Trying Every Flavor from the Gourmet Soup Kitchen
A couple of years ago I discovered The Gourmet Soup Kitchen, a purveyor of delicious, healthy soups in Los Angeles. Now in 2024 I have finally tried every soup they offer, including 3 "secret soups" not listed online. Read on, or jump straight to the Top Soup Listing.Corn Chowder
My first flavor, and one that I'll never forget. The corn chowder tastes a little sweet, and is rich and thick. Little chunks of potato give it a hearty feel. Like all of their soups, the salt is very light so you taste their fresh vegetables, not the salt.Provencal Minestrone
For my second soup I tried their take on minestrone. Corn chowder was no fluke, this was great too. A variety of fresh vegetables, dominated by tomato, onions, carrots, and celery. Hints of beans and pasta round out this delicious melting pot. Like the chowder, there is barely a hint of salt. This is great for the true flavor to come through, and great for your health.Roasted Tomato & Basil
I had this with a grilled cheese sandwich. The finely blended vegetables made for a smooth, tasty accompaniment. This one has a touch of milk, but it is not overpowering. Like with their other soups, the vegetables are the stars.Mulligatawny
This was my first spicy offering from GSC. It is a potato vegetable soup with surprise apple chunks and garbanzo beans. I've been intrigued since hearing of it on Seinfeld's famous Soup Nazi episode. It was a little spicier than I'm used to, but the flavors worked well together.African Peanut
Word of warning: this African Peanut soup has a strong, house-permeating aroma when microwaved, so be forewarned if there are other people around who might not appreciate it!The soup itself is a rich, chunky mixture of yams, string beans, and a creamy tomato, among numerous other vegetables. It is quite spicy. The peanut flavor isn't too strong.
Sweet Pea
This is a smooth, blended pea soup. The flavor of peas is the prominent taste here, as expected. While it tastes high-quality and fresh, like all of their soups, it turns out that peas are not my favorite, so I won't be getting this again.Carrot Ginger
This is a very mild soup. A light carrot flavor dominates, with a hint of ginger. There is almost no smell while heating this, so it is perfect for shared spaces.Harvest Pumpkin
This is another mild soup, slightly more flavor than Carrot Ginger. Pumpkin is mostly what you taste, the other ingredients are very subtle. This was good but not overpowering. Unlike most pumpkin items these days, pumpkin was allowed to shine. This is not a 'pumpkin spice' dish.Golden Lentil
This is another aromatic soup, beware when heating in a shared setting. It has a strong taste, with many of the individual vegetables shining through. Among all these great soups this ranks somewhere in the middle.Dharamsala Green
This looks too healthy to be this good. It is a mild soup with a mixture of healthy green vegetables. It has a pleasant, rich flavor. Very enjoyable, I will be trying this again when this journey is over.Cuban Black Bean
This soup has lots of, wait for it, black beans, in a gray soup blend of beans and several other vegetables and spices. It is slightly spicy, but not too much. This is in the top quartile of the soups I've tried so far.Himalayan Lentil
This is a somewhat spicy vegetable soup. The broth is a bright yellow. The quinoa provides a little crunch. There are nice chunks of yams to give it some heft. The overall combination is quite good, filling and flavorful. This is one of my favorites so far.Country Vegetable
This is a mild soup dominated by chunks of celery, carrots, and cauliflower. The broth is clear and mild. Like most of their soups, this is only lightly salted. You can taste the vegetables not the spices. I added a few plantain croutons to mine.French Onion
Onions, onions, onions! If you are used to a restaurant style french onion with a layer of cheese on top, this isn't for you, unless you want to add your own. This is a dark brown broth, sweet and tasty, swimming with a tremendous amount of onion strips. Cut to a good length to not hang off your soup spoon like spaghetti, the soup is tasty and filling. Make sure you like onions though — that's the only solid ingredient of any significant quantity.Indian Yellow Curry
