When it comes to store-bought soup, condensed cream of chicken is more of an ingredient than a meal. It’s the foundation of any good casserole, and it can also be mixed with noodles for a hearty pasta bake. Whenever a recipe calls for condensed cream of chicken soup, you likely just grab whatever you can find quickly—or on sale—in the grocery store. But should you actually shop around for the best brand? Is the taste all that different?
I put seven popular brands to the test to find the best can you should buy. And the results were striking.
How I Test the Canned Cream of Chicken Soup
I warmed up the soups separately and placed a small serving of each in a small glass bowl to ensure I had a taste test with all labels and brands hidden. The directions for each soup have you add the contents of the can along with one can of water, and bring to a low simmer (avoiding a rigorous boil). I used a whisk on each one to get the smoothest consistency. There was also the option to use milk instead of water, but I kept it straightforward and just used tap water.
After a simple taste of each heated soup, I then added some leftover cooked pasta to each—as so many people use cream of chicken soup in a casserole. I also tried each soup with a piece of crusty bread, dunking it into each bowl.
The Best Canned Cream of Chicken Soup, Ranked
On its own, none of the soups were all that remarkable, but adding the pasta and bread helped differentiate them. To determine the overall winner, I looked for soup with the most natural, mellow chicken flavor, a pleasant creamy texture, little pieces of chicken (that were tender and not rubbery), and an appealing color.
Here are my personal rankings for each brand.
7th Place: Dollar General’s Clover Valley Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Adam Dolge
The bottom of this list was all clumped together as it was hard to tell much of a difference, but this Dollar General brand had some serious negative points. The smell was unnatural, and there was an unpleasant aftertaste that was almost metallic. This brand had some of the biggest chunks of chicken, but they were rubbery and off-putting. Mixed with pasta and bread, the flavors mellowed a bit, but it was lackluster overall.
6th Place: Walmart’s Great Value Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Adam Dolge
The color of Walmart’s in-store brand was just odd. All the others had a very similar pale yellow color, but this one looked more like rich egg yolks. It actually made the pasta look kind of off. Like the color, the flavor was quite strong—and not in a good way. It had big rubbery chunks of chicken and it had a strong artificial onion taste, as if an onion soup mix was stirred into heavy cream. When mixed with the pasta and bread, it was still stronger than the other brands, and left a coating on my tongue. It also had a bit of a gloopy texture.
5th Place: Food Club Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Adam Dolge
You will notice a theme on this list, where I compare each brand to Campbell’s. That is because it is the most recognizable and readily available. And, interestingly, a lot of the generic brands tasted just like Campbell’s. That is certainly the case for the Food Club can. It was also quite similar to the Clover Valley soup, but with less of the unappetizing chunks of chicken. Stirred into pasta, it had a very familiar, almost comforting flavor like Campbell’s.
4th Place: Signature Select Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Adam Dolge
This private label brand is made for grocery stores owned by Albertsons, such as Safeway. This was practically identical to the Food Club brand, with a creamy texture and recognizable flavor. It was also nearly indiscernible from Campbell’s, the next on the list; though Signature Select had an overall nice mellow chicken flavor with just a few small pieces of chicken. In my faux casserole, it was exactly what I expected a cream of chicken and noodle bake to taste like.
3rd Place: Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Adam Dolge
The gold standard for canned soups, Campbell’s makes a very nice cream of chicken soup. It’s recognizable, with a strong chicken-forward flavor and velvety texture. As mentioned, however, it’s very hard to distinguish most of these soups—though Campbell’s had a bit more of a vegetal flavor, which I actually liked. When mixed into noodles, it was quite comforting and cozy. For my preferences, however, I just didn’t like the chunks of chicken. They had an odd, rubbery texture. As you’ll see with the next brand on this list, my general opinion is that if you are looking for Campbell’s, you can get by with just about any of the generic brands—and you likely won’t tell much of a difference.
2nd Place: Aldi’s Chef’s Cupboard Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Adam Dolge
My runner-up just barely scores higher than the previous entries. In fact, they were all so similar it’s hard to really put Aldi’s soup above the rest, but it had the least amount of rubbery chicken, was still creamy, and featured a distinct chicken flavor. It’s important to note the salt level of all these cans. A 1/2 cup of condensed soup has about 870 mg of sodium, and they all left my lips feeling dry. But of all the brands on the list so far, Chef’s Cupboard was the least overwhelmingly salty. In addition, I liked this brand when mixed with pasta or dunked with bread. This is a very solid alternative to Campbell’s. But it still pales in comparison to the winner.
1st Place: Pacific Foods Organic Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Adam Dolge
This Campbell’s-owned brand of organic soups and broths makes a delicious cream of chicken soup. Seriously, it was a night and day difference between this brand and every other on the list. Interestingly, it had the lightest, almost white color—and virtually no chunks of chicken. Instead, there were more flakes of chicken throughout, which I actually preferred. The flavor of Pacific Foods’ version truly sets it apart from other cans. It tastes homemade, or at least like it’s made from a homemade stock. There was no odd aftertaste or metallic flavor like other brands, and it was creamy without being gloopy.
Next time you are whipping up a casserole or just want a satisfying soup to fill you up, reach for a can of Pacific Foods Organic Cream of Chicken. There’s no competition.
