Please note: our Power Pods from The Spice Pioneer were received free of charge, but this in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the brand did not see this review before it was put up on the site.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get stuck in a bit of a rut when planning our meals for the week. I’ll often tend to cook the same favourite meals again and again – especially now that we’re avoiding the food shops as much as we can and I’m able to spend less time browsing and thinking of new ideas.
There are plenty of companies out there now who offer seasoning blends to create various different meals with ease, but one I’d never heard of was The Spice Pioneer. In December last year, they launched their Power Pods: five different spice mixes to help you to make meals for four people in 30-40 minutes.
There are five spice blends in the range: Peri-Peri Chicken, Fajita, Katsu Curry, Chicken Lollipops and Chilli Con Carne, with every single blend vegetarian, gluten-free and made only with natural ingredients. The recipe and cooking method is detailed on the back of each box – and I love the fact that the Power Pods are packaged in such a way that they’ll fit through the letterbox – no need to stay home to wait for them to be delivered. There’s also a spice rating on each one, to give you an idea of the level of heat you can expect.
Each Power Pod from The Spice Pioneer is priced at £1.99, pricing them slightly higher than some of their competitors, but lower than the blends offered by others. But the real question is…how easy were they to use, and how did they taste?
We started with the Peri-Peri Seasoning: I just needed to add lime zest and juice, garlic and oil, before coating chicken thighs with the mixture, marinating for a short period and cooking in a pan. Despite the short marinating time (just ten minutes), it was packed with flavour: a smokey, zest blend that we both enjoyed.
Next up, the Fajita blend, which I again cooked with chicken – as well as peppers and onions. There wasn’t as much chilli heat as in other blends I’d used – despite both chillies and cayenne being included in the mix – but the cumin, paprika and garlic flavours all came through strongly for an authentic Tex Mex flavour.
By far my favourite of the Power Pods was the Katsu Curry, one of my favourite Japanese dishes. The recipe involved a little more effort than some of the others: cooking up carrot and onion, adding garlic and the seasoning, combining with a paste of flour and water and adding hot stock, honey and soy sauce before blending until smooth. But it was well worth it for the earthy, aromatic flavour of one of my favourite Japanese restaurant dishes at home.
The Chicken Lollipops were a hit too: a Mediterranean-inspired blend of smoked pimenton, sea salt, cumin, oregano, coriander, fennel and bay leaf. All the spice blend needed was the addition of garlic, oil, vinegar and warm water before coating the chicken and marinating – then feeding onto skewers and grilling until cooked. Very tasty indeed.
The only real disappointment was the Chilli Con Carne, but that’ll be down to personal taste. I like my chilli really smokey and really spicy – and while this blend contains red chillies, cayenne and smoked pimenton, among others, it just didn’t deliver for me on either front. It was still perfectly tasty, but probably more suited to those who like just a low level of spice.
At £1.99 per pod, the Spice Pioneer Power Pods won’t break the bank. Ideal for those looking for new inspiration for easy meals, for those who aren’t necessarily that confident in creating their own spice blends, or for parents wanting to give a helping hand to teenagers who are off to uni, they’re handy to have in the cupboard to spice up your meals and help you avoid getting stuck in the same old recipe rut.
Buy The Spice Pioneer Power Pods online here