Is vegetable soup ultra-processed?

Homemade vegetable soup using whole ingredients is not ultra-processed. Every vegetable is NOVA 1 (unprocessed). The only processing comes from olive oil and stock — both NOVA 2 culinary ingredients. However, if you use certain stock cubes like Oxo, you introduce flavourings and dried glucose syrup, pushing the stock component towards NOVA 4.

How many hidden sugars are in vegetable soup?

A homemade vegetable soup like this one has zero hidden sugars. The vegetables contain natural sugars but no added or disguised sugar sources. However, swap the Kallo organic stock cube for an Oxo cube and you add 2 hidden sugar sources: sugar and dried glucose syrup.

What is the NOVA score of homemade vegetable soup?

The overall recipe is NOVA 1–2 — whole vegetables (NOVA 1) with processed culinary ingredients like olive oil and stock (NOVA 2). This is as clean as a recipe gets. The NOVA score only rises if you introduce ultra-processed stock cubes or tinned soup alternatives.

Glucose: Low9 ingredients

Vegetable Soup — Ingredient Analysis: NOVA Scores, Hidden Sugars & Glucose Impact

We analysed every ingredient in this popular vegetable soup recipe. 9 out of 9 ingredients are NOVA 1. But swap the stock cube and you add flavourings, glucose syrup, and 24.9g salt per 100g.

Original recipe by

Easy Peasy Vegetable Soup by Eb Gargano at Easy Peasy Foodie · @easypeasyfoodie

SpikeSaver Ingredient Analysis

Ingredient	Qty	NOVA	Hidden Sugars	Glucose	Protein
Olive oil	1 tbsp	NOVA 2	None	Negligible	—
Onion	1, diced	NOVA 1	None	Low	1.5g
Leek	1, sliced	NOVA 1	None	Low	3g
Carrots	3, sliced	NOVA 1	None	Low	2.7g
Celery	2 sticks, sliced	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	0.8g
Parsnip	1, sliced	NOVA 1	None	Medium	2.2g
Potato	1, chopped	NOVA 1	None	Medium	4g
Vegetable stock (Kallo cube)	500ml	NOVA 2	None	Negligible	—
Salt & pepper	To taste	NOVA 2	None	Negligible	—

Per serving (4 servings)

108

Calories

3.6g

Protein

30g

Carbs

3.5g

Fat

Fibre

Overall verdict

Mostly NOVA 1 whole ingredients with NOVA 2 culinary basics0 hidden sugarsGlucose: Low

This is an exceptionally clean recipe. Every vegetable is NOVA 1 unprocessed. The only processing comes from olive oil, stock cube, and seasoning — all NOVA 2 culinary ingredients. Zero hidden sugars.

The swap comparison

What happens when you swap from-scratch ingredients for shop-bought shortcuts?

Kallo organic vegetable stock cube

→

Oxo Chicken Stock Cubes 12 Pack 71g

Likely NOVA 41 UPF marker2 sugar aliases13 ingredients

Lens	From Scratch	Shop-Bought	Delta
NOVA/UPF	NOVA 2, 0 UPF markers	Likely NOVA 4, 1 UPF marker (flavourings)	+1 UPF marker; NOVA jumps 2 levels
Hidden Sugar	0 sugar aliases	2 aliases: sugar, dried glucose syrup	+2 hidden sugar sources in a savoury product
Glucose Impact	Negligible	16.5g sugar/100g, 46.8g carbs/100g	Surprising sugar content in stock cubes
Protein/Macros	Minimal	24.9g salt/100g, 286kcal/100g	Salt is extreme at 24.9g/100g

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