Gwynedd Stuart
When’s the last time you had a piping hot bowl of cream of chicken soup? The answer to that question might be never. Unless you add veggies and rice and whatnot, it’s not really a soup unto itself; it’s more of an ingredient, for casseroles in particular. And since casserole season is officially here—yeah, fall is casserole season—we set out to find the best cream of chicken soup at the grocery store.
How we prepared the cream of chicken soup for our taste test
All of the cream of chicken soup we taste tested was condensed. I recognize that a lot of casserole recipes call for a can of condensed cream of chicken soup that you don’t necessarily cut with water or milk, but I still followed the package instructions and added a can of water before heating each one up in a pot on the stove.
What we looked for in the best condensed cream of chicken soup
Plenty of chicken…or any chicken: A lot of cream of chicken soup is all cream, no chicken, but we want some bits for flavor and texture.
Good flavor: A lot of condensed soup tastes like an aluminum can and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in your mouth. One of these soups we tried tasted exactly the way a ripe armpit smells. We set out to find soups with as little tininess (or pittiness) as possible.
Cooks up creamy, not clumpy: I cut all the soups with water rather than milk—I’m not a milk millionaire, okay—and some of them did not incorporate well, no matter how much we stirred and stirred. Campbell’s! What’s your deal??
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- Campbell’s Heart Healthy Cream of Chicken Soup
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If you’re looking for a slightly healthier option, this is a good one. Campbell’s also makes a 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, but the consistency was very different, and I have to assume that will negatively impact a creamy casserole. Their Heart Healthy option has less fat and lower sodium, but it still has a fattiness we appreciate. Plus, I swear this Campbell’s condensed cream of chicken soup mixed with water better than any of the others. It turned out creamy and flavorful.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Campbell’s Cream of Chicken & Mushroom
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Okay, this one might be a “me” thing. It’s very mushroomy. It tastes mostly like cream of mushroom soup, BUT there’s an even deeper savoriness because of the chicken. Next time you’re making a casserole that calls for cream of chicken, try this for a little extra umami. Don’t buy it to eat as a soup though! Like almost all the Campbell’s condensed soups we tried, it didn’t incorporate with water very well.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Chef’s Cupboard Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
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Crazy results here, guys. Chef’s Cupboard cream of chicken soup from Aldi is dramatically better than Campbell’s. There’s lots of chicken in the mix. Campbell’s cream of chicken soups have some cubes in there, but this has shreds of chicken, so you get some chicken in pretty much every bite. It also incorporates so, so much better when you mix it with water. By all means, use Campbell’s if you’re not diluting it at all, but this is way better. It’s creamy and deeply chickeny. I would have thought this was made with milk rather than water! So, I’m happy to report that the very best cream of chicken soup costs only 79 cents a can.
Credit: Merc / Aldi
Best Low Fat Cream of Chicken Soup
Best Cream of Chicken Soup for Casseroles
The Best Cream of Chicken Soup
Other cream of chicken soup we tried
Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Noodle Soup with Herbs, Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Campbell’s Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup, Great Value Cream of Chicken Soup, Kroger Cream of Chicken Soup, Kroger Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
Joe Rumrill
Justine Sterling
Vinz Karl
