Pouch Review: Rafferty's Garden Beef & Hearty Vegetable Lasagne (10+ Months)
Our dietitian-led review of the Rafferty's Garden Beef & Hearty Vegetable Lasagne baby food pouch — the good, the not-so-good, and how it stacks up against making it yourself.
Baby food pouches are a lifesaver on busy days — easy to throw in the nappy bag, no cooking and no mess. Rafferty's Garden is one of the most popular brands on Australian shelves, so we put their Beef & Hearty Vegetable Lasagne pouch (10+ months, 170g) under the microscope.
At around $3.00 a pouch, is it worth it — and how does it compare to making it yourself?
What's in the pouch?
Ingredients: Water, Tomato (27%), Lasagnette Pasta (Wheat), Carrot (7%), Beef (5%), Onion (3%), Modified Corn Starch, Parmesan Cheese (Milk), Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Parsley.
Allergens: Contains Milk and Gluten (Wheat). May contain Egg.
The good: Made in Australia from at least 97% Australian ingredients, no added sugar, no preservatives and no artificial colours or flavours — plus a nice low sodium level, which is exactly what we want to see in the first couple of years.
Worth noting: It's only 5% beef, and modified corn starch is used as a thickener. The bulk of the pouch is water and tomato, so it's lighter on protein than the name suggests.
Nutrition — per 100g
| Energy | 294 kJ |
| Protein | 3.0 g |
| Fat (total) | 1.2 g |
| – Saturated | 0.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 11.1 g |
| – Sugars | 1.6 g |
| Fibre | 0.9 g |
| Sodium | 51 mg |
No added sugar, and sodium is well under the 100mg/100g mark we like to see — both big ticks.
Pouch vs homemade
We remade this exact flavour at home as part of our Pouch Project. Here's how they compare:
| Rafferty's pouch | Homemade | |
| Cost (per 100g) | ~$1.76 | ~$0.82 |
| Cost (per serve) | $3.00 / 170g | ~$1.40 |
| Beef content | 5% | Mince-forward |
| Thickeners / fillers | Modified corn starch | None |
| Allergens | Milk, wheat (may contain egg) | Wheat only |
| Added sugar | None | None |
| Suitable from | 10 months | ~6 months (modified) |
What we LOVE about this pouch is that it keeps sodium low, skips added sugar, and is genuinely handy for travel, daycare and those days when cooking just isn't happening. As a convenient option, it's one of the better savoury pouches out there.
Where it falls short is protein and value. At 5% beef, it won't deliver the iron and protein hit of a home-cooked mince dish, and at around $1.76 per 100g it's roughly double the cost of making it yourself. One weekend batch of the homemade version makes about six serves for the price of three pouches.
The take home:
A solid, convenient pouch — Aussie made, low in sodium and no added sugar. Perfect to keep in the bag for busy days.
BUT…
It's light on beef and works out about twice the price of homemade. Use it as a back-up, not an everyday staple, and cook the homemade version when you can for more beef, more value and fewer fillers.
When choosing a savoury pouch, keep an eye on:
- Meat listed high on the ingredient list (not down at 5%) for more protein and iron.
- Sodium under 100mg per 100g to keep salt low for little ones.
- No added sugar — lower is always better.
- Short, recognisable ingredient lists without lots of added starches.
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Beef & Vegetable Lasagne (Baby & Toddler Pouch Project Recipe | 6+ Months)
Our Pouch Project remake of the Rafferty's Garden Beef & Hearty Vegetable Lasagne pouch — a saucy, iron-rich beef and veg pasta that babies and toddlers love.
One pan, freezer-friendly, suitable from around 6 months, and roughly half the cost of the pouch.