The curry soup is a spicy, thick vegetable soup. It has a nice medium spiciness, less than you might think from the twenty or so spices in some curry dishes. It is hearty and filling, good for a winter day or any day you're hungry.Mediterranean Chickpea
This soup has a mild chickpea base, some whole and some chopped. A light flavor is provided by tomatoes, carrots, and spices. Mediterranean Chickpea was great on a cold, rainy day.Moroccan Spiced Vegetable & Chickpea
Chunks of veggies are the core of this mild soup. Carrots and yams give some bite. It has a similar flavor to Mediterranean Chickpea which I tried recently. This soup is quite good.Old World Lentil
Another delicious choice! Details coming soon.Mango Picchu - Spiced Mango With Quinoa
This was another pleasant surprise. I was expecting chunks of mango, but instead this is a smooth, pureed soup with a few bits of quinoa. The spices are mild and this is very pleasant, slightly sweet.Rustic Potato Leek
This creamy soup is dominated by the taste of potato. No chunks, just a few small bits in a puree of potato, leeks, onion, and more. A dash of milk gives this a creamier texture than most of their soups which are dairy-free. The flavor is very light but quite enjoyable.Kathmandu Lentil
Quinoa and bits of kale are notable in this otherwise pureed soup. It has a yellow overall color. It is fairly spicy. It's in the middle of the (large) pack of soups from GSK. Be aware that this will be quite aromatic when microwaved.Mushroom Barley
Mushroom Barley soup is creamy with whole barley and chunks of mushroom and carrots. I'm not usually a mushroom fan but is gives some chunkiness to this soup. The flavor is mild, but it is filling and hearty from the mix of vegetables and fungi. Mushrooms keep it out of my top picks, but I still finished the bowl quickly.Nepal Tomato Bisque
This is a delicious, creamy, tomato-based soup. The creaminess comes from coconut milk and a touch of olive oil. It is somewhat spicy, maybe a hint of ginger? The label doesn't give away their secret recipe, it only says, "spices". This is definitely in the top 10, maybe top 5.Gazpacho
Gazpacho is unique among the soups I've had so far in that it is served cold. I left mine in the fridge for about a day to thaw from frozen.On a warm day this was a refreshing change from the hot soups. Gazpacho from The Gourmet Soup Kitchen has fine chunks of tomatoes, onions, and more. It is very liquid, not thick like a salsa. Speaking of salsa, the flavor is reminiscent of a roasted tomato salsa. I topped mine with tortilla strips, and found the combination enjoyable, much like chips and salsa but with the tomato/chip ratio reversed.
Portuguese Spinach And White Bean
White beans, carrots, tomatoes, and onions are clearly visible in this chunky soup. It is hearty and filling.The flavor, while mild, is somehow reminiscent of pizza to me. The spices are mild and the taste of the vegetables shine through. While salt is listed as an ingredient, it is very subdued as in all of their soups, so you can taste the rest of the ingredients.
I thought this soup was very good, it makes the top 5 soups so far.
Savory Spinach Pea
This is a dark green, mostly liquid soup, with a few whole peas and small potatoes. It is creamy, with a mild but pleasant taste.I found it quite enjoyable, very good on a cool fall day. With 10 soups to go, this is currently in my top 10.
Shangri-La Lentil With Wild Rice And Mushrooms
Shangri-La Lentil is a green chunky soup with pops of orange carrot.This is a hearty, filling soup with a pleasant mix of chunky vegetables and lentils. It is a little spicy but not too much.
This lands somewhere in the middle of this excellent field of soups.
Thai Curried Pumpkin
This is a liquid, orange soup. It is sweet and slightly tangy. While the name says "curried", the spices aren't very strong.Overall, this is a nice, warm, mellow, fall-themed soup.
Spicy Six Bean
Spicy Six Bean soup is a chunky soup with, you guessed it, 6 varieties of whole beans. In addition to the beans, celery and carrots and tomatoes round out the solid ingredients.Take note, this is truly spicy. Many soups are marked as spicy, but this is one of the few that I found to be strongly so. However, I still found it generally pleasant, with lots of variety in each spoonful.
This was a touch spicy to make my top 10, but recommended if that's your thing.
