Value for money

CONOR POPEreviews instant chicken soup

Tesco Value Chicken Flavour Vegetable €0.54 for four servings

While we grudgingly acknowledge Tesco for not having the cheek to call this “chicken” soup we reckon calling it “chicken flavour” was still a bit of a stretch because, truth be told, whatever flavours are in here, chicken does not seem to be one of them. Were Tesco to be completely accurate, it might have gone with “salt” flavoured, although we can see how that might put some punters off. The four miniscule bits of carrot we found brought nothing to the party and the paltry amount of peas were pretty inconsequential too. It is cheap but so utterly devoid of taste that we wouldn’t be happy buying this if it was half the price.

Verdict No value *

Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup €1.19 for three servings

Is it just us or does the phrase “chicken meat powder” sound less than enticing? Anyways, that’s somewhere in the mix in this soup from a company that is probably the most well-known soup seller in the world – although admittedly, it is more famous for its cans than its packets. We’re not sure how Campbells managed, but they have given this soup a very creamy-looking texture and a complexity of flavours that were not to be found elsewhere. The only pity was that (chicken meat powder notwithstanding) chicken was not one of those flavours. We got salt (obviously), pepper, onions and more salt but couldn’t get the chicken. Still nice though. We were not so impressed by the price.

Verdict: Not at all bad ***

Erin Hotcup Chicken €1.59 for four servings

We liked this for its simplicity and because it tasted vaguely of, you know, actual chicken soup. There is a handful of green flakes that float to the top when water is added although we’re not sure what they were doing there because they certainly did not taste of anything. While this is a long way from the real deal, there are worse things you could have when eating al desko on a cold winter’s afternoon (things like the Tesco Value option to our left, for example). A single serving – which is by no means big – will make up nearly a third of your GDA of salt which seems a bit excessive to us.

Verdict: Flavoursome (ish) ****

Knorr Chicken and Pasta Soup €0.89 for one serving

Well, haven’t Knorr got awful fancy with this high-end (relatively) instant soup, although we have to say it wasn’t as instant as its rivals because we were expected to wait four long minutes before it was good to go. There is a lot of carrot in here and, amazingly, it looks and tastes like actual carrot, even if it does have the texture of sodden turf. The pasta holds up surprisingly well and while we might baulk at dishing it up to our (entirely made-up) Italian granny, we have tasted worse things in our time. The actual soup is a little on the thin and watery side and is lacking in the hearty flavoursome department. It’s very dear too.

Verdict Over-priced **

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