We tested 16 popular tomato soups: This is the only brand our editors will buy

Whenever I want a simple, comforting meal, I make grilled cheese and tomato soup. It’s a timeless combination and one that always satisfies my family. As easy as it is to make tomato soup—and as much as I like to make it by hand so I can smell it simmering on the stove—there are many nights when I’m just too tired or too busy to cook a whole pot of soup, which is when I reach for the store-bought stuff. (Yes, even food writers need a break from the kitchen sometimes!) The question is: which brand is worth buying?

To find the best tomato soup, our editors tested 16 widely available brands in three main styles: classic, creamy, and tomato-basil. Because tomato soup comes in so many variations—some mild and dairy-free, others rich and creamy, and still others infused with basil—we’ve grouped and rated each style separately. The tasters tasted the soups plain (without grilled cheese, crackers or bread) and in random order, without knowing which brand they were tasting. After tallying the scores, we crowned an overall winner and named three finalists.

The criteria

Although the criteria for each type of soup differs slightly, our editors all agree that a good tomato soup should have the natural sweetness, flavor and acidity of tomatoes. It must be balanced: it must not be excessively sweet, salty or spicy. It should be thick but pourable, and while some chunks are welcome, they shouldn’t make up the bulk of the soup. It shouldn’t taste like ketchup, tomato paste, or whatever container it came in, whether it’s a cardboard box, can, or plastic jar.

Overall winner

Rao’s Creamy Tomato Soup

This soup was our favorite, not only among the creamy soups but among all the soups we tried. Our deputy editorial director, Megan, loved this soup so much that she said she would eat it even outside of the context of a taste test. “Good mix of creamy and chunky,” she noted. “Good sweetness but with a dimensional tomato flavor.” Our visual editor, Jessie, thought it was “a nice tomato soup with texture” and liked its acidity and chunks of tomato. Although it was a little too big for our associate food editor, Laila, and our associate visual editor, Amanda, they both enjoyed its flavor. Like Megan, Laila said she would happily eat them outside of work. It’s worth noting that Rao’s also came out on top in our pasta sauce taste test: the brand knows a thing or two about tomatoes!

Finalist

Another great creamy tomato soup: Whole Foods Tomato Parmesan Soup

“Great tomato flavor!” Amanda exclaimed. Jessie thought it was a “nice, flavorful tomato soup” and, although Megan found it slightly bitter, she enjoyed the “nice mix of little bits and creamy parts.” This option is ideal for those who like their soups chunky: “It almost feels like it hasn’t been mixed enough,” Laila noted, while Amanda described its texture as “bordering on pasta sauce,” which she didn’t hate.

Our Favorite Classic Tomato Soup: Progresso Hearty Tomato

Our tasters thought it was a classic, simple tomato soup: thick and tomato-based, with balanced sweetness, although it had a metallic aftertaste that no one particularly liked. Megan found it too sweet and similar to a pasta sauce, but Laila and Amanda both enjoyed its brightness and rich texture.

Our Favorite Tomato Basil Soup: Progresso Tomato Basil Soup

Our tasters thought it was a classic, simple tomato soup: thick and tomato-based, with balanced sweetness, although it had a metallic aftertaste that no one particularly liked. Megan found it too sweet and similar to a pasta sauce, but Laila and Amanda both enjoyed its brightness and rich texture.

The suitors

Creamy tomato soup

• Amy’s cream of tomato
• Campbell’s Tomato Bisque
• Good & Gather Creamy Tomato Parmesan Bisque
• Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup
• Pacific Foods Creamy Tomato Soup
• Panera Creamy Tomato Soup
• Rao’s Creamy Tomato Soup
• Whole Foods Market Tomato Parmesan Soup

Classic tomato soup

• Amy’s Large Tomato Bisque
• Condensed tomato soup in a bowl and basket
• Campbell’s Tomato Soup
• Hearty Progresso Tomato Soup
• Stop & Shop condensed tomato soup

Tomato Basil Soup

• Imagine a creamy organic tomato and basil soup
• Progresso Tomato and Basil Soup
• Rao’s Tomato and Basil Soup

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Canned, jarred, and prepared tomato soups are made with crushed, pureed, and/or pasted tomatoes, along with water and aromatics, such as celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. They also contain salt, sugar and thickeners like flour or cornstarch. Creamy tomato soups may contain milk, cream and/or cheese, and tomato basil soups are often seasoned with basil and oregano. Most brands we sampled contain preservatives, flavor enhancers, and stabilizers, such as soy lecithin, calcium chloride, citric acid, and ascorbic acid. Citric acid and ascorbic acid are often used as preservatives and flavor enhancers, but can give products a sour flavor.

Our winning tomato soup comes from Rao’s, the only brand that lists plum tomatoes on its ingredient list. It’s also the only brand to use balsamic vinegar in its soup. Of the brands we tasted, it has one of the shortest ingredient lists, containing only plum tomatoes, water, cream, milk, celery, carrots, onions, tomato puree, a small amount of sugar, olive oil, salt, garlic, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and spices.

Generally speaking, our editors preferred creamy tomato soups, which they found to be the most balanced of the lot. Our tasters found that adding dairy, in the form of heavy cream, milk, or cheese, helped complement the sweetness and acidity of the tomatoes. Our editors felt that classic tomato soups were often far too sour or bland and lacked the full-bodied richness of their creamy counterparts. As for the tomato and basil soups, they seemed bitter and had an unpleasant aftertaste of old, wilted herbs. Although we’ve shared our top picks for each category above, we still recommend opting for creamy tomato soups whenever possible, as they strike the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and tangy—and are ones we’d be happy to reach for in a pinch.

Our testing methodology

All taste tests are carried out with completely hidden brands and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample 1 first, while taster B will taste sample 6 first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving an advantage to one sample. Tasters are invited to fill out tasting sheets, classifying the samples according to different criteria. All data is tabulated and results are calculated without editorial input to provide the most unbiased representation of actual results possible.