“Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite” is a timely quote by Auguste Escoffier because January is National Soup Month. I review seven dairy and gluten-free vegetable soups from Pacific Foods, Imagine, Thai Kitchen, and Safe Harvest.

Pacific Foods Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is one of my favorites. It is thick, and creamy and has a great butternut squash flavor with just a hint of spices. It’s also vegan, gluten-free and USDA organic but contains soy.

Imagine Butternut Squash

While the soup is very creamy, it does not have the strong butternut squash flavor of the Pacific Foods version. Instead, it tastes like a watered-down version. The soup is organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and soy free.

Pacific Foods Oat Milk Cumin Carrot

The best way to describe this soup is taco seasoning in hot water. While it isn’t bad tasting, there’s nothing special about the soup unless you really like cumin. The only allergen listed is cashews.

I prefer Pacific Foods’ other soup with carrot, Cashew Carrot Ginger soup. Read my review of it here, along with other soup brands https://liveglutenanddairyfree.com/soup-mmm-mmm-healthier.

Imagine Soup Creamy Sweet Pea

The soup is thick and creamy with a subtle pea taste. It is organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, and vegetarian but contains soy. In contrast, I prefer Dr. McDougall’s Vegan Split Pea Soup for tasting like homemade soup, even though it comes from a container.

Imagine Potato Leek Soup

I had never heard of leeks before and discovered they are part of the onion family and look like green onions. The soup is so creamy it’s hard to believe it does not contain dairy or some other alternative milk. It is silky and has a great taste, reminding me of the potato broth in clam chowders.

It is organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, and vegetarian.

Thai Kitchen Soup Lemongrass and Chili

This soup is like packaged ramen noodles, but instead of wheat noodles, it contains instant rice noodles. The noodles are not fried, but steamed, and you can prepare the soup on the stovetop or microwave.

If you’ve never had lemongrass, it looks like green onions and has an aromatic lemony smell without being perfumy. It has a nice Thai taste thanks to the spices, chili, lime, and tamarind. The seasoning packet contains shrimp and soy.

Safe Harvest Minestrone

Safe Harvest Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup without pasta or cheese. What appears like noodles is actually the hearts of palm, which is a vegetable. The soup is what excellent soup should be, thick and hearty. It also contains a ton of vegetables in a tasty tomato base. It is Whole30 approved, Paleo, grain & gluten-free, and dairy-free, with no sugar added.

Safe Harvest also makes one of my favorite soups, Clam Chowder, with creamy coconut milk as the base.

Conclusion

Winter is here and the gluten and dairy-free vegetable soups will keep you warm and your tummy well-fed. They will chase away the chills of January.

Expos

Check out the new page, Expos, which will feature upcoming gluten-free & allergen-friendly expos. The next one is the Gluten Free Expo in Vancouver, Canada from January 14-15.

Fun Food Fact

A 1995 episode of Seinfeld created the pop culture catchphrase “No soup for you!” which means to deny someone’s request.  

Did You Know?

There are many substitutes for cream and milk in a soup recipe. They include:

• Coconut milk
• Oat milk
• Cashews
• Beans
• Squash
• Potatoes
• Lentils
• Tofu
• Avocado
• Cauliflower

Quote

“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor and sick, do you?”- Judith Martin aka Miss Manners from: Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior.