# Soup is Good Food. Or is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169 "2007-01-08T17:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/1 "2007-01-08T17:46:54Z")
I had Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup for lunch (I’m sick.) and suddenly I’m not so sure soup _is_ good food. It’s really high in sodium, on Campbell’s website it is suspiciously difficult to find [nutritional information](http://www.campbellwellness.com/product-list.asp?brandCatID=807&brandID=1&productID=2292&catID=294), and once you _do_ find it, it’s not clear how many servings are in a can (2?). Plus, when you first open the can, it kind of smells like a fart. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/2 "2007-01-08T19:49:55Z")
The wed site also doesn’t list the ingredients along with the nutritional data. I don’t think of Campbells as being a particularly health concious company, they do have a low sodium variety if sodium is your main concern. As always you need to hunt through the supermarket soup isle to find what is best for your needs. Consider buying chicken soup and fresh noodles separately to make the chicken noodle soup, ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/3 "2007-01-08T19:58:29Z")
Canned soups, while convenient, are insanely high in sodium. Sure, I can be getting my veggies from it, but when a can of soup is giving me 40% of my daily sodium, I feel a little grossed out. I had a Campbells Gardennay soup the other day and had to drink a _ton_ of water with it because it was so salty. And the low-sodium options taste terrible, in my opinion. I’ve been making my own soup lately. It’s not that hard, really, and once you have a couple of basic recipes, you can substitute things and make all sorts of different soups. I know you’re sick, so this might not be the best time to start experimenting with soup, but when you’re better, maybe give it a shot? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/4 "2007-01-08T20:04:48Z")
I used to like Campbell’s soups, though I’m frankly not a really big soup eater. In the last few years however – perhaps my tastebuds are aging – I’ve noticed that when you get right down to it, all of their soups have this same sort of underlying flavour to them such that, apart from the main ingredient flavouring (beef, chicken, vegetable) they’re almost interchangeable. Maybe it’s the way they prepare the vegetables or maybe it’s the sodium or the oils or whatever, but I’ve found it quite unpleasant. As a result the only Campbell’s soup I ever buy is tomato, which I buy in order to make my poor man’s Tomato Beef Noodle, which consists of one can of tomato soup, one and a half cans of water, and two packets of Lipton’s Beef Vegetable cup-a-soup. (Really, it’s quite good) I especially do not like their pasta-based soups (chicken noodle notwithstanding, I’m referring to those with shells) because the noodles have this oddly firm consistency that I presume is prepared especially so that they don’t become mush while suspended in the soup. It’s a disturbing texture, almost rubbery, and combined with that underlying salty, bland taste, it’s too much to bear. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/5 "2007-01-08T20:10:08Z")
[Frontier Soups](http://www.frontiersoups.com/) . They’re soup starters with freeze-dried vegetables (so they reconstitute better than just dried veggies) and herbs and no salt, preservatives or MSG. You add things like chicken or potatoes - recipes on the hang-tag. They’re amazing. Even a non-chef can make a big pot on the weekend and nosh on it all week. Try 'em out. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/6 "2007-01-08T20:12:59Z")
Campbells makes Healthy Choice soup or something that is lower in sodium. Tastes like ass, IMO. No flavor. But I am unfortunately a salt freak. Need to get over that. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/7 "2007-01-08T20:16:18Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] [Frontier Soups](http://www.frontiersoups.com/) . They’re soup starters with freeze-dried vegetables (so they reconstitute better than just dried veggies) and herbs and no salt, preservatives or MSG. You add things like chicken or potatoes - recipes on the hang-tag. They’re amazing. Even a non-chef can make a big pot on the weekend and nosh on it all week. Try 'em out. [/QUOTE] Ooh. Those look good. Pity they don’t ship internationally. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/8 "2007-01-08T20:16:36Z")
I always find Progresso brand soups to be really tasty. Particularly their low-sodium gumbo. Put some Tabasco sauce in that baby, and mmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/9 "2007-01-08T20:33:09Z")
All canned soups are high in sodium; even the low salt ones have a hell of a lot. If you have to cut back, make your own; we make stock without added salt and it tastes just fine as a soup base. Campbells does make some good soups; just not their condensed ones (though the Cream of Tomato is good made with milk). I like their Healthy Choice and Chunky. Progresso is somewhat better overall, though. A friend once was asked how to make soup taste like Campbells; he said that the solution was to oversalt it and overcook it. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/10 "2007-01-08T21:33:56Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] I’ve noticed that when you get right down to it, all of their soups have this same sort of underlying flavour to them such that, apart from the main ingredient flavouring (beef, chicken, vegetable) they’re almost interchangeable. [/QUOTE] Their stock has the taste of MSG–just my own perception, I could be wrong, not trying to defame Campbells or anything because I love their soups and think of them as one the best food companies out there. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/11 "2007-01-08T21:38:37Z")
