Today, we’re showcasing 10 ready-to-serve soups, all set to heat up from Kroger. Multiple people taste-tested each one with a big thumbs up. I’ve included tasting notes and a few tips for each.
I love to make soup from scratch, but everyone can use a little help every now and then. The soups we taste-tested were by Home Chef or Simple Truth Organic, both of which are only available at Kroger. These ready-to-eat soups make meal prep so easy on those days when you just don’t have time to cook. Now, there’s no excuse not to have fresh, tasty soup on hand, especially during this cold weather we’re having!
Of note: each container holds three cups, which is three servings. But I think most people would divide this amount into two servings, or about a cup and a half each.
Chicken Noodle Soup
This soup is herbier than the plain Jane version you may be used to. This is a grown-up version with subtle notes of tarragon and other herbs, and the feedback was a strong “yes” from our tasters. I do love some lemon in chicken noodle soup, so I added just a touch and everyone gave this high marks. You can also eat the entire container for just 320 calories and get 24 grams of protein. That’s pretty amazing!
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
This soup is rich and yummy. You could stretch it pretty easily by adding chicken broth and more rice and chicken and have it feed four people easily. It’s a thick soup and great on a cold winter day. This is a hearty soup with 430 calories per one-cup serving. But each serving also has 17 grams of protein.
Chicken Dumpling Soup
This was the favorite when comparing the chicken noodle, chicken and rice, and chicken and dumpling soups — but it was a close call. The entire container is 600 calories. This soup is pretty hearty, so I would say it likely feeds two people for a total of 300 calories each and 18 grams of protein.
Farmhouse Potato Soup with Bacon
You can’t go wrong with hearty potato and bacon soup, and this one proves that it’s always a hit. For a garnish, consider cheese, onions, sour cream, and even more bacon. A few dashes of hot sauce make it next level. Each serving is 250 calories, thick, and creamy. It’s satisfying, filling, and delicious from your first bite. You could thin it out with chicken broth if you wanted more volume, but we liked it just as it is.
Beef Chili with Beans
A solid, good chili made with kidney and black beans. Eat straight from the container (heated up, of course), or expand it by adding another pound of ground beef, corn, and green chilis. Lastly, add a can of Simple Truth chili beans, and suddenly, this becomes enough for six to eight people. Depending on your preference, you may need to add another cup of beef broth. Pour over nacho chips and add sour cream, chopped onions, cheddar cheese, and jalapeños … yum! Out of the container, each serving has 280 calories and 14 grams of protein.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
This one is really good! It can be expanded with some chicken broth and more chicken, but it’s really tasty as-is. It’s good and not heavy. We topped it with cheese, avocado, and green onions. It’s not at all spicy, so spice lovers, be sure to add some hot sauce — but that’s easily adjustable and means this works for everyone. You can eat this entire container, all three cups, for just 420 calories and get 27 grams of protein!
Butternut Squash Soup
This tastes like Christmas in a soup. We were going to squeeze some hot honey across the top, but it’s pretty sweet to start with as it has carrots, sweet potato, and apple in addition to the butternut squash. We went in a different direction and added some crushed red and black pepper, which countered the sweetness and made for a tasty soup. This soup is chunky, but if you use an immersion blender, you could quickly make this into a smooth soup. At that point, some crème fraiche added would be delicious! This soup is hearty, but even still, you can eat the entire three-cup container for just 500 calories.
Pork Pozole Soup with Hominy
This is a smoky soup, and if you like Brunswick Stew (also made with shredded pork), you’ll love this. It’s thick and hearty and surprisingly low in calories. I used to make pozole soup, and my recipe was complicated. Being able to have this ready on the fly is really nice! You could thin this soup out with some broth and crushed tomatoes to make it feed four people pretty easily. At only 140 calories per one-cup serving — just 420 calories for the entire container — this is a big-impact soup that packs in 24 grams of protein for that full container.
Thai-Style Chicken Coconut Curry Soup
The coconut flavor is so comforting in this soup! At 310 calories per serving (or 930 for the whole container), we loved it just out of the container and wouldn’t change a thing. However, we did come up with an idea for this soup to transform it into something entirely new: cook some basmati rice, vegetables, and chicken. Layer them across three plates or large, shallow bowls. Then, pour one cup of this Thai soup on top of each serving for a total of three servings. Spice lovers may want to add some diced fresh jalapeño and cilantro on top.
Indian-Style Chicken Curry Soup
This was our favorite soup of the entire bunch! It’s filled with Indian flavors, but it’s not spicy. It has chicken, potatoes, heavy cream, onion, tomato, bell peppers, and more. Just heat and serve. To garnish, consider green onions and cilantro. It’s 270 calories per one-cup serving with 12 grams of protein. I would say, realistically, that each container serves two people. You could also do the same thing as the Thai-style soup above and make basmati rice, vegetables, and chicken and pour this over it. Yum!
Are you hungry? It’s definitely soup weather, and stocking up on some of these makes those busy days just a bit easier when it’s mealtime.
Sponsored by Kroger.
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