Healthiest Choices For Canned Soup
Broth-based soups are low in energy density and can help fill you up with fewer calories, so they are a great way to start off your meal. While homemade soup is healthier than canned soup, not everyone has the time or inclination to make homemade soup, especially since canned soup is so convenient. However, some canned soups are healthier than others.
Trader Joes Organic Low Sodium Minestrone Soup
200 calories 140mg sodium 7g protein 5g fiber per one-can serving
This hearty soup is naturally high in immune-boosting vitamin C, serves as an excellent source of iron, and also contains healthy fats from olive oil, says Dr. Young, whose top overall super-soup picks are minestrone and bean. Plus, a single serving packs vegetables like roasted yellow peppers, red peppers, and zucchini, the likes of which you dont often see in packaged soups. The only drawbacks? The soup does contain some MSG-like ingredients , and this particular variety is not available in BPA-free packaging, like some other Trader Joes products.
Upgrade: To round out your meal, pair with a whole-wheat pita , low-sodium turkey and a slice of part-skim cheese.
How Long Is Canned Soup Good For
According to the USDA, canned goods can last for years however, the can has to be in good condition if thereâs rust, dents, or swelling, toss it. âDates on cans indicate peak quality as determined by the manufacturer. So donât automatically pitch a can with an expired date,â advises the USDA. They suggest that low-acid canned products can be stored for two to five years. On the other hand, high-acid canned products , can last for 12-18 months. If you can foods at home yourself, these have a shorter shelf life and the USDA recommends consuming these foods within one year.
Moral of the story: It depends what kind of soup it is, and if the can is in good shape, but if itâs past the expiration date and the can is in good condition, you may not need to throw it out after all.
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Can You Survive On Just Soup
If you only drank clear broth, not very long. If you only ate heavy cream soups with fatty ingredients, youll stroke out or have a heart attack, so also not very long. If you chose a variety of soups to give you many different nutrients, and consume them in moderation, probably for a whole, long life.
How Healthy Is Canned Soup
Canned soup has always been a pantry staple, and now more than ever, premade canned and boxed soup is a good shelf-stable meal to have on hand during the quarantine.
Soup has some pretty unique health benefits. Its well known that when eaten as an appetizer, soup can curb hunger. In one study, people ate 20% fewer calories at their meal when served soup first. This is likely because soup is a water-rich food, which means you can eat a generous portion and fill up with relatively few calories.
Chicken soup, in particular, can be a therapeutic choice. Chicken soup is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, which may help decongest your nose when you come down with a cold, since the inflammation in your nasal passages makes your nose feel stuffy. Chicken soup may also help thin your mucus so you can breathe easier. In one study, chicken soup beat both hot and cold water in thinning mucus.
Not all pre-packaged soups are healthy though, so its important to know what to look for. Here are some tips to help you become a better soup shopper.
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Find The Best Healthy Soups
When you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll want to find or make soups that provide plenty of filling fiber from vegetables or grains and a healthy boost of protein from lean meat, poultry, legumes, or seafood. You may also want to check the sodium content of your favorite soup. Some brands contain more salt and may cause you to retain water and feel bloated.
Choose tomato or broth-based soups to keep the calorie count low. If you’re in the mood for a creamy soup, use fat-free evaporated milk instead of whole milk during preparation. You can shop for reduced-fat versions of your favorite soup as well, but many have almost as many calories as the full-fat version.
Vegetable soup is an ideal choice to help you lose weight. Most varieties contain 100 calories or less per serving. Plus, vegetables contain lots of fiber, which helps you feel full and satisfied so you eat less all day.
If your favorite soup doesn’t include vegetables, add them yourself! Mix in fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables or beans for a boost of nutrition and fiber. If your soup needs more flavor, add onions, peppers, fresh herbs, or spices.
Another creative trick to add fiber to your healthy soup meal is to make your own healthy bread bowl. Purchase large, ready-made whole-grain rolls at your local bakery or in the refrigerator section of your market. Prepare as directed, then hollow out and fill with soup or chili, such as Amy’s Low Sodium Vegetarian Chili.
Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Tomato Soup $4 For 32 Ounces
Although it seems like a total comfort food, tomato soup is actually an excellent way to get your lycopene for eye health, Weintraub says. I also love Pacific Foods Organic Cream of Mushroom. Its a lighter option for when you crave the richness and umami of cream of mushroom soup, but dont want one thats loaded with fat and calories.
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The Best Canned And Boxed Soups To Take Nutrition Up A Notch
Though a can or box of soup can certainly be an easy meal on its own, you can also toss in other ingredients you have at home to make your soup even more interesting, nutritious and filling. Here are some ideas using soups you can find on your next grocery haul:
- Add spinach to Amys Organic Light In Sodium Lentil Soup before you heat it up, and then top with feta or parmesan cheese.
