The Best Store-Bought Tomato Soup Is Rich, Creamy, And Totally Vegan
There's nothing like a creamy tomato soup. It maximizes all the goodness we desire, from warmth to nutrition and downright deliciousness. That said, not all tomato soups excel in reaching those lofty goals. If you're not making it yourself from scratch, finding the best pre-made version can be a real toss-up. That's why we set our taste-testing sights on this prince of pantry soups. In Tasting Table's ranking of 14 store-bought tomato soups, some were found lacking on varying levels. However, one clearly took the crowning spot.
We gathered a collection of readily available supermarket tomato soups, from classic canned Campbell's and Progresso versions to Trader Joe's tomato soup with fire-roasted red peppers, a Maya Kaimal vegan, organics from Pacific, Annies, and Amy's, and more. Several quickly rose to the top, but Imagine Organic Tomato Creamy Soup ultimately landed at No. 1 for the best store-bought tomato soup. Not only is it rich, creamy, and flavorful, but it's also surprisingly vegan.
Using flavor as a primary criterion for tomato-soup rankings, our tasters nonetheless considered other important factors for soup lovers, including mouth feel, nutrition, and specialty characteristics. Not many people dream of thin, watery tomato soups, so the creaminess factor held considerable sway. The Imagine soup coming out on top was somewhat intriguing since the texture of this vegan product was still exceptionally creamy without any dairy. Here's a closer look at why this one pulled on our comfort-food heartstrings.
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Creamy And Dreamy With No Dairy
In addition to the velvety texture of Imagine's Organic Tomato Creamy Soup, it avoids the heaviness of other cream- or milk-based soups. It instead gets thickness from other ingredients, likely the pureed vegetables, including carrots, celery, and potatoes, but especially from the tapioca starch flour, a well-known alternative food thickener. Expeller-pressed canola oil and organic safflower oil help keep things smooth, punctuated by earthy spices, garlic, and onions.
The blends work well together, avoiding competing flavors or unexpected aftertastes. The absence of dairy also keeps this soup lighter than other tomato soups, and the product provides 10% of Daily Values for fiber in a 1-cup serving. Other substitutes for dairy, such as the coconut cream used in many Southeast Asian and Latin American dishes, could overpower or clash with the taste of tomato soup while adding high amounts of saturated fats. Imagine's tomato soup avoids all this.
It's worth mentioning the two runners-up in our ranking of store-bought tomato soups. Trader Joe's Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup took the No. 2 slot, featuring smoky flavors from the peppers and a rich tomato-first persona. Maya Kaimal Tomato & Warm Spices Inspired Soup came in third, with its defining Serrano peppers and a sassy parade of the "c spices" — cumin, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon. Unfortunately, two of the three lowest rankings went to an American soup icon for its Campbell's Tomato Bisque and Campbell's Tomato Soup.
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