It’s officially soup season (regardless of how the weather in Dallas is choosing to behave — 70 degrees in January? Really?). That said, I thought it’d be fun to taste a variety of store-bought tomato soups for this week’s taste test. Soup’s on!
The soups:
A. Campbell’s Tomato Soup
B. Imagine Creamy Tomato Soup
C. Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil Soup
D. Pacific Creamy Tomato Soup
E. Heinz Tomato Soup
Tasting notes:
- Whatever. Boring.
- Kinda sweet. Very little flavor.
- Kind of bland.
- Bland, boring like thinned out ketchup. But not even Heniz. Like, Hunts.
- Pretty run-of-the-mill. Must be Campbell’s.
- Sugary goo.
- Strong onion flavor.
- Tastes like thicker vegetable soup broth.
- Strangely sour.
- Too acidic. Very thin.
- Nice flavor, creamy. Not bad.
- Although the texture is a bit thin for tomato soup, there is a great flavor. It could be celery seed or cilantro, but it really gives it a hearty flavor.
Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil Soup
- Pretty sure this is just marinara sauce.
- Too thick, the herbs are overpowering to the point of tasting synthetic.
- Love the chunkiness and the spice.
- This is just marinara, right?
- Like the chunky texture. Didn’t think I would. Also, I like the herbs.
- Texture makes it look refreshing. But once in the mouth you get hit with too much garlic. And way too much sugar.
- Mmm! Tastes like dairy, and I LOVE it.
- Creamy, buttery, smooth tomato flavor.
- Who poured sour milk in this soup?
- Does this have cheese in it? It has a slightly sour note that I don’t totally hate.
- Super creamy. Maybe too creamy.
- Tastes less like tomato and more like pumpkin. The texture reminds me of Halloween.
- Tangy and stale.
- Meh. This looks like strained chorizo grease.
- It’s like Chef Boyardee’s tomato sauce.
- This is so orange that it’s off-putting.
- Odd aftertaste. Also, too watery.
- A little better because I can actually taste the tomato, but the overpowering sweetness makes it taste more like canned SpaghettiOs.
Tally up:
A. Campbell’s Tomato Soup 0
B. Imagine Creamy Tomato Soup 1
C. Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil Soup 3
D. Pacific Creamy Tomato Soup 3
E. Heinz Tomato Soup 0
The winner is:
It was a tie between Muir Glen’s organic tomato basil canned soup, and Pacific’s creamy tomato boxed soup. They couldn’t be more different. We had one of our lovely interns break the tie. She chose the Pacific soup, “I like this one better, because I think it’d pair perfectly with a grilled cheese,” she explained. So there you have it.
What do you think about tomato soup? Do you have a favorite store-bought variety? Let’s chat.
