I used to bring in canned Chunky and Progresso soups to work for lunch and they USED to be pretty decent for canned soup but over the past few years they really got bad; thin and skimpy and just not good and I stopped eating them.

I'd like to start doing this again but wanted to see if there were any other brands out there that were still OK? Needs to be ready-to-heat out of the can, no adding water or cooking other than nuking in a microwave.

And no, I DO NOT have time to be making my own like I'd do when single.

Home made for the win!

I agree that there has been significant quality decline in canned soups over the past few years. Progresso used to be my goto, but they are hardly better than Campbell's at this point.

Good soup is really easy to make at home, and great recipes are scattered all over the 'net. Just last week Mrs. A. made a potato-bacon soup that kicked serious butt. Made a bunch of it and froze individual or double portions for year-round consumption.

I would get the ready made soups like at Costco, or the hot-bar at the market; put a lunch sized portion of it into a microwavable container at home. Get to work, throw in fridge or, my cooler and nuke it during lunch.
Canned soup I never liked, taste was off and full of stabilizers and salt.

Progresso, best canned soups and they don't stink, well they do have some kick ass cajun soups that have some punch but it's not reheated white castle sliders in the microwave punch.

Maybe look at some of those homemade ones at the grocery store.
Usually, made in house in those plastic quart containers.

I make all my own soups (and they're pretty damn good, if I say so myself) and am doubtful I could eat any from a can, in-house grocery store > probably.

quote:

Canned Soups That Don't Stink?

There are no truly good canned soups. If I do eat them it's generally Campbell's Chunky or cheap store brand chicken noodle. Progresso is overpriced and up to two thirds of the can is vaguely flavored water. I keep them as pantry food, to be eaten for a snack or if the power goes out (edible without cooking). Call me a cheapskate (I prefer thrifty or frugal), but I don't like the prices of the supermarket deli stuff. Being both single and with time on my hands, I may try making it myself someday.

I don't know of any.
I try to avoid the canned stuff because I'm not real big on salt.

Someone here mentioned Tony's Clam Chowder as being really good and I'd really like to try it once but the label says 980mg per cup (after mixing w/ half&half) but who only eats one cup of chowduh?

Yeah, Progresso Soup has evolved into a watery soup. I'm a big fan of the Chunky "Steak & Potato" soup though. Chunky seems to have surpassed Progresso in quality by a long shot.

I buy those two brands when they are on sale, usually 99 cents each several times a year. I store them for part of our canned food supply for emergencies (along with beans, Spam, etc), and we eat them to rotate them out. Yes, some of them can smell a bit when opened, but it changes when warmed up in a pot. We limit it to various chicken noodle types, and vegetable based soups like minestrone, etc. IMO, they're not bad for a quick 3 minute meal, and yes, home made will always be best.

I usually buy the Cambells or the store brand of canned soup and use that as a base. I add more noodles or vegetables to thicken and flavor it up.
I used to look for the Progresso to go on sale but even then the quality now is not worth the price.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Progresso, best canned soups and they don't stink.

Yup, just opened a can for a quick lunch snack.

egregore mentioned that "Progresso is overpriced." Yes, it's pricey, but I generally stock up when it's BOGO at Publix, so basically half price.

I'll say this for Campbell's Chunky: in some varieties like the vegetable beef, sirloin burger and so on, it has more meat in it than most beef stews twice the size, and unlike those has not changed that I can tell over the past few years.

quote:

Originally posted by yanici:
I'm a big fan of the Chunky "Steak & Potato" soup though.

Yep.

I'm not a fan of any processed foods these days and really try to avoid them when I can. I prefer to make my own soups, but like the OP, sometimes I just want to heat something up and eat. The Steak and Potato is my go-to, and I keep 8-10 of them in the pantry and rotate through.

If you think Progresso soup is sorry, try a can of the regular Campbells chicken tumor and rice soup.

My Kroger sells Rao's soup in glass jars and they are a cut above the canned soups at grocery store. Only negative are:

breakable

shorter shelf life then canned

about $1.20 more than Campbell's chunky

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Progresso, best canned soups and they don't stink.

Yup, just opened a can for a quick lunch snack.

egregore mentioned that "Progresso is overpriced." Yes, it's pricey, but I generally stock up when it's BOGO at Publix, so basically half price.

Yes sir re bob, that's when I stock up, and I don't find their soups to be watery, then again they have like 100 varieties, NE Clam Chowder, the home made Chicken and noodles, steak and veggies, all have been good.

There is a regular New England Clam Chowder and a Lite, maybe the lite is thinner, but I don't buy that lite stuff.

[snl on ]howevea', me and Bobby, we like a good bowl of chow-dah, don't cha bobby![/ snl off]

The wife likes the soups from the deli area at Walmart. Tomato comes in first place followed by broccoli cheese.
It’s better than canned I’d say, but it’s not canned so there is that.

I am also a former fan of Progresso soups. It seemed only a few years that they deserved the reputation of a premium grade soup and at that time I was willing to pay the premium price for their soups. Lately, I have found the Chunky line of Campbell's Soup to warrant a second look. Although not quite homemade or restaurant scratch quality, I found that Campbell's Chunky chili, either with or without beans, makes a decent stand-in when time allows only brief preparation for a quick meal. I can prepare it while eating breakfast and pack it in a thermos for lunch on days of our sports shooting matches. If I have the time, I will kick it up a notch by adding some chopped onion, green peppers, jalapeno peppers and shredded cheddar cheese while heating it up on the stove. Come lunch time, it is a close second to homemade chili. It is especially welcome on those chilly weather days.

There's a local farmer's market has homemade style soup in serving sized plastic containers. Beef barley, chili, and potato are really good. Sometimes they have sloppy joe to make sandwiches. They can be frozen to use later.

I don't do soup, but I get good reports from the kettle cooked chunkys