r/Cooking•
Pushbrown

Anyone know any actually good pre-made soups?

I'm sick(luckily not covid) and don't really eat to much soup. I feel to shit to cook and want some soup. I had some cambells chicken wonton yesterday and it was pretty bad. Anyone know any good pre-made soups I can grab at a grocery store in North Carolina? Thanks for the help.

Posted Feb 22, 2023, 1:25 PM UTC

520
slowandintheway•

The Progresso brand canned soups are pretty good. My favorite is Italian Wedding Soup, or Chickarina if you can find it.

11
riverrocks452•

Progresso is my go to. Chickarina, variations on classic chicken noodle, even the "southwest" style soups are pretty good. I'd give their potato soup a miss, though.

2
slowandintheway•

The New England clam chowder is awful too. I think anything with fake cream is going to be bad.

2
Kaitensatsuma•

Progresso has some half decent ones, but I always balk at paying $2-3 bucks for barely 200 calories.

Ramen is a good, cheap option as someone mentioned, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a quart of Egg Drop + Wonton soup or just Wonton Soup if they don't do that thing where they mix them - from the local Chinese hole-in-the-wall while sick either.

If you're able to get out of bed and move around a little then getting one of those packets of Bear Creek or Manischewitz soup packets isn't a bad idea either.

8
TaurusX3•

Pacific Foods! I've had a few of theirs (tomato and basil, butternut squash) and they're all good. And organic.

6
PushbrownOP•

Nice I saw this post in the store and got pompano and corn chowder, thanks!

4
Ein_Rand•

If you have a Trader Joe’s, they make great soups that can last in the fridge for awhile

5
PushbrownOP•

Thanks for the reply but the one trader joes is to far for me when I feel this bad :(

1

I like Amy’s soups, Costco also has some good ones

5
114631•

I agree. I like the lentil vegetable one. Also serves as a great base to add some extra stuff in it. Sometimes I'll start with an amy's and add in misc veg I have - carrot, potato, spices, etc.

4
MacawMoma•

You might want to try the pre-made soups in your grocery store freezer section. Generally they taste a bit better than canned, but obviously need thawing and reheating, but often you can do the thaw part in the sauce pan, stirring often. Sometimes the grocery store itself makes good soups. Not sure if your local stores do. Usually the better the store, the better the soup. Try some from Whole Foods, if you have one nearby.

Some dried soup mixes can be better than expected, but they aren't as chunky as canned, frozen, or store-bought. Knorr isn't bad.

If you have some Better Than Bouillon on hand and some frozen "soup vegetables", you can quickly make a quasi homemade soup. Especially good if you have some leftover rotisserie chicken chunks to throw in. A handful of super thin egg noodles can also be thrown in. They only take no more than 3 minutes to cook. Add a couple dried herbs from your pantry, including a small bay leaf. If you have parsley or dill on hand, chop a little of that and throw in. These tips can even apply to "doctoring up" canned or frozen pre-made soups.

4
nitajogrubb•

Lipton makes tasty dried soups, they would be in a small box containing two packets. In my local store they are on the shelf near the broth and bullion.

I love the Noodle Soup and the Beefy Onion varieties. My trick is to only use about half the water called for in the recipe, that way the broth is flavorful and not watery.

3
One_Awareness6631•

Lipton Noodle is my fave.

1
goosepills•

My favorite sick soup is Trader Joe’s tomato, and if I’m too sick to heat that up, I order egg drop

2
mg1431•

Costco Chicken Noodle is good if you have a membership. Walmart sells spicy shin ramen cups. That'll clear out the nostrils if you're congested.

2
PushbrownOP•

Oh snap I forgot about ramen...

1
mg1431•

Add an egg for a real razzle dazzle 😂.

1
mst3k_42•

I like the Panera broccoli and cheese soup. I’ve tried others of theirs I didn’t like though. They are in the deli/refrigerated section.

2
DoggyGrin•

See if your grocery store has soup over by their deli. Those are usually good.

2
pan567•

Costco often has some good quality soups, if you are a member. These are generally vacuum packaged and refrigerated, and sometimes vary by the time of year. I recently had a chicken tortilla soup from them and, especially considering it was a premade soup, I was quite satisfied with it. I've also purchased butternut squash soup and tomato bisque from them that I was very happy with.

Many grocery stores will also often have soups they make in-house, which is generally refrigerated. These can also be very good. For example, one of the smaller chain grocery stores near me makes a cream of crab that is outstanding.

2