• Bloglovin
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The Happy Coeliac

Don't let the gluten get you down!

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Shop
    • Gluten-free Bites: Backyard BBQ
    • Gluten-Free Baking at Christmas
    • A Gluten-free Dinner Party
  • Recipes
    • Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner
    • Dessert
    • Snacks
  • Reviews
    • Brand Spotlight
    • Product reviews
    • Restaurant reviews
    • Recipe reviews
  • Travel
    • All
    • Amsterdam
    • New York
    • Prague
    • Reykjavik
  • Community
    • Living gluten-free
    • News
    • Ranting
  • Contact Me

Review: Thornleys Recipe Mixes

January 6, 2014 By The Happy Coeliac Leave a Comment

Thornleys Natural Foods is a family-run company specialising in gluten-free recipe mixes. Their dry mixes come in little sachets, which you add to fresh ingredients to make a meal for four. The range of products includes two sauces and three recipe mixes.

thornleys gluten free sauces

Tuna & Pasta Bake, Parsley Sauce, Spaghetti Carbonara, Creamy Chicken & Herb Sauce, Chilli Con Carne

It’s interesting being sent something to review when you aren’t really the target audience. If I wanted to make a chilli con carne, for example, I’d just throw spices at some meat, chuck in some tomatoes and beans and let it simmer. But coeliac disease does not just affect those who like to dance around the kitchen, stirring a big pot because it makes you feel vaguely like a witch with a cauldron (er, just me then?). Coeliac disease can affect anyone, including people with no time, loads of kids, and those who can’t cook or simply can’t stand to cook.

sachet in pan

Unfortunately, the recipes do require more steps than this…

For these people I think these little mixes are ideal. The vast majority of Free From products around seem to be sweet: just go into any supermarket and gaze at the gluten-free biscuits and cakes in their Free From aisle. But savoury products seem to be few and far between. And if you have a family where some but not all eat gluten-free, I can imagine it is very difficult to think up dinner ideas which please everyone. It’s difficult for me even with a gluten-free household.

The prices range from £1.95 – £2.30 (the sachets are different weights). This is a little on the high side, but when you think that it feeds 4, I don’t think it is excessively high for a Free From product.

thornleys gluten free tuna pasta bake

So how do they taste?

On the whole, I was very impressed. The flavours were mild and pleasant – you could easily serve the chilli con carne to a child without worrying that it would blow their head off with the spice. The sauces did not clump together, and cooked up very  nice & smoothly. Although they all contain milk (except for the chilli mix), instead of adding extra milk I substituted almond milk, which worked just as well. I can generally tolerate whole dairy, but milk and cheese powder really set off the lactose intolerance, so I’m glad I played it safe.

creamy chicken and herb sauce thornleys

Creamy chicken & herb sauce in action!

My absolute favourite was the tuna pasta bake. I can never be faffed making up a bechemel sauce (or white sauce, whatever is supposed to be used), and so I usually use tomatoes instead. But I think I would definitely keep a few sachets of this in my cupboard!

tuna pasta bake thornleys gluten free

Thornleys Tuna & Pasta Bake

Overall, I thought the Thornleys products are a great addition to the gluten-free market. A nice little timesaver, I can imagine these mixes would also be popular with children.

[divider]

To see my Thornleys review on the Can I Eat It? blog, click here.

To check out the Thornleys range of products, click here.

 

Related posts:

No related posts.

Filed Under: Product reviews, Reviews Tagged With: dinner, recipe mix, thornleys

« Giveaway! Win a £50 ilumi Christmas hamper!
Quinoa breakfast muffins (gluten- and dairy-free!) »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Celebrate summer with a BBQ!

Gluten-free Bites: Backyard BBQ

Never miss a post!

Sign up for updates and get new posts straight to your inbox

About Me

Hi, I'm Sam, a Brit living in Haarlem, the Netherlands. I was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2011, after which I started blogging as a way to help me cope with the massive lifestyle change that a gluten-free diet commands. Now I develop recipes, write cookbooks and try to enjoy life! Read More…

  • Bloglovin
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Last chance for orders before Christmas & a low-carb update

Gluten free Baking at Christmas

Chestnut gnocchi with browned butter and sage sauce

Chestnut Gnocchi

Raspberry skyr cheesecake bites

Low-carb raspberry skyr cheesecake bites

Two weeks on a low-carb, high-fat diet

A low carb, high fat meal.

Singapore satay chicken with peanut dipping sauce

Singapore Satay Chicken

Gluten-free in Reykjavik, Iceland

Gluten-free in Reykjavik

Best of the Allergy & Free From Show 2015

Allergy Show haul

My new book, “Gluten-free Bites: Backyard BBQ” available from the Kindle Store now!

Quinoa Salad with feta and garden herbs

McDonald’s extends gluten-free availability to 50 branches across the Netherlands

McDonald's Gluten-free Big Mac

“So, like, how sensitive ARE you?”

Picture of women sitting down hunched over

Latest tweets

  • Anyone have any #glutenfree recommendations in #Strasbourg? Found one gf restaurant, but it's gluten free AND vegan... 😕 March 30, 2018 8:22 am
  • In case anyone wondered, the #LCHF diet was so beneficial to my PCOS that I got preggo within 2 (irregular!) cycles… https://t.co/EKSBBCwUXw January 16, 2018 8:05 pm
  • Intended to have a "short hiatus" from Twitter/blogging, was gone over a year. Oops. What did I miss? 😆 January 15, 2018 7:20 pm
  • IJssalon Garrone in Haarlem does the most AMAZING #diabetic #glutenfree hazelnut #icecream. Totally just had some for breakfast. September 9, 2016 10:37 am
  • Made @SukrinUK #lowcarb bread tonight to satisfy a rare carb craving & its definitely hitting the spot! #glutenfree https://t.co/ubnp04U0gg August 21, 2016 5:21 pm
  • Go to my Twitter page

Blog networks I belong to

The Happy Coeliac
Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100

mytaste.co.uk

About Me

Samantha develops gluten-free and low-carb recipes, and writes about health, nutrition, fitness and psychology. Read More…

Like this blog?

Stay up to date by subscribing to my newsletter

Popular recipes

Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
Gluten-free pork and cabbage dumplings
Quinoa breakfast muffins
Gluten-free scones
lemon-lime cupcake

More recipes

© 2015 The Happy Coeliac
 · Powered by Wordpress, Genesis Framework & Foodie Pro