- Make a DIY soup with Pacific Foods Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth by tossing in frozen tortellini along with frozen spinach or kale, and then bringing the soup to a boil.
- Heat up Campbells Well Yes! Lightly Salted Santa Fe Vegetable Soup and top it with avocado slices and a dollop of Greek yogurt. If you want some crunch, crush a few tortilla chips on top.
And dont forget that the plant foods in canned soup count toward your daily veggie requirements, so if youre low on fresh veggies, have some soup at the start of your main meal.
How Can I Make Canned Soup Healthier
If you love the convenience of canned soup, here are a few ways to spice up the nutritional value of your quick meal:
- Choose healthier canned soups. Look for low-sodium, low-fat, organic soups featuring beans, vegetables, and lean protein that provide at least 10% of your daily fiber.
- Add fresh or frozen vegetables to increase the fiber, vitamins, and minerals. If you use frozen vegetables, choose plain varieties without added salt, preservatives, or sauce.
- Toss in spices instead of salt to punch up the flavor of low-sodium soups without increasing the salt content.
- Look for cans labeled BPA-free. Steel bottles or cans generally dont contain BPA, while many aluminum cans and bottles do. You can tell if a can is steel or aluminum by looking at the cans label. The labels are typically glued onto steel cans, but the labels on aluminum cans are sprayed on most of the time.
Because there are so many different types of soup, the calorie and nutrition content can vary tremendously. Be sure to scan the nutrition label for more information.
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Ingredients To Liquid Ratio
The litre-sized jars of turkey and kale soup were half-solids going into the canner. The carrot, bean, pea, asparagus, etc in it swelled during processing.
The ratio of ingredients must be ½ liquid and ½ small cubed solids.
That basic ratio requirement is designed to ensure that there is enough non-viscous liquid in the jar to circulate around everything and distribute heat evenly during processing.
Some people think that means they are going to end up with a bowl of soup that is half water. They are forgetting that many ingredients will swell during pressure canning, such as corn and peas, and that dried beans will take in a lot of that liquid. So at the end of the pressure canning process, the visual result is often more ¾ solids, ¼ liquid owing to liquid absorption by the ingredients.
Thats probably precisely why the USDA wants that one-half safety margin going into this.
So dont worry, you are not going to be accused of being cheap and trying to serve people water soup : the soup will be plenty dense after canning!
Which Is The Least Healthy Canned Chicken Soup
Campbells condensed chicken noodle soup is a classic and one of the most popular canned soups. But Frost, Gonzalez and Tills all said its the least-healthy choice because its so high in sodium: 890 mg per serving, or 39% of your daily value. And Frost said the listed serving size of half a cup is smaller than that of other brands.
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Best Healthy Canned Soups According To A Nutritionist
Dinner doesnt get much easier than opening a can of soup, dumping it in a pot and letting the stovetop do the rest. But is it nutritious? We spoke to Dr. Felicia Stoler, DCN, a registered dietitian, nutritionist and exercise physiologist about how to choose healthy canned soups at the supermarket, as well as a few of her favorite brands to look for.
Best Soup On The Go: Campbell’s Healthy Request Chicken & Mini Round Noodles Soup
If you’re grabbing a cup to go, use Campbell’s “Healthy Request” label as your go-to guide. This series of soup choices differs in that they’re lower in blood-pressure-raising sodium. Saving 570 mg of sodiumor about 25 percent of your daily recommended intake of sodiumis definitely worth the extra gram of sugar Campbell’s adds to make up for lost flavor .
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Do Canned Soups Have A Ton Of Sodium
Canned soup has gotten a bad rap over the years, namely for its high sodium content. But there were reasons for all that salt initially, the first being preservation. Canned foods are better preserved in a salty or sweet medium. However, vacuum packing has eliminated the need for sodium as the sole mineral to inhibit bacterial growth. explains Stoler. The second reason is to please the typical American’s palate, which tends to prefer saltier foods.
But the most interesting tidbit of all? Despite Americans concerns over high-sodium soups, food companies had significant trouble getting low-sodium soups off the shelves. An industry secret is that most larger companies have reduced their sodium content over the years without notifying consumers, says Stoler. When canned soups were labeled as low or no sodium, they didnt sell well because consumers assumed the taste would be compromised.
Nowadays, there are tons of low-sodium soups on the market, many of them legitimately delicious. But if youre worried that a low-sodium soup will have less flavor, remember that you can always add your own ingredients to prepare it more to your liking. The truth is, if someone wants more salt, they can always add it. If a soup is too salty, add more water. It’s really that simple, says Stoler.
Here are 14 healthy canned soups to look for the next time youre grocery shopping.
