When I first heard of the Soup Maker from the Philips team, it got me all curious. A machine where you can just put in all the ingredients, it’s cooked into a soup,wow! You get to choose whether you want the soup to be blended or chunky, and it also keeps the soup warm. The principles seem simple enough and something that simplifies our cooking process to a great extent. Whether it is their water purifier, AirFryer, I have personally experienced simple principles put into play in a sleek looking gadget
WHAT IS A SOUPMAKER
It is like a kettle which cooks your soup ingredients. The fitted lid comes with a blade that is helpful to blend the soup to a creamy texture (if needed). The body of the soupmaker is like a thermos that will keep the soup warm for 40 minutes. The detachable cord helps take the elegant looking kettle to the table and pour straight out of it, as it has a convenient spout
The interface is so ridiculously simple that one might get stumped how to use it (!!) because you are expecting something more complex
The panel comes with a start/stop button and a function selecting button. Each time you press the button, it moves on to the next function and once your desired function is selected, all you do is press the start button and allow the soupmaker to go about its business
FUNCTIONS
Why 5 functions for soup, you may wonder!
The first and second functions are for creamy and chunky soups respectively. The creamy soup function uses the blender in the end to give the soup a smooth consistency
The third option is for making compote. This is great for converting seasonal fruits into compotes for going on top of toast or desserts
The fourth option is for smoothies. So if your health conscious lifestyle demands a soup for dinner, you can have a smoothie for breakfast. Just throw in all the ingredients and hit this function, pour into your glass and you’re set! I have a feeling this will be great for lassis, frozen yogurts and even churning ice creams / kulfis
The last function is the manual blender function. If you feel you want to blend your creamy soup further or blend just about anything, you can select this function and use the start button to blend for as long as you keep it pressed. And blending stops as soon as you release this button
ADVANTAGES
-I make soups very often and my usual way would be to lightly saute all ingredients directly in my smallest pressure cooker- wait for the stuff to cook, the cooker to cool, then blend them to a puree and bring back to a simmer with the rest of the ingredients. While it is quite effortless, there is a bit of monitoring and waiting around involved. With the soupmaker, there’s no need to hang around. Select the function and come back to it just when you need to pour yourself a mug or bowl of soup
-The soupmaker is quite a multitasker, if I go by the recipes given in the recipe book -all manner of soups, smoothies, frozen yogurts, compotes etc
-It is reasonably compact, fitting easily in a small space on your kitchen counter. It’s better kept in a handy location, so that you’ll be inspired to make soups everyday, that’s the whole point of this gadget – a healthier lifestyle, right?
-The soupmaker makes 4 servings or 2 large servings if you are having the soup as a meal
A word of caution:** The soupmaker body gets very hot while it is in use, so use only the handles on the side and on the top to open / handle the gadget while it is in use or when the soup is ready. It does have a ‘hot’ caution sign as you can see in the photo of the panel above
I was wondering if the hot liquid will splash out during the blending process, like it usually does in a blender and I was relieved to note that there were no such accidents
HOMEMADE BABY FOOD
Given how it works, the soupmaker can be a great gadget for baby food and weaning foods. New mums have a dozen demands on their time. Some organic vegetables, herbs, lentils and grains put into the soup maker with stock – can be left on chunky mode for the mum, and the soup/meal topped with some spicy seasonings such as black pepper or a tadka and the remaining ‘soup’ can be blended and given as babyfood. Surely healthier than what comes out of a bottle and with a bare minimum effort
HEALTH QUOTIENT
Steaming inside a closed container helps retain the nutrients and since you don’t discard any of the liquid in which the veggies / meat has been cooked, you get the full nutritional advantage from your soup
A soup is a low calorie, high fiber, high nutrition substitute to a full meal and I’m talking about soups without cream, cheese or any such high fat/calorie ingredients. Replacing dinner with a soup each evening can help cut down considerable calories and thereby aid weight loss, in a healthy way, without compromising on the nutrition
WHAT’S MISSING
The only improvements I could imagine in this gadget are proper labeling of the panel- such as Smooth, Chunky, Smoothie etc., instead of just a graphic representation so it is easier for new users. An electronic timer that shows the time remaining would have been a useful feature
I shall update this review soon with the other functions such as Compote and Smoothie, once I have tried them.
