As many of you already know, this month’s theme here at The Thrifty Couple has been SOS Mix (soup or sauce mix). We have shared the base recipe which once made, can do NUMEROUS things and can literally serve as a frugal and easy replacement for many more expensive counterparts in the kitchen!
We love it, we use it multiple times per week and the ways that we discover we can use it expand and grow more and more all of the time. This month, we are sharing basic ways to use it, but as a general rule, it can be used to replace any creamed base soups or sauces in any recipe. You can read-up on the recipe, usage ideas and more on our Everything SOS Mix page HERE.
The recipe calls for using a chicken bouillon. As someone pointed out, commercial chicken bouillon does contain MSG. This would be like Wyler’s or any other name or generic brands of chicken bouillon.
So, we wanted to let you know that this recipe and base really is healthier than the canned creamed soup or sauces counterparts and now you can make it even healthier by replacing the name-brand Wyler’s chicken bouillons that contain MSG with a non-MSG chicken base and still get the same affect. Reader Debbie was the one that brought up the MSG in other chicken bouillons and how to get a non-MSG based one would cost a lot more and off-set the savings of doing it yourself.
We have been visiting stores to research the cost comparison and make shopping lists for you for the ingredients needed for this soup base. With that, I was also determined to find a frugal option to replace the MSG filled chicken bases. I thought I would have to venture to Whole Foods quite a ways away to find an option. I am sure Whole Foods and other natural grocery stores do have that option, but even better is that you may be able to find a frugal option at your back door.
I was at Target and found Orrington Farms Chicken Soup base 12 oz. for $2.99 as the everyday normal price (not sale price!). The label actually states “Made with 100% natural ingredients” and “No MSG Added” with a “*” and this * is referencing the following statement “except for that naturally occurring in yeast extract.”
Well, guess what, the cost is actually cheaper than the MSG-filled options! So not only is it healthier, it will be cheaper too! You see, Wyler’s is $2.62 for 3.75 bottle which will yield almost 4 batches of SOS mix. Each batch is equal to 9 cans of creamed soups, so you are looking at about 36 cups of soup.
Well, the Orrington Farms option is 12 oz. and it is not as concentrated as the Wyler’s (as the MSG is what adds quite a bit of that concentrated flavor) and so you will need to use about double the amount. But since it is $2.99 regular price for 12 oz. at Target, you will come out a little bit ahead budget wise and a lot more ahead on it being even healthier! I am excited to replace Wyler’s with Orrington Farms instead! Be on the lookout as this product is probably sold at many other common stores as well.
Amazon currently has the Orrington Farms low sodium chicken soup base 5 0z. jars on sale for $17.17 for 6 of them, which comes out to be $2.86 each 50z. jar. Since these are 5 0z. jars, the recipe will still called for the chicken bouillon to be doubled since it is not as concentrated. So this option comes out to be slightly more, but still a far better value than buying canned cream soups! You can check out this deal on Amazon HERE (it will also ship free to your door with Amazon Prime or a $25 or more order).
Be watching this week for price comparisons and shopping lists to help you get the ingredients needed for less to make your SOS Mix on a normal basis and save your budget that much more!
Finally, if you also know of alternatives to the MSG-counterparts to chicken soup bases or bouillons, please let us know so that everyone can expand their options!