Pacific Foods Organic Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup Light In Sodium
Sodium content: 330 mg per 1-cup serving
Pacific foods soups are all organic, with as many ingredients being sourced as locally as possible. Their organic roasted red pepper and tomato soup light in sodium provides 330 milligrams of sodium per serving and is naturally packed with an antioxidant called lycopene. This antioxidant naturally occurs in tomatoes and has been found to support heart health.
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Amy’s Light In Sodium Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque
Sodium content: 280 mg per 1-cup serving
“My favorite is Amy’s Light in Sodium Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque. The entire can has 470 milligrams of sodium. That’s about 1/4 the amount of many canned soup brands. It serves as a canvas to add seafood, veggies, and whole grains to make a complete meal.” says Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, founder of NutritionStarringYOU.com and author of The Protein-Packed Breakfast Club.
Wolfgang Puck Chicken & Dumplings Soup
While Wolfgang Puck Chicken & Dumplings Soup won’t cost you an arm or a leg, this soup is definitely pricier than the competition. Factoring in the connection to world famous chef Wolfgang Puck and the yummy picture on the can, your expectations will be sky high. But prepared to be left unsatisfied.
Although Wolfgang Puck Chicken & Dumplings Soup isn’t bad, it’s painfully average. The chicken in this soup is stringy and not the quality you’d expect. The amount of potatoes in the soup is also disappointing it’s obvious the potatoes are used as a filler ingredient. The few so-called “dumplings” you find in the soup are just slimy pieces of dough in reality.
The overall flavor is watery, too. You’ll need to jazz things up with your own spices in order for you to get any enjoyment out of this soup. Wolfgang Puck has a lot of good soups but this is certainly not one of them.
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Healthy Soups: The Best And Worst For Your Diet
Soups are a great speedy lunch in the colder months and if you make the right healthy soup choices, they can be great for dieters too! We’ve rounded up the best and worst soups for your diet.
Healthy soups are a great meal choice when you want something quick and easy for lunch or dinner. And with so many different flavours and options available, were always spoilt for choice when scanning the supermarket shelves.
While some soups are a healthy low-calorie lunch option, youd be surprised at how calorific some are compared to others.
We know it can be overwhelming to make a healthy soup choice when youre rushing around and just want a quick option, which is why weve compared 25 varieties ranging from classic flavours like tomato and chicken, to modern such as Thai carrot & lemongrass or Moroccan tagine.
Paleo And Whole: True Primal Grass
“Not only is this a paleo option, but this soup is made with natural spices and 100 percent grass-fed beefâmaking it Whole30 approved. Itâs also gluten free, high in protein , and is packed with colorful and antioxidant-rich veggies like carrots, green beans and tomatoes,” says Beckerman. You couldn’t ask for more, carnivores.
Everything you need to know about paleo:
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Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup
While coconut soup hasn’t been discussed much in America, Amy is on her way to changing that thanks to Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup. This stuff is so good that you’ll use your fingers to scrape every last drop off of the bowl and into your mouth.
In Thailand, tom kha gai is a very popular soup, particularly in the northern part of the country. It’s basically coconut soup with chicken added into it. The vegetarian version of that soup is called tom kha phak and that’s what inspired Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup. In fact, it says “tom kha phak” on the can.
Besides coconut milk that is pleasantly sweet, this soup also has carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, onions, mushrooms, garlic, tofu, and a lot of other all natural, all vegan, and plant-based ingredients. Even if you have timid taste buds that don’t enjoy a good adventure, this coconut soup is tasty enough that it’s worth it to push the envelope and give it a try.
Dr Mcdougall’s Garden Vegetables Lower Sodium Soup
Sodium content: 280 mg per 1-cup serving
Chock-full of heart-healthy vegetables, herbs, and spices, this ready-made soup comes in at under 300 milligrams sodium per serving. Vegetables and heart health go hand-in-hand. Many studies have suggested that vegetable intake has great potential in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases. Eating your veggies has never been so simple!
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Keto: Kettle And Fire Mushroom And Bisque Soup
Classic bone broth gets remixed with mushrooms in this product. “This soup is loaded with healthy fat and low in carbs, making it very keto-friendly and helping you stay in ketosis,” says Beckerman. Each serving contains 10 grams of protein, zero sugars, and no preservatives, “which gives it a thumbs up in my ‘keto’ book,” says the dietitian.
What Beckerman wants you to know about keto:
Good & Gather Chicken Tortilla Soup
Best microwaveable soup line
Stoler is a big fan of Targets affordable soups, and this one had us at tortilla chips. While it isnt canned, we dont think youll mind slurping it down before its expiration date. Plus, its plastic container is microwave-safe, so itll spare you a dirty bowl.
Per serving: 240 calories, 6g fat, 15g protein, 32g carbs, 9g sugar, 750mg sodium, 5g fiber
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