When the weather turns colder, a tin of soup and a slice of toast can be a very welcome cheap lunch. But there is a huge difference between paying 59p for an own-brand tin and more than £2 for a premium version. Does spending more mean more vegetables, better flavour or fewer additives?
The quick verdict
Best independently tested flavour: Sainsbury’s and Tesco Cream of Tomato, both 59p and tied at 78% in Which?’s blind tasting plus 100% in the MoneyMagpie office.
Most promising budget hearty soup: Tesco Minestrone, 59p.
Best chunky vegetable option on ingredients: Tesco Chunky Vegetable, £1.25.
Closest-to-homemade tinned contender: Baxters Lentil & Vegetable, although the price is steep.
Chilled wild card: New Covent Garden Classic Chicken, especially when reduced.
Best cheap tinned soups: price comparison
| Soup | Price | Why consider it? |
|---|---|---|
| Sainsbury’s Cream of Tomato 400g | 59p | Joint first in tasting |
| Tesco Cream of Tomato 400g | 59p | Joint first in tasting |
| Asda Cream of Tomato 400g | 59p | Close third in tasting |
| Aldi Bramwells / Lidl Newgate Tomato 400g | 59p each | Cheap, but lower taste scores |
| Tesco Vegetable / Minestrone 400g | 59p each | Budget cupboard options |
| Tesco Cream of Chicken 400g | 59p | Cheap, mixed feedback |
| Tesco Chunky Vegetable / Beef & Vegetable 400g | £1.25 each | More substantial recipes |
| Heinz Cream of Tomato / Chicken 400g | Around £1.59–£1.70 | Brand familiarity; watch for multibuys |
| Baxters Lentil & Vegetable 400g | Around £2.20 | Vegetable-and-lentil recipe |
| New Covent Garden Classic Chicken 560g | Around £2.45, sometimes £1.45 on offer | Chilled wild card |
Prices are indicative retailer listings figures checked around October 2026, not guaranteed checkout prices. Product formulations and offers may change.
Tomato soup: the supermarket tins that beat Heinz
This is the category with the strongest flavour evidence. In an August 2026 blind tasting, Which? asked 77 people to taste 12 cream of tomato soups. We then tried them ourselves to see what the fuss was about. We did a blind test to avoid influence of other views and brands.
The supermarket own brands dominated – and the most expensive tin came last.
TOP PICK: Sainsbury’s Cream of Tomato – 59p
Independent taste score: 78% (joint first). The tasting panel particularly liked its balance of tanginess and sweetness, and three quarters thought the creaminess was just right. That sounds exactly like the comforting tomato soup we’d want with buttered toast: smooth, gently sweet, but not so sugary that the tomato disappears.
Our flavour view: This is a well-balanced classic rather than an adventurous soup – and that’s precisely the appeal. At 59p, it’s a compelling alternative to a full-price branded tin.
Ingredients and nutrition: It contains 5.7g total sugars and 0.44g salt per 100g, according to the test comparison. These are total sugars, not necessarily all added sugar.
JOINT TOP PICK: Tesco Cream of Tomato – 59p
Independent taste score: 78%. Tesco matched Sainsbury’s, winning praise for its thickness, creaminess and suitably tangy flavour. A thin, watery tomato soup is one of the most disappointing things to find in a bowl, so those texture results count for a lot.
Our flavour view: This is a reliable everyday favourite for people who enjoy a thick, smooth tomato soup. It’s another case where the cheaper tin has stronger taste than Heinz.
Watch out for: 0.56g salt per 100g – or 2.24g if you eat the whole 400g tin.
Asda Cream of Tomato – 59p
Asda was close behind on 77%, performing well for appearance, aroma, flavour and texture. Its 6.1g sugar per 100g is the highest figure in the tested tomato group. We’d expect this to appeal to people who prefer a sweeter, mellow tomato soup, although sugar content alone cannot establish how sweet something tastes.
Our flavour view: A strong, creamy bargain. If you enjoy the sweeter end of the tomato soup spectrum, this is well worth considering.
Aldi Bramwells Cream of Tomato – 59p
Aldi scored 71%. Testers liked its appearance, but more than half wanted a creamier texture. That’s a meaningful weakness for a soup sold as cream of tomato.
Our flavour view: A perfectly reasonable budget standby, but a less satisfying texture than the best supermarket rivals.
Lidl Newgate Cream of Tomato – 59p
Lidl scored 70%. It looked the part, but the tasting panel was less enthusiastic about its flavour and texture. There is little reason to declare it a disaster, but equally little evidence that it beats the similarly priced leaders.
Our flavour view: Fine as a cheap cupboard option; we’d choose Sainsbury’s or Tesco first if all three were convenient.
Heinz Cream of Tomato – around £1.59–£1.70
Heinz is the nostalgic benchmark for many British households, but its 68% score was well below the supermarket winners. More than a third of testers wanted a stronger flavour, while 62% thought it lacked creaminess.
