Hot Soup and Curry: Which Disposable Bowls Hold Up?

Go by each bowl's own product page, because they say different things about heat. The Premium Round Palm Leaf Bowls 7-30cm page says "Heat resistant up to 150°C" and lists sauces and curries. The White Paper Soup Container is the one bowl in this guide whose page lists soup. The Premium Square Palm Leaf Bowls 14cm page says "Suitable for hot and cold foods" and gives no temperature. For sauce on the side, the White Bagasse Pots with Lids page gives "Heat resistant to 85°C", and they come with a lid.

Below are the four side by side, then soup, then curry, chilli and sauces. Prices are ex VAT, as our product pages show them. Choosing by material rather than by the food? Start with Palm Leaf, Pinewood, Bamboo or Kraft? Which Material Is Right for Your Event? More bowls, in other shapes and sizes, are in our disposable bowls collection.

In this guide

• Which disposable bowls take hot food
• Soup
• Curry, chilli and anything with sauce
• FAQs

Which disposable bowls take hot food

Four products, each read off its own page. The heat column is the page's own wording. Where a page gives no temperature, the table says so, and we have not filled the gap with a figure of our own. A rating on one page belongs to that product only: it does not carry over to other bowls in the same material.

Two things stand out. Only two of the four give a temperature: 150°C for the round palm leaf bowls and 85°C for the bagasse pots. And only the pots come with a lid.

Large or small bowls for hot food

The round palm leaf bowls are the one product here with a size range. They come in 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20 and 30cm. The 11cm and 14cm are listed as deeper bowls. Here is the 100-piece price for each size:

The other three come in one size each in this guide: the square bowl at 14cm, the soup container at 9 x 6cm and the pots at 4oz.

Strong bowls for hot food

Each page describes strength in its own words, so here they are as written. The round palm leaf bowls: "Sturdy construction for heavy foods". The square bowl: "Strong and rigid structure" and "Superior strength without bending". The soup container: "Sturdy construction" and "Superior strength". None of the pages gives a weight figure, so read these as the page's description rather than a load rating.

Serving hot food on plates instead of bowls? That is covered in Plates That Bend Under Pressure: Why Your Catering Setup Might Be Failing.

Soup

For soup, look at the White Paper Soup Container. Of the four products in the table, it is the only one whose page names soup: it lists "Soup Service" and "Hot Soup Service", next to "Heat resistant", "Excellent heat retention" and a "Leak-resistant design". It is paper, white and 9 x 6cm, in packs of 200 for £18.99 + VAT or 1,000 for £69.99 + VAT.

Paper bowls for soup. This is the paper one: the page gives the material as paper, and it comes in white.

What about the palm leaf bowls? The round palm leaf bowls page lists hot foods up to 150°C, wet foods, and sauces and curries. It does not list soup, so neither do we. The square bowl's page does not list soup either.

Soup bowls with lids. The soup container's page lists no lid, and neither palm leaf bowl page lists one. The lidded item in the table is the 4oz bagasse pot, and its page lists it for sauces and dips, not soup. If a hot dish needs a lid for the journey, see the boxes at the end of the next section.

Curry, chilli and anything with sauce

For curry, the round palm leaf bowls are the bowl in this guide whose page names it. It lists "Sauces and Curries" alongside "Wet Foods", and describes the bowls as "Liquid and oil resistant", with a "Leak-resistant design" and "Sturdy construction for heavy foods". The heat line is "Heat resistant up to 150°C". Two sizes, 11cm and 14cm, are listed as deeper bowls. At 14cm, 100 bowls are £24.99 + VAT and 500 are £119.99 + VAT.

The square palm leaf bowl's page does not name curry or chilli. What it does say: "Handles wet, dry, oily and spicy dishes", "Superior strength without bending" and "Suitable for hot and cold foods". It is 14cm, at £7.99 + VAT for 25 or £24.99 + VAT for 100.

Chilli. None of the pages in this guide names chilli. The lines to read are the round bowls' "Wet Foods" and "Sauces and Curries", and the square bowl's "wet, dry, oily and spicy dishes". The soup container's page lists hot food service, but not chilli by name.

Sauce on the side. The White Bagasse Pots with Lids come in 4oz with a "Secure fitting lid". The page lists "Sauces & Dips", "Condiments", "Side Orders" and "Hot Foods", with "Heat resistant to 85°C", a "Liquid-proof design" and a "Leak-resistant seal". They are £4.99 + VAT for 50 or £8.99 + VAT for 100.

When a box is better. For takeaway and delivery, two of our boxes come with lids and list hot food on their pages: the Black Rectangle Containers ("Secure snap-fit lid", "Perfect for hot & cold foods", in 26oz/738ml or 66oz/1980ml) and the Premium Brown Kraft Boxes with Lid ("Secure lid closure", "Perfect for hot & cold foods"). Both are in our containers range.

FAQs

What disposable bowls are best for hot food?

Go by what each product page lists. Of the three bowls in this guide, the Premium Round Palm Leaf Bowls page is the only one to give a temperature ("Heat resistant up to 150°C"), and it lists hot foods, wet foods, and sauces and curries. For soup, the White Paper Soup Container page lists "Hot Soup Service" and "Heat resistant", with no figure. The square palm leaf bowl's page says "Suitable for hot and cold foods", also with no figure.

Which disposable bowls come with lids?

Of the four products in the table above, only the 4oz White Bagasse Pots with Lids. Their page lists sauces, dips, side orders and hot foods, and does not list soup. No lid is listed for the round palm leaf bowls, the square palm leaf bowl or the soup container. For hot food in a lidded box, the Black Rectangle Containers and the Premium Brown Kraft Boxes with Lid both come with lids and list hot food on their pages.

Are disposable bowls strong enough for curry?

The Premium Round Palm Leaf Bowls are listed for it. The page names "Sauces and Curries" and says "Sturdy construction for heavy foods" and "Liquid and oil resistant". It is the only page in this guide that names curry. The square palm leaf bowl's page says "Superior strength without bending" and "Handles wet, dry, oily and spicy dishes", but does not mention curry.