Kettle Cuisine Frozen Soups

Remember my crammed full freezer? If not, you can see a picture here. Yes, I'm a food hoarder, and that is part (well, most) of the problem. But in the past few weeks, I've been the lucky recipient of several vegan frozen food items to review, and those have been taking up some freezer space as well.

For example, Kettle Cuisine sent me six boxes of their new vegan, gluten-free soups! They're not a totally vegan company, but they have three vegan soups in their new line, so they sent me two each of their Three Bean Chili, Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables, and Roasted Vegetable Soup:

I don't typically buy frozen, convenience foods. It isn't that I don't like them. It's just that my freezer is always packed with individual lunch-sized frozen portions of soups and stews that I make at home. For someone who cooks as often as I do, frozen meals aren't usually worth the higher price. I'd rather be cooking that doing just about anything else, but not everyone enjoys spending every spare moment in the kitchen. For those people, all-natural, frozen meals like these Kettle Cuisine soups make sense.

I tried the Roasted Vegetable Soup on one of those work days when I was too busy to go home for lunch:

Although I typically find frozen food portion sizes to be too small, this bowl was quite substantial. And the ingredients are so natural — just water, potatoes, onions, carrots, savoy cabbage, celery, leeks, olive oil, parsley, garlic, sea salt, and spices. That's it!

Next up, I tried the Three Bean Chili, which I spooned over some tater tots and topped with Daiya cheese:

Amazing! This hearty chili is packed with pinto, black, and chili beans, and it's loaded with peppers, corn, and garlic. I'm sure the chili would have been pretty filling on its own, but I was stuffed after eating this on top of tots. Of course, I also had a salad on the side.

Finally, I tried the Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables for lunch today, alongside a Grilled Daiya Cheese Sandwich:

Don't get me wrong. I love a good, creamy tomato soup as much as the next girl. But I'll always choose chunky over creamy when given the choice. I loved the large bits of zucchini, summer squash, carrots, and yellow wax beans in this soup.

While I might not typically buy frozen foods, I'll admit that it's nice to have them on hand for emergencies. And you really can't beat a frozen meal as all-natural as these Kettle Cuisine soups. All are gluten-free, preservative-free, MSG-free, and free of artificial colors and flavors. As far as I can tell, there's no difference than if I made soup at home and froze the leftovers.