Even when I’m sick, I usually would prefer to heat up some Swanson’s low-sodium chicken stock and throw in a handful of rice, a chicken thigh and a sliced carrot. It’s not much harder than opening a can of soup, and I don’t need to gag on the overdone flavors of salt, garlic powder and grease of canned soup when I’m sick. If I’m _really_ sick, I heat up some plain low-sodium stock to boiling and then slowly stir a beaten egg into it for some fast (and very plain and comforting) egg-drop soup. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/12 "2007-01-08T21:42:28Z")
I once ate a half a can of condensed chicken noodle soup without adding water (I didn’t read the label) thinking the whole time, “damn, this is some salty soup.” I threw out the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/13 "2007-01-08T21:46:15Z")
I heard somewhere that the CEO or president of Campbells couldn’t eat Campbell’s soup because of the sodium content. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/14 "2007-01-08T22:23:19Z")
Yup. Cambelles is half salt.I like Progresso. A bit less salt. But it’s still good…or make your own soup! But try Progresso, it ain’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/15 "2007-01-08T23:31:58Z")
I’ve never liked traditional chicken noodle soup much. The Thai version pushes all my buttons in the right way, though. To make it, heat up 1 can coconut milk with 2 cups chicken broth. Ladle this over cooked white meat chicken and rice. Top with fresh chives and cilantro, and squeeze a lime over it. Ooooooooh. So good. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/16 "2007-01-08T23:56:25Z")
[QUOTE=Flipshod] Their stock has the taste of MSG–just my own perception, I could be wrong, not trying to defame Campbells or anything because I love their soups and think of them as one the best food companies out there. [/QUOTE] Could be, but I think there’s more to it than that. I can’t describe it any other way than to say that it tastes … _canned_. Perhaps it’s the fact that by the time they’ve processed, cooked, canned, packed and delivered the soup to the stores, all of the ingredients have comingled to the point where everything in the can tastes like everything else plus salt and oil. Campbell’s are decidedly the _least_ fresh-tasting soups, I guess is what it boils (sorry) down to. Not that most other soups fare much better – the cost of mass-production, I suppose – but there are some that are better than others. I tried making a thick stew-like concoction once. I failed quite thoroughly. Not that I’m a bad cook, I was just winging it without realizing I honestly had no idea what I was doing in that department. One of these days though I will have to try and make a proper soup, fresh and from scratch. I’ll see if I can find a good recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/17 "2007-01-09T00:09:01Z")
The Campbells Tomato soup is OK, as far as that goes. How hard is that? A lot of good recipes call for a can or two of their Consomme, whatever that is. A good question might be why they deem it necessary to add such quantities of salt to their line. I happen to like a fair bit more salt than the modern anti-salt zealot - but I can’t think it’s necessary from any preservative standpoint. It’s in a can, after all. Mindfield - making stew is _easy_. Start with a Beef Stew recipe, or several even - adding ingredients you like to taste. After a while you’ll be a pro. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/18 "2007-01-09T01:18:06Z")
Soup is good food if you make it yourself. I occasionally will buy canned soups for my lazy days at work, but it tends to be restricted to Progresso or soups that are really difficult to screw up. Once I’ve got my own kitchen and refrigerator to fill again, I’m going to be making a few different soups in manageable quantities and then freezing them in two-to-four serving containers. Making chicken soup from scratch is pretty easy, and chicken stock is just as easy, as it’s the base for chicken soup. Also, chicken stock is a great thing to have a lot of around, as it’s actually in a lot of recipes, even soup related recipes. If you’re not a vegetarian, chicken stock can provide a wonderful world of flavor to many cooked dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/19 "2007-01-09T13:25:50Z")
I agree Progresso is a superior canned soup, and home made is best. But tell me this: When you’re sick, and you need comfort food, which says warm-n-cozy-feel-better better - Campbell’s Chicken Noodle, or Progresso Traditional Beef and Vegetable? And it’s Strep, by the way. I’ve got Strep. 10 days on antibiotics and I should be right as rain. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169/20 "2007-01-09T13:41:21Z")
Being too lazy to spend several hours trying to find the Right Ingredients (per Navamom’s recipe) and cooking them, not to mention that I tend to live in places where you have to buy veggies in insane amounts because that’s what the supermarket sells and the farmer’s market takes place during my working hours, I’ve been known to use Campbell’s as a base for my soups. 1 can of Campbells plus more pasta, cooked in water with no salt. Mix well, ladle out liquid and add water as needed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-is-good-food-or-is-it/387169.md?page=2)