Bol Plant Based Diet Ready Meals and Power Shakes Review.

Reviewed by Hannah Chan

Eating a more plant based diet is currently on trend, with body builders, celebs and becoming vegan is all over social media right now. However before eating plants and ditching meat was the *in thing*, there were many who were trying to change their diet for the planet as well as health. Eating more plants can help keep you healthy and is great for the environment.

I am a busy Mum of three, hubby works away. I love to cook from scratch and explore the nutritional benefits of food and how the ingredients work together for health benefits. Some days I just need something quick and easy for when we’ve spent all evening driving around to various kids clubs or when I have had to work through lunch. Many of the ready meals on the market are designed for speed and to be cheap. Quick and easy. So personally I steer clear and opt for tins of soup or something not so healthy like a pack of crisps and a coffee. Discovering Bol has really changed the way I view ready meals. Finally someone has designed something which tastes like it has been cooked from scratch, is fresh and designed with nutrition and health in mind.

So who are Bol? In 2015 Paul founded Bol, looking to serve plant based ready meals to fill that gap in the market for those who wanted them. Good quality, fresh and packed full of veggies.

First of all, one thing I love about Bol is that it has B Corp status, something I am very interested in both in my work as an Activist Ambassador but also as a consumer. I like to know that the companies I choose to buy from care for not only their profit but people and the planet as well. To become part of the exclusive B Corp club, they need to prove on many levels how ethical they are! So if a company says they are certified B Corp then I know I can trust them to be true to their word and good people. For example they donated 100% of their profits in their first year to Action Against Hunger! Very impressive.

Looking at their packaging, I was really impressed. Especially the glass bottles on the power shakes. Fully recyclable and plastic free.

I reviewed four of the ready made meals, and three flavours of Power Shake. I will discuss them all individually below, but I must say that they were all very easy to prepare and you receive good portion sizes, so no feeling like you’re dinner has been lacking. All the plants were fresh and clean, no slimy bits or blotches on the veg and the cooking/storage instructions were clear as day. No surprise tiny print and good sell by date ranges.

The first product I tried was the Korean sweet chilli ramen Posh Pot. This seemed to be an alternative to the  XXXXXX (editor’s note – brand name removed) and to be perfectly honest, I’d much rather have a Posh Pot! It was ready in minutes, the noodles soft and perfect texture. This had kale and pak choi, which were crunchy and held the sauce well I particularly liked the spicey chick peas, without them I think there might be a little too much sauce for the noodles but with them there was a lovely variety of textures. I will be buying these again. Full of real flavour and looking at the nutritional info, very healthy.

My ultimate favourite was the Immune Boosting Power Soup, creamy corn and sweet potato. This soup smells amazing! It is thick, creamy, ready in minutes and has the added texture and sweetness of whole sweetcorn, red pepper and sweet potato pieces. It has the perfect amount of spice, very subtle but enough to lift the flavours. I will be looking forward to trying the other soups in the range but this one has earned itself a place on my weekly shopping list! In fact I liked it so much I have already ordered more on Ocado. The only drawback was that the microwavable pot it came in was too tall for my microwave so if using it to eat out of at work then bare this in mind, however it takes 2 seconds to transfer to a bowl and heat up. Do try this soup!! You will not regret it.

Next I tried the Spicy Buffalo Cauli-wings. These take a little while longer to prepare in the oven and serve two. There are plenty in the box and come with a lovely sweet bbq sauce. They are pieces of cauliflower, no meat here. Covered in a spicy polenta crumb coating, to be honest it was a little too spicy for me but I can’t really handle too much heat. They were slightly crunchy which I really liked as I like a good texture to my food but my hubby said it confused him as he’d only ever had boiled cauliflower so was expecting them to be soft. Crunch works much better with these as a wings substitute. Their website also recommends putting them into tacos, which I will try next time. I also noticed that they have a whole cauliflower as a centre piece which might be a fun one to try too when we have friends over. The wings make a perfect side or as a snack on their own whilst watching sports or a movie. These wings would be the perfect addition to a BBQ this summer! In fact I am going to be serving them at our next garden party.

Power shakes. I received six bottles with three different flavours to review. Now I am not really a meal replacement girl although in the past I have tried different nutritional shakes. My brother lives on them and at the gym so I shared my box with him. He’s not much of a reviewer but said that he enjoyed them and would buy them again when compared with his usual brand which is a thumbs up and a step above the usual Yeah they’re alright, which I was expecting.
These are 450grams and packed with protein and vitamins. Made with superfoods too so even if you are not into reading labels you can see straight off they’ll be good for you. Aimed as a meal replacement shake, these have no nasty additives and made with a handful of base ingredients like dates and banana. Serve these chilled for best results! Lovely on a very hot day.

There was Chocolate and Peanut butter, which tasted lovely but could have been a little sweeter for my tastes. It was very thick and admittedly I could only drink half of it in one go as there was too much in the bottle. Split over two meals though for me it would be fine. It was a little gritty but I assume this was coming from the nuts.

The chocolate, orange and toasted hazelnut was my favourite of the three. A little gritty again yes but the flavours in this one reminded me of red bean soup! Slight hint of orange and definitely hazelnut. I could get used to drinking this one on a regular basis.

I really wanted to love the coffee, banana and cinnamon as it’s made with some of my favourite ingredients! Coconut yogurt, coffee, butternut squash! It was very rich and thick. The flavour itself was yummy at first but as I got about ¼ of the way through I couldn’t drink anymore purely because of the thickness of it. I hate waste and tried to complete the bottle but I found it a little too much for me. A good balance of flavours though and ingredients wise it’s amazing. I think I just need to be used to drinking thicker shakes. It was better through a straw!

Finally from the ready meals I tried the Fire Roasted Cauli Tikka Masala. I microwaved this one and the veggies were still lovely. Sometimes microwave veggies go a bit soggy and gross, but these were perfect and crunchy. Full of flavour. The sauce was tasty and a good amount, the only thing I might like would be a little more rice to soak up the sauce as I like my rice a little less wet. Otherwise though this vegan microwave meal has set the bar very high indeed.

If you head over to their website bolfoods.com, you can see they have made a lot of effort popping in some interesting health facts about their ingredients which personally, I love! They also showcase their range of foods and have an option to purchase some of them online.

I give the foods I have tried 5 stars out of 5. The power shakes 3.5 out of 5. I really wanted to like them more than I did as the idea and ingredients behind them are top notch. If you are a fan of protein shakes then you will love these, my brother certainly recommends them and he’s tried a fair few brands before these.

Over all I love Bol. I prefer the actual food to the shakes but that comes down to personal preference. I love the concept, the fact they’re a B Corp and that they are concentrating on nutrition and the planet rather than just the cost of the food they are selling. I hope to see them go far and hope more companies follow their lead.

Rating: 

Foods – 5/5
Power shakes – 3.5/5

RRP: 

You can buy them from Ocado, Tesco or Sainsbury’s or from their website Bolfoods.com.