Kitchen gadgets such as these are inspiring. I have been thinking of all the things I can try in this one – a mix of fresh ingredients, seasonal greens and veggies and there are literally tons of combinations you can come up with
Since I had just made a batch of Vegetable Stock that morning, I promptly tried a chunky soup (which I shall share a recipe soon) and today for lunch I made a tomato and red-bell pepper soup and to go with that multigrain bread rolls
It’s super convenient and almost magical, how I simply poured the stock into the soupmaker, the roughly chopped veggies, switched it on and came back to beautiful aromas wafting around the kitchen
Tomato-Red Bell Pepper Soup
Recipe for Tomato-Bell Pepper soup in Philips Soupmaker
Serves 3-4
Prep time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 25 minutes
- Quarter the tomatoes. Chop the bell pepper into 2 cm squares (small dice). Slice the onions and finely chop the garlic.
- Add all of this along with the stock into the soupmaker. Close the lid properly.
- Switch on the power and select the first function (creamy soup). Press the start button.
- This will take 25 minutes in all.
- Once it's done, add the salt, oat flour + water slurry, and close the soupmaker, select the 'Chunky soup' option. In two minutes, this would have come to a boil, at this point use the Manual Blender option to ensure the oats has mixed into the smooth to give a creamy texture.
- Pour into bowls, garnish and serve with your favourite bread rolls.
Disclosure:
I was sent the Philips Soupmaker for a review on my blog, from Philips. I have shared my unbiased opinion and experience.
The Amazon Link to the Soupmaker is an affiliate link. Your purchase via the link will not cost you more, but will help support the blog in a small way.
did all steps
Recipe book does not state how much stock or water to add to the vegetables. Mine is a French version.
Done with all the steps!
done all steps and love to make mulligatawny soup in this one.
Done Done to allThe 1st soup I would like to make is my favorite tomato soup.
This looks like an interesting gadget. Need to check it out at the local store.
Did all the steps 🙂 Liked the pages, and subscribed to the channel
Done!!
Love the videos. Subscribed to your YouTube channel, liked the pages and dropped a comment too.
I’ve fond memories of my grandmother’s ever-ready and comforting tomato soup, which I’d love to recreate with the Philips Soupmaker 🙂
All steps done Nandita…gosh, this sounds like a lovely gadget to own!
done all the steps
Spiced pumpkin & carrot soup. Spinach and tofu soup.
Done all
Lovely giveaway! 🙂
will make vegetarian hot & sour soup for my little daughter as she’s beginning to get introduced to the world of adult food..
All the steps done!
Done with all the steps.Would like to make Mixed Vegetable Soup with veggie chunks so it’s a meal in itself and Spinach – Beetroot smoothie. Email: koolkaran18@gmail.com
did all steps
Done it with all the steps 🙂 Great review 🙂
Hello Nandini, Loving your videos on youtube! Thanks for this. Did all the above. Cheers! Hope I get lucky 😀
Hey ! Your review was very helpful 🙂 I’d love to own a Philips Soupmaker and try a Green Pea Soup in it. Now I’ve completed all steps of the giveaway. Fingers Crossed.
Had subscribed to all earlier. Now done the rest too. 🙂
<3 Completed All Steps ....
Been following your blog, youtube recipes for quite sometime. I also went through all the steps for the giveaway and completed it.
Read everything, subscribed and loved the review. I would love to do Pumpkin soup or Lentil Soup. And I have done everything above. Always loved your videos.
Done, done and done!
Great review.Completed above steps 🙂
All steps done 🙂 Was already a subscriber to the YouTube channel so only the pages and the comments were additional. Can this be used for clear soups? Would be very very useful in my house then. Especially as we are all trying to lose wieght 😛
Hi, followed all the steps as listed in the blog..
Completed all the mentioned steps.Fingers crossed!
Done all of the above! Would like to try the all time favorite tomato soup!
excellent review, tempted to buy. can you suggest a good vegetable juicer. which can be used and CLEANED quickly in the morning before rushing to work
Great review, Nandita! Soups are most nutritious,yet most neglected due to the amount of time they take. I’ve finally started appreciating this beauty, cook them more often and the Soupmaker would be a great addition to my discovery trail!If I win this, I’d try recreating my grand mom’s comforting tomato soup first 🙂
Great review, Nandita! Soups are most nutritious,yet most neglected due to the amount of time they take. I’ve finally started appreciating this beauty, cook them more often and the Soupmaker would be a great addition to my discovery trail!If I win this, I’d try recreating my grand mom’s comforting tomato soup first :)PS: Confirming that I did follow all the steps to be eligible for the giveaway.