Our flavour view: There’s nothing wrong with loving the familiar Heinz taste, but nostalgia shouldn’t be confused with a blind-test victory. At full price, we’d struggle to justify paying roughly three times as much as a 59p own-brand tin.
Other tomato contenders: M&S, Morrisons, Co-op and Baxters
M&S and Co-op both scored 73%, with M&S especially praised for creaminess. Morrisons scored 72% and was liked for colour and sweetness, though some wanted more tomato tang. Crosse & Blackwell led the branded soups on 76%, but cost £1.25. Waitrose Essential scored 66%, and Baxters Cream of Tomato finished last on 58% at £2.05.
Our flavour view: M&S is a particularly appealing alternative for people who prize creaminess. Baxters’ tomato soup, by contrast, doesn’t earn its premium.
Chicken soup: does the expensive tin contain more chicken?
Tesco Cream of Chicken – 59p
At this price, it’s tempting to stock up. But customer ratings on Tesco’s site have hovered around 2.8 out of five, which gives us pause. Chicken soup should be savoury and soothing rather than tasting like little more than a creamy sauce.
Our flavour view: A budget gamble rather than a confident recommendation. Try one tin before buying a cupboardful.
Heinz Cream of Chicken – around £1.59
Its published recipe has listed only around 3% chicken, alongside cream or milk ingredients, modified starch and flavouring ingredients. That doesn’t mean it cannot taste comforting – a good stock can provide plenty of flavour – but it does make us question what you’re paying for.
Our flavour view: Likely to appeal to fans of smooth, creamy chicken soup, but the ingredient percentage is underwhelming at the full price. Check the latest label as recipes can change.
Vegetable soup: 59p basic versus £1.25 chunky
Tesco Vegetable Soup – 59p
The published formulation includes vegetables, tomato purée, beans and pasta, making it a more varied lunch on paper than a very smooth purée. However, the recipe has also included modified starch, flavouring and colour.
INGREDIENTS PICK: Tesco Chunky Vegetable – £1.25
A published recipe lists 46% vegetables with red lentils and pearl barley. That’s the sort of mixture we like seeing in a soup that’s trying to feel like a meal. Lentils and barley offer the potential for a heartier, more varied texture.
Our flavour view: More promising than the basic tin for rustic texture and substance, but seasoning and the quality of the broth will determine whether it genuinely tastes homemade. This is an ingredients-based recommendation, not a verified taste-test winner.
Minestrone: could 59p buy a proper lunch?
BUDGET HEARTY PICK: Tesco Minestrone – 59p
This is one we’re particularly interested in. Tesco’s published customer rating has been around 4.4 out of five, and the minestrone format has an advantage: vegetables, beans and pasta can offer more texture than a plain cream soup.
Our flavour view: A promising, inexpensive choice for people who want something to chew rather than simply sip. A good minestrone needs a savoury, tomato-rich broth, this delivers but is no match to homemade.
Heinz Minestrone, at around £1.59, is the obvious branded rival. The cheaper Tesco version is where we’d start before paying more. No tinned minestrone is like homemade so this is based on personal preference and whether you enjoy the flavour of the tinned alternative.
Chunky beef soup: more stew than soup?
Tesco Chunky Beef & Vegetable – £1.25
A published formulation lists 40% vegetables and 11% beef, which is encouraging compared with products that rely mostly on a meaty-sounding name. There’s enough listed substance to make it worth investigating as a quick winter lunch.
Our flavour view: We like the idea of a thick, savoury soup with visible beef and vegetables. The risk with canned chunky soups is overly soft meat. We found this to be the case with this one and not a lot of meat.
Lentil soup: the closest tinned option to homemade?
HOMEMADE-STYLE TIN CONTENDER: Baxters Lentil & Vegetable – around £2.20
The published recipe includes vegetables and red split lentils, alongside seasonings and some additional ingredients such as cornflour and citric acid. It’s a recognisable basis for a homemade lentil soup, even if it’s not a completely stripped-back recipe.
Our flavour view: Lentils have an earthy, satisfying character and vegetables can provide natural sweetness. This has promise for traditional soup lovers, but £2.20 is a lot to pay for inexpensive raw ingredients. We don’t feel it delivers for premium price.
WILD CARD: New Covent Garden Classic Chicken – chilled, not tinned
Sometimes the best alternative isn’t in the canned-food aisle. The published recipe for New Covent Garden Classic Chicken includes onion, potato, chicken breast, red lentils, milk, chicken stock, butter, garlic and seasoning. That sounds considerably closer to a home-cooked shopping list than many cream soups.
Our flavour view: This is our most interesting chilled chicken contender for a gentle, homemade-style soup. Customer feedback is mixed, so it’s not a guaranteed flavour triumph. The 560g carton drops from around £2.45 to £1.45 on promotion. So whilst it is a nice flavour, it is expensive and still not a rival for homemade.
Important: Chilled soup needs refrigeration and has a shorter shelf life. Always check the use-by date and storage instructions.
