Homemade Soup vs Heinz.

Fredula

Hiya!

I'm trying to get my shopping costs down so that the savings can go towards our house deposit. Nearly every lunch time I sit down to a very tasty tin of Heinz carrot and corriander soup.

Now, I've had a look online, and I'm wondering would it be cheaper to bulk buy, batch cook and freeze the soup. Obviously it might not taste the same, but I thought I might try it, although if it's not going to work out cheaper then I might not bother. What do you think? Also, do you think there will be less calories in a homemade one? There's about 600 calories to a tin, I think! :silenced: Shocker.

Callie22

Using value carrots, onions and stock cubes would almost definitely work out cheaper than buying tins. Coriander is more 'expensive' but you can buy a fairly big bunch from Asda, for example, for less than £1 - if you live near any Asian/Turkish/etc greengrocers then you can get huge bunches really cheaply, and any extra could be frozen.

You've got the added bonus that anything that you make will definitely be better for you - I've no idea where the 600 calories is coming from but a big bowl of basic homemade soup made from lots of veggies will be nowhere near that. Your soup will probably have a heck of a lot less salt in it too.

Tubs for freezing can be an expense but you can save margarine tubs (for example) and reuse them.

kitschkitty

I'd say make it! But then I don't rate Heinz soups, and I've never found a carrot & coriander soup I've liked (love both ingredients though).

But it's such a simple recipe and carrots are so cheap, if I liked it I'd make it! Soup is so easy & freezes so well.

maman

I must admit I've not tried it myself yet but I'm told this recipe

'Heinz' Tomato Soup

2 tins of tomatoes (doesn't matter if whole or chopped)
1 tin of baked beans
1 beef stock cube (optional)
1 medium size pickled onion

Heat all the ingredients together, and blend with a stick blender. Ready in less than 5 minutes, and tastes like Heinz tomato soup (without the syns!)

Don't be tempted to substitute the picked onion for real onion - its the secret ingredient

Alternative versions are: 2 tins tomatoes, 1 beans, 1 carrots, and 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 beans, 1 carrots.

is every bit as good as Heinz. I read about it on the Slimming World thread so assume it's healthy and good for you too!

Fredula

Someones obviously a slimming world member

Edit: Oh, haha, I wrote that and posted it before I read your last line

Thanks for the recipe btw

Stephen_Leak

The reason why commercial soups taste so good and has lots of calories is that they're laden with sugar to cover up the fact that they don't contain many real ingredients. Just check the label.

One trick I've heard (although I haven't had a chance to try it yet) with tomato soup is to include the stalks. (Edit: See post #18 below.)

This has no sugar but only real ingredients, and I have tried it ...

CARROT & CORIANDER SOUP

Makes 2 x 250ml servings

INGREDIENTS

2 carrots
1 small pack of fresh coriander
½ an onion
½ a tablespoon of oil
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

Cut the top and bottom off the carrots, peel them and chop them into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Wash the coriander, shake it dry and then pick the leaves off the stalks. Peel the onion, cut it in half, chop one half into 2cm (1 inch) pieces and save the other half.

Put the oil into a saucepan on a medium heat. Add the carrots and onion. Fry for 3 minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the coriander leaves, stock cube and water. Stir thoroughly.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, for another 10 minutes until the carrot is soft.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

TIPS

Remove some of the coriander leaves before blending and put them back in afterwards.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Homemade every time unless of course there are exceptions.
I made homemade Cream of Tomato Soup tonight and Heinz or any other Tomato soup Manufacturer cannot touch it for sheer flavour as well as quality of ingredients making it a jolly cheap meal!

rosie383

Jamie Oliver says to put in the stalks of the tomatoes if you buy tomatoes on the vine, as that is where the lovely smell comes from. I now do this and it does make an amazing difference. Blend the whole thing, stalks and all and then sieve to get rid of the bits. i do it if I'm making pasta sauces too, just strain through a colander or similar, so it goes through easily and isn't too smooth.

eleanor73

Try to get the veg on yellow labels or in Lidl or Aldi (Lidl's weekend deals or Aldi's weekly veg deals) and it will definitely be cheaper (and so much better for you!)

tiff

I got a load of veg yesterday, the fresh stuff that is already chopped up and sold as "soup mix". It was 38p a bag, I got 3 bags so will be making that later.

Home made soup is much tastier and healthier, the odd time I do have tinned soup it never tastes as good as home made but it is handy now and then.

midnightraven3

corriander is very easy to grow, so you could plant some seeds and have a HUGE crop to use throughout summer and autumn and some left to pick and freeze to make soup over the winter
homemade will be cheaper and much better for you, and waaaaaaaaay less calories than a tin