Chicken Noodle Soup

Test Date: June 2011

Tester: Michele

All products for this test purchased at Fred Meyer, Winco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods and were prepared according to microwave instructions.

MICHELE'S OPINION: I want to meet some of the folks who are creating these soups and ask them if they've ever tasted homemade chicken soup!! It is AMAZING to me that some of these soups are on store shelves. Campbells Chunky, Amy's, 365, and Health Valley all were really bad. No flavor, wierd flavor, disgusting flavor, take your pick. And although the others were relatively tasty, they are so very high in salt! So I guess there is no clear all-around winner this time. Read on for more details....

Price Comparison for one jar of soup (store first, then brand)
$2.99 Fred Meyer Progresso Traditional Chicken and Rotini
$2.99 Whole Foods Health Valley
$2.89 Whole Foods Amy's Low Fat No Chicken Noodle
$2.39 Fred Meyer Campbell's Chunky
$2.63 Winco Lipton Soup Secrets (dry mix)
$1.99 Whole Foods 365
$1.99 Trader Joe's Chicken Noodle Soup with Veggies
$1.50 Fred Meyer Campbell's Condensed
$1.49 Trader Joe's Low Fat Chicken Soup

1. Campbell's Condensed Homestyle Chicken Noodle (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; available widely): This broth looks rich and a bit oily (in a good way, like you'd see in homemade broth) with thin, small noodles and just a small handful of chicken and carrots, this soup is very chicken-y tasting and salty. The broth is delicious but that's pretty much all you get - they definitely skimp on the meat, veggies, and noodles.

2. Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; available widely): This soup has a relatively thin looking broth but tons of curly noodles, celery, chicken, and carrots. There are also lots of herbs as well. Unfortunately, this soup falls pretty flat on taste compared to the above. The chicken is tough too. It has a grassy/herby undertone and is otherwise very bland.

3. Progresso Traditional Hearty Chicken and Rotini (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; Progresso website does not list locations for purchase.): This is a very thick broth, it looks like it has been thickened with cornstarch. There are a lot of thick rotini noodles, some carrots, herbs, and an occasional piece of chicken. It is tasty though, with a rich chicken-y flavor and soft noodles.

4. Lipton Soup Secrets Chicken Noodle dry mix (Purchased at Winco and available on Amazon Fresh; Lipton website lists Albertsons and Safeway as other locations for purchase): This soup takes 12 minutes to cook in the microwave since it is a dry mix, as opposed to the others, which all took 2-3 minutes. It is more soup than the others (3 cups) and has a thin yellow broth with very small noodles, a little bit of chicken and herbs, and no veggies. The broth tastes pretty good and takes me back to my childhood. But compared to a homemade broth it leaves much taste to be desired. To its benefit though at least the broth tastes mostly like chicken instead of chemicals or plastic as in some of the others. But you're basically just getting broth here, and a few noodles.

5. Trader Joe's Chicken Noodle Soup with Veggies (Only available at Trader Joe's): This product comes in a tetra pack instead of a tin can. The soup is very dark in color and there are lots of small bits of carrot, chicken, celery, onion, and small curvy noodles as well. It tastes very natural and fresh, with a dominant flavor of the vegetables along with a light chicken flavor. The only downside to this one is that the noodles are a bit wimpy/mushy, and it tastes pretty salty.

6. Trader Joe's Low Fat Chicken Noodle Soup (Only available at Trader Joe's): (Note: there were no heating instructions on this product, so I microwaved it for 3 minutes, similar to most of the other products.) This is a very fragrant soup, with the intense smell of herbs. The broth looks to be thickened a bit with cornstarch, but not as much as the Progresso product. This soup has small flat noodles, carrots, celery, and a very few pieces of chicken (hardly any). The noodles are dense and the chicken non-existent. The taste is pretty bland except for the herbs and a spicy/peppery aftertaste.

7. Amy's Low Fat No Chicken Noodle (Purchased at Whole Foods and available on Amazon Fresh; Per Amy's website, Amy's products can also be purchased at Fred Meyer, Safeway, Larry's Market, and Thriftway.): This is a relatively dark broth and has the smell of dog food (I can't help it, I'm just being honest!). It has short spaghetti noodles and lots of minced veggies and chicken. It looks a bit oily on top, similar to Campbell's condensed soup, so I was hopeful. But it has a sharp chemical flavor to it and tough chicken. This soup is frankly disgusting.

8. 365 Organic Chicken Noodle Soup (Only available at Whole Foods): This product has a light colored, thick broth with wide curly noodles, peas, herbs, carrots, and maybe two pieces of chicken in the whole thing. It is peppery and bland and the chicken is extremly dry and tough.

9: Health Valley Organic Chicken Noodle Soup (Purchased at Whole Foods and available on Amazon Fresh; per Health Valley website, this product is also available at QFC and Fred Meyer): This soup has a very light colored broth and actually looks a bit milky. There is a small amount of small bowtie pastas, carrots, chicken, celery, and herbs. It tastes like plastic with a slight hint of chicken.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: (Serving size 1 cup) All of these soups contain between 70 and 100 calories per serving except for the Campbell's Chunky brand, which packs in 120 calories per cup. The most fattening of these products is Amy's No Chicken Noodle with 3g of fat per serving, while the other brands average 1.5g per serving. Despite their relatively low calorie and fat content, a majority of these soups include over 600mg of sodium per cup. That is just under half the recommended daily allowance! The only brands with less than 600mg per serving are Health Valley Organic (480mg), Amy's No Chicken Noodle (540mg), and Campbell's Chunky (410mg). I guess salt really does make things taste good......

As for actual ingredients, all brands look relatively natural except for the following strange additions: both of the Lipton soups contain corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil, while Amy's No Chicken Noodle has safflower and/or sunflower oil and the Health Valley Organic includes acacia gum, whatever that is!

TASTE TEST WINNER: For just broth, the Campbell's Condensed has the richest flavor. For standard everyday chicken soup, go with Progresso. And Trader Joe's Chicken Noodle Soup with Veggies takes home the prize for freshest, most natural tasting.