Food24 Taste Test: 3 Heat-and-eat chicken noodle soups go head-to-head

As South Africans, we all love soup season, especially when the cold winter months hit! But admittedly, not all of us have the time, or the will, to make good hearty soup from scratch. So, we opt for store-bought convenience because nothing quite hits the spot like a quick and convenient heat-and-eat chicken noodle soup you didn’t have to make!

We looked at three different heat-and-eat chicken noodle soups to see which “food for the soul” soup you can’t do without this winter!

And, in order to determine which sample was the chicken noodle soup-er star, we asked the Food24 taste test team to blindly judge all three chicken noodle soups according to four important criteria: overall favour, chicken distribution, noodle ratio and of course, the sample’s creaminess!

Results

Checkers chicken noodle soup 3.5/5

This sample is definitely the soup for those who like chunky creamy soup. The soup featured a fair amount of chicken, shell pasta, loads of carrots and mushroom slices. It actually reminded a few tasters of a hearty chicken pie filling, so, it’s no wonder the soup shared first place with another popular sample! In terms of price, it was also the cheapest sample out of all three, making it a real soup-er star in our books.

While most tasters were very fond of this soup, there were a few mixed reviews as some tasters felt they would have preferred it to be creamier with more noodles, noting things like: “It tastes good and I like the taste and consistency, but it is not creamy enough for my tastes,” and “Lacked seasoning and noodles! I enjoyed the overall filling though. Reminded me of a chicken pot pie.”

Some other comments from the tasters that loved the sample: “Good chicken flavour. Lots of goodies in the soup. Thick and creamy as well. My favourite one,” and “Lovely comforting chicken soup flavour, with a hint of black pepper. Lots of noodles and a fair amount of chicken,” and lastly, “Super tasty and what I really liked is the seasoning – it was superbly balanced… not too salty and not bland. Great sample! Would buy this.”

Cost: R54.99 for 600g

Woolworths chicken noodle soup 3.5/5

Coming in joint first, this sample featured shredded free-range chicken, elbow macaroni and corn. The corn also added wholesome sweet pops to the savoury soup experience, something the tasters responded favourably to. The soup itself was creamy but with a slightly thinner consistency than when compared to the sample from Checkers.

As with the sample from Checkers, there were a few mixed reviews. Some tasters felt the sample was on the salty side and lacked both chicken and noodles, while another expected more flavour-wise from the sample, noting things like: “This one is quite salty – tastes like stock. And there’s definitely not enough chicken and I have to search for the noodles. So overall the flavour is okay, but I don’t know that I would buy it again,” and “I like the presence of corn in this sample. A nice surprise and it works with the chicken and noodles. Flavour-wise it doesn’t make me want to have a whole bowl.”

The overall consensus, however, was that this soup sample was a good contender, with tasters noting it was a comforting and hearty soup.

Some other comments tasters left: “A good balance of everything! Which one is this? Definitely want to get some,” and “Very different from sample A but I like them both. Less flavoursome, but creamier and heartier,” and lastly, “Really good flavour. Nice and comforting for sure.”

Cost: R59.99 for 600g

Pick n Pay chicken noodle soup 2/5

This sample was somewhat less creamy; some tasters noted that the consistency seemed watered down making this sample the runner-up for this taste test. Even though the sample did feature shredded chicken pieces, angel hair pasta and corn, tasters felt it was a little bland overall.

Comments some of the tasters left: “Consistency was quite watered down,” and “Very insipid sample. Bland in flavour and not a great colour visually. The noodles are too thin and barely even make an appearance. The overall consistency lacks “soupy”ness for me,” and lastly, “This is the blandest and tastes the “cheapest” – like the chicken version of cup-a-soup. But I don’t hate it.”

Cost: R59.99 for 600g

Prices correct at the time of publishing

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The rules of Food24 Taste Tests:

– All tasters tasted and scored all samples. Each individual taster’s preference impacts the score they give.

– The samples were tested without packaging and were not easily identifiable.

– The samples were not labelled and were tasted in random order.

– This article is not sponsored in any way, and Food24 was not paid to come to any particular result.

Our taste tests are always unbiased and intended for your information. You may, however, have come to this article through various paid-for advertising.