Sweet Earth big on plants but small on flavor
Moving to a plant-based diet? Sweet Earth might make it easier. It’s about using fresh ingredients, herbs and spices, and building flavors you’ll love. That’s the promise made by this company.
Did the products we tested stand up to this promise?
Launched by Brian and Kelly Swette in 2011, Nestle USA acquired Sweet Earth in 2017 and now its products are sold in more than 10,000 stores including independent natural grocers, Whole Foods, Target, Kroger and Walmart. (We purchased the Sweet Earth products from our local Kroger store, Dillons.)
We tried the Cauliflower Mac, which is a bowl of pasta, sweet potatoes, herbs, spices and a vegan cauliflower cream sauce. Each bowl has 9 grams of plant protein and includes five super foods: roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, turmeric and garlic.
After a quick 3-1/2 minutes in the microwave, this bowl is ready to serve.
The sweet potato on the ingredient list surprised us because it didn’t really come through, but the overall combination of flavors was good. The 9 oz bowl gives you 270 calories, yet the serving size isn’t big enough to fill an empty stomach. If this is all you plan to eat, you’ll go away hungry.
We also tried the Pad Thai. We wanted some spice! Sadly, there was none. The product boasts five super foods as well: carrots, bell peppers, shitake mushrooms, green onions and garlic. This 9 oz bowl gives you 350 calories, but again, it’s not enough to sustain you.
The Pad Thai didn’t just lack spice but lacked flavor. The textures were great, but bland was the predominant descriptor of this bowl. Add a little soy sauce and it would help the overall flavor, but if you’re paying over $4 for a single serving, you shouldn’t need to add anything extra to make it edible.
Sweet Earth offers more than just bowls. They have modern meats, pizza, burritos, and breakfast items. To find out more, visit their website here.
A glimpse into the landscape of Sweet Earth Natural Foods.
