I Asked 3 Chefs for Their Favorite Store-Bought Chicken Noodle Soup—and Now I’ll Only Buy This Brand

As a kid, chicken noodle soup was the ultimate sick day cure. When my stomach felt unsettled, my mom always offered a bowl alongside a small stack of saltine crackers—plus a glass of 7Up. In happier and healthier times, chicken noodle soup reminds me of family, too. To this day, the aroma from a pot of simmering, herb-infused chicken soup reminds me of Christmas celebrations, complete with my grandma’s signature egg noodle elixir.

It seems like I’m not alone in my adoration of this classic comfort food. Our Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup is one of most popular recipes of all time, and our Top 5 chicken noodle soups have earned rave reviews, such as “I make it every couple weeks,” and “Both my mom and dad said this was the best soup they’ve ever had.”

But even those of us who have sizable soft spots for soup don’t always have the time—or energy—to make it from scratch. So, we’ve turned to the pros to help us select the best store-bought chicken noodle soup to buy the next time we’re in the canned soup section of the supermarket. Spoiler alert: It’s not Campbell’s. See which brand tastes as close as you can get to homemade—plus easy upgrades that make any canned soup taste better.

Our Panel of Soup-Rating Chefs

Qualities of the Best Chicken Noodle Soup

From creamy and chunky to hearty and “homestyle,” there are so many canned chicken soup options. So, to choose the best when shopping, the chefs say they seek out these important features:

• Rich: “The broth should be thin, but not sad and watery—and definitely not thick and gloopy. Give me that iconic flavor and a little bit of nostalgia in every sip,” says cookbook author MacKenzie Smith. Celebrity chef George Duran agrees, adding that “If I can’t identify at least one herb floating around the broth, then it’s probably not for me. And it definitely shouldn’t taste like it escaped from a sodium factory.”
• Hearty: The broth should be “loaded with the good stuff,” Smith says, which means “big, tender chunks of carrots, celery, chicken, and noodles you can actually slurp up.” The noodles need some structure. “No mushy sadness please,” Duran warns. And the chicken should look and taste like roasted chicken rather than “mysterious beige cubes,” he notes.
• Balanced: Cooking school owner Mary Payne Moran avoids soups that are loaded with artificial colors and flavors, and Duran ignores anything that tastes metallic. Smith says that each bite should “taste like my mama made it while I was at home sick from school.”

The Best Store-Bought Chicken Noodle Soup, According to Chefs

Campbell’s and its emblematic red-and-white labels often dominate the canned soup market. But when we polled the chefs, the brand didn’t earn a single vote. Instead, two of our three culinary pros agreed with the results of our team’s taste test. The best store-bought chicken noodle soup is Progresso Traditional Chicken Noodle Soup.

Featuring a “perfect broth-to-filling ratio, this is a classic for a reason,” Smith says. “The noodles are thick and hearty, the carrots and celery actually look like real big pieces of vegetables, and the chicken doesn’t have that weird, unnatural cube situation going on that gives me the ick.”

The main ingredients are the same mom or grandma might use: chicken broth, cooked white chicken meat, carrots, egg noodles, and celery. Each cup delivers a satisfying seven grams of protein (more than an egg), so it’s no wonder Moran tells us “it feels like a solid meal,” thanks to the generous amount of pasta, chicken, and vegetables.

As for the veggies, they’re diced in a way that replicates homemade recipes, Smith believes. “When you’re sick, those big chunks of veggies totally trick you into thinking you’re being healthy. Even more reason to love it!”

Honorable Mention

Duran’s top pick is the formula we celebrated as having the “zestiest broth” in our own taste test: Rao’s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Look for it in glass jars—”that alone should tell you you’re entering another league. You’ve got nothing to hide—literally!”

Once you pop open the lid, you’ll be treated to “rich, herby, and balanced with a light broth that tastes like it was made with real chicken bones and patience,” Duran tells Allrecipes. “There’s parsley, oregano, tender chicken, and thick curly noodles. And yes, there’s cheese in the broth! Whoever thought of that deserves a culinary medal.”

With 10 grams of protein per cup and a refreshingly short ingredient list (Carrots, celery, onion, extra virgin olive oil, chicken fat, and garlic are the additions Duran didn’t already mention.), take a bite of this nourishing soup “and suddenly you’re in a nonna’s kitchen, rather than eating something that came from Aisle 7 of your grocery store,” Duran jokes.

How To Make Canned Chicken Noodle Soup Taste Homemade

These store-bought soups don’t require any doctoring up to be delicious, the chefs confirm. Still, it doesn’t hurt to up the ante with a pro-approved topping or two. Smith, Moran, and Duran recommend: