kale and other sprouted ingredients that sounds rather yummy; if anyone has tried these and wants to share comments, please do do.

I hope you are able to enjoy these products and especially make use of this wonderful Kaia foods discount for 2012!

Continue to read this Gluten-Free Blog for all sorts of gluten-free recipes, product-reviews, and related information. In addition, visit my Gluten-Free Recipes Site where many of the recipes I have featured on this blog are available for free.