The temperature in Toronto is hovering just below freezing and there is more than 10 centimetres of snow on the ground, which means only one thing: it’s officially soup weather! I recently received samples of Happy Planet Fresh Soups, which are all natural and organic and taste like soups you would order at your favourite five-star restaurant. Made in Burnaby, British Columbia, Happy Planet Soups feature Locally Inspired Soups and Globally Inspired Soups.

I sampled five different Happy Planet Soups including the new Thai Chicken Soup, Berkeley Butternut Squash Soup, Chilliwack Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, Fraser Valley Mushroom and Mascarpone and the Indian Split Pea Soup. Each one had its own merits to recommend it, but my favourites were the Berkeley Butternut Squash Soup and the Chilliwack Broccoli and Cheddar Soup.

Happy Planet’s Berkeley Butternut Squash Soup has a silky smooth texture and a wonderful, buttery flavour. The soup’s ingredients include organic yams, organic carrots, organic celery, organic onions, organic cream, organic garlic and organic butter. I’ve tasted squash soup that has been sweetened with apple, but I prefer Happy Planet’s version because you taste the rich flavour of the squash, yams and carrots.
The other soup I loved was Happy Planet’s Chilliwack Broccoli and Cheddar Soup. This is definitely a comfort soup as a respite from cold, winter days. This broccoli and cheddar soup is rich and creamy due to its ingredients of aged white cheddar cheese and cream and gets its flavour from onions and celery. Happy Planet tries to source the best ingredients: the broccoli used in this soup is from Chilliwack, B.C.

Happy Planet has introduced two new soups: Thai Chicken Soup and Kawartha Chicken Noodle Soup. I tried the Thai Chicken Soup, which is made with organic chicken, green curry, Thai basil and lemongrass. The soup reminded me of eating chicken curry, which is a good thing.

Happy Planet’s Fraser Valley Mushroom and Mascarpone Soup features earthy-tasting mushrooms picked from the Fraser Valley. The Mascarpone cheese provides a delicate balance to the rustic taste of the mushrooms. I enjoyed this soup; however, it does have a strong woodsy, meaty taste.
Happy Planet Soups taste like homemade soup so keep a few on hand for spontaneous entertaining during the holidays. Your guests won’t know this soup was purchased from a store.
You’ll find Happy Planet Soups at Metro, Loblaws, Sobey’s and other fine food stores. They retail for about $5.99 per soup package.
The weather is definitely ripe for some soup! The soups look delicious, and I even like the packaging.
Yes, the soup is delicious, Grace, and I like that it’s organic and contains no preservatives! Lori
Comments are closed.