Thai Coconut Curry
This soup features a bright yellow-orange broth with many chunky bits, including green beans, water chestnuts, mushrooms and more.Overall this soup is very good. Not too spicy, a little sweet. In a crowded field this is definitely in top 15.
Tibetan Lentil
Tibetan Lentil is a golden soup, slightly chunky. Lentils, carrots, yams, and spinach dominate.The flavor is good, moderately spicy. It is quite satisfying thanks to the lentils and yams.
This is in the middle of the pack.
Tomato And Rice
This is a reddish-orange soup. It has a medium consistency, like oatmeal. As you would guess, tomato and rice dominate.The flavor is like a bisque but creaminess comes from rice, not milk. It is a mild flavor but quite good, in the top third of the ones I've tried.
Sri Lankan Lentil With Quinoa
Sri Lankan Lentil is a chunky yellow-green soup. Quinoa, peas, and carrots are visible.I found this soup to be hearty and filling, but a little spicier than most. Not bad, but with a large stable of top soups I probably won't be coming back to it soon.
Tortilla
This soup has a striking red color and a creamy consistency. I found it reminiscent of a good roasted salsa. It has tortilla bits in it but I added tortilla strips for extra crunch.It was somewhat spicy, and quite tasty. Overall I rate this fairly high, but just outside of my top soup list.
Tuscan White Bean
Tuscan White Bean is a chunky white soup featuring beans, carrots, celery, and tomatoes.My first thought was that it tastes like a good bowl of pasta
It was very filling and delicious! I finished the whole bowl before realizing I'd never added croutons like planned. This is a new entry on the top 10 list.
Split Pea
This soup is a thick, yellow-green soup with bits of carrot. It has a consistency akin to thick oatmeal, with not many chunks but a thick texture.The flavor is relatively plain. The thick consistency makes it quite filling.
Overall, I found it to be a good soup. Not enough to crack the top soups list, but a solid finale to this tour of the listed flavors. Next up, secret soups! (They have 3 flavors not listed on the website.)
Polynesian Lentil
Secret Soup Number One (a phrase I never imagined I'd be typing) is Polynesian Lentil. It's a chunky yellow-orange soup that is a fusion of a lentil base with ingredients like pineapple.The pineapple, plantain, and pistachio additions are unique to this entry on the list. The flavor combination is great, although it is on the spicier end of the scale of GSK soups. It is definitely in the top half.
Two secret soups left, hopefully they can match or exceed Polynesian Lentil. Also, since the ingredients for the secret soups aren't on their website, I have provided them here for the interested.
Polynesian Lentil Ingredients: Onions, Carrots, Celery, Tomatoes, Red Lentils, Pineapple, Plantain, Pistachios, Coconut Milk, Ginger, Garlic, Herbs, Spices, Filtered Water, Sea Salt, Olive Oil.
Gabriel's Gumbo
This second soup from their secret menu is a liquid soup with lots of chunky ingredients. It is fairly spicy.Filling ingredients abound: black eyed peas, bell peppers, mushrooms, okra and more.
This is much more watery than their other soups, but is still tasty and filling.
Buddha's Bhutan Borscht
Was this a case of saving the best for last? No, but Buddha's Bhutan Borscht is definitely delicious.The third "secret soup" is a dark red beet-colored soup. It is chunky, with bite-sized pieces of onions, tomato, and beets in a red broth. It starts off deceptively mild, followed by a little kick. It is slightly sweet. like many other GSK soups, it is hearty and filling.
Just don't serve it near your white carpet.
Top Soups
My favorite flavors in order, best first- Corn Chowder 🥇
- Provencal Minestrone
- Himalayan Lentil
- Portuguese Spinach And White Bean
- Dharamsala Green
- Tuscan White Bean
- Nepal Tomato Bisque
- Cuban Black Bean
- Savory Spinach Pea
- Moroccan Spiced Vegetable & Chickpea
- Country Vegetable
- Buddha's Bhutan Borscht
- Thai Coconut Curry
- Polynesian Lentil
- Rustic Potato Leek
- Tomato And Rice
- Thai Curried Pumpkin
- Indian Yellow Curry
Copyright © 2024 Andrew Oliver