Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup

Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

For anyone who is a college student and is on a tight budget, it always seems like one of the most popular foods that people end up eating to save money is the eternally boring ramen noodle dish which often sells for less than a dollar and is sometimes even cheaper when it's bought by the dozen. But this inexpensive meal option isn't available to individuals who are allergic to wheat or gluten because the Chinese-style noodles that are used in most ramen meals are wheat based.

And the same can be said for many different noodle dishes and soups in general, even if they don't have wheat based noodles in them. Wheat seems to be the perfect thickener for soup and even simple dishes like tomato soup are filled to the brim with wheat. And this is a shame since soup is often such a warm, comforting dish. One of the only ways to get around this issue is often by making soup at home, but part of the ease of soup is often that it can be made so easily. Homemade soups don't really fall under this category and take a lot more effort than just a simple microwave job.

Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

But gluten free and wheat free soups aren't impossible to find and one intriguing option is a selection from Thai Kitchen called Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup and instead of using wheat-based noodles, the noodles in this soup are made of rice. Generally speaking, rice noodles do need some sort of seasoning on them otherwise they are kind of plain and unwieldy to eat.

And the seasonings in this soup are surprisingly tasty as ginger lends itself well to soup alongside an application of rice noodles. Just like a bag of ramen noodles, this soup cooks in the microwave in only a few minutes and making the soup doesn't require anything more complex than adding a few things to a bowl and stirring them up.

Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

This soup is definitely a great option for an easy-to-prepare dish though it's probably best paired with another food such as some cookies if it's for lunch or even something more substantial like chicken if it's going to be eaten at dinner. One thing of note is that the sodium is quite high for this simple soup and since you'll get close to half of the sodium you need in an entire day just from a single bag, it's best to pair this soup with something else that's not got a lot of sodium in it.

Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Thai Kitchen Thai Ginger Instant Rice Noodle Soup Report Card

The Good Stuff:

This is a great basic soup that can be eaten as a comfort food on a cold day or when someone wants an easy lunch and doesn't have a lot of time. It's also worth noting that the taste is a big positive as well. In addition, cost is also very low, which is a fairly attractive element for any type of gluten free food since such meal options are often so much more expensive than their wheat-filled counterparts. It's likely that you can pick up a bag of this soup for less than a dollar in most circumstances.

Improvements to be Made:

There aren't a lot of negative things to say about this soup outside of the fairly high sodium content, but this element shouldn't keep you from trying the soup. The best thing to do to accommodate a little extra sodium from this dish is to simply make sure that the other things you plan to eat during the day aren't filled as well with an excessive amount of salt.