What about E-numbers, additives, salt and sugar?
A long shelf life doesn’t automatically mean a soup is packed with preservatives. Commercial canning uses heat to make food shelf-stable. Likewise, an E-number is not automatically harmful: approved additives are regulated, and familiar substances such as citric acid can appear under additive names or numbers.
What we care about is whether the soup is built mainly around vegetables, pulses, meat and seasoning, or depends heavily on extra flavourings and texture ingredients. Modified starch can make a soup thicker; that isn’t inherently a problem, but it isn’t quite the same as thickening a homemade soup with blended vegetables or lentils.
Salt can be the bigger practical issue. For example, Tesco Cream of Tomato’s 0.56g per 100g becomes 2.24g in a full tin. The NHS recommends adults consume no more than 6g of salt a day. And when checking sugar, remember that a label’s total sugars include naturally occurring sugars, not just sugar added during manufacture.
Five things to check on every soup label
- How much of the main vegetable, meat or pulse is actually included?
- How much salt is there per 100g – and in the amount you’ll eat?
- Does the sugar figure reflect total sugars rather than just added sugar?
- Are flavourings, stabilisers and modified starches listed, and do you mind them?
- What is the price per 100g? Cartons and tins aren’t always the same size.
Soup deals: when Heinz becomes worth buying
Tesco has advertised Heinz 400g soup multibuys at five for £5 or ten for £9 with Clubcard, with the listed promotion running into March 2027. That brings the cost to £1 or 90p a tin – a genuine reduction from the normal shelf price, but still more than the 59p supermarket alternatives.
Chilled soups can offer bigger percentage discounts when nearing their use-by dates. Yellow-sticker bargains are worth looking for, provided you can eat or freeze the soup safely in line with its instructions.
As we’ve explained in our guide to the cheapest UK supermarkets in 2026, the cheapest shop for your whole basket isn’t necessarily the cheapest for every individual product. Don’t make a special trip to save 10p on a tin.
Could a multibuy actually cost you more?
Twelve tins for £8 sounds attractive, but only if you genuinely want twelve tins. Check the unit price and avoid buying products you won’t use. Our everyday essentials savings guide explains why loyalty discounts and bulk buys don’t always translate into a lower overall food bill.
Is homemade soup actually cheaper?
Often, yes – particularly if you’re batch cooking, using seasonal vegetables or rescuing leftovers. But it’s not guaranteed to undercut a 59p tin after you account for ingredients, energy and waste. A pan of carrots, onions, potatoes, stock and lentils costing £2 for four portions would work out at 50p each before cooking energy.
The bigger advantage is control. You can add more vegetables, adjust the seasoning, skip added sugar and make the soup as thick as you like. For practical ways to use up odds and ends, see our guide to getting organised in the kitchen and reducing food waste.
And if you’re trying to make the entire weekly shop cheaper rather than just lunch, our 30-day supermarket price comparison is worth a read.
★ The final MoneyMagpie soup awards
★ Best independently tested taste and value: Sainsbury’s and Tesco Cream of Tomato, joint winners at 59p.
★ Best budget hearty candidate: Tesco Minestrone, 59p – promising customer feedback, a match for the more expensive ones.
★ Best chunky vegetable recipe on paper: Tesco Chunky Vegetable, £1.25.
★ Best homemade-style tinned contender: Baxters Lentil & Vegetable, though we would wait for a deal.
★ Best chilled wild card: New Covent Garden Classic Chicken, especially on promotion.
Our bottom line: Don’t assume a familiar brand is tastier, or that the lowest price means the worst soup. The strongest independent evidence comes from tomato soup, where cheap own brands won convincingly. For chicken, vegetable, lentil and chunky varieties, our picks are informed by price, recipes, published customer opinion and a MoneyMagpie blind tasting.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cheap tinned tomato soup in the UK?
Sainsbury’s and Tesco Cream of Tomato tied for first place at 78% in Which?’s 2026 blind taste test, both costing 59p in its October price comparison.
Is supermarket own-brand soup better than Heinz?
It can be. In the independent cream of tomato test, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda all scored higher than Heinz. Results for other flavours shouldn’t be assumed to follow the same pattern.
Are E-numbers in tinned soup bad for you?
Not automatically. Approved food additives are regulated. It’s more useful to assess the complete ingredient list, salt content and overall nutritional profile than to judge a soup solely by the presence of an E-number.
Is homemade soup cheaper than tinned soup?
It can be, especially when made in batches with inexpensive or leftover vegetables and pulses. A 59p tin may still be competitive once cooking energy and food waste are considered.
Which ready-made soup is closest to homemade?
On published ingredients, Baxters Lentil & Vegetable and chilled New Covent Garden Classic Chicken are interesting candidates. Neither has been confirmed as the best-tasting homemade substitute by our own tasting.
Sources:
Which? independent soup test;
Tesco soup listings and customer ratings;
published retailer ingredient and nutritional information.
