The Best Canned Tomato Soup: Our Taste Test Results

Here at HuffPost Taste, we love tomato soup. There is absolutely nothing in the world that's better at cozying up to grilled cheese, and we're fans of making it in big, hearty batches on our stovetops at home.

But no one's perfect. The flu hits. You've had a rough week at work. You're starving and need to make dinner in five minutes. None of those situations permit a leisurely hour of simmering and blending, so you've got to do it. When things get dire, you've got to go to the pantry (which as food lovers we equate with "going to the mattresses"). Lucky for you, some canned (or boxed, now that we're in 2013) tomato soups are actually pretty delicious. Our job was to find them and tell you all about it.

We blind-tasted 10 popular brands and flavors of tomato soup, judging on flavor and texture. We were betting on the traditional Campbell's version as an easy winner, but alas ... find out which brands are the tops in the slideshow below.

As always, this taste test was in no way influenced or sponsored by the brands included.

• #1: Pacific Creamy Tomato

  <b>Comments:</b> "Really creamy, but needs more acidity. It's so good though, that I would buy this and just add some lemon or hot sauce." "Yum! Creamy!" "Creamy and lovely. Tastes like classic Campbell's made with milk." "Creamy and pleasant." "Sweet, with a nice creaminess. More of a bisque."

• #2: Campbell's Sun-Ripened Yellow Tomato

  <b>Comments:</B> "The yellow color is off-putting, but the flavor is lovely and light." "The yellow color throws me off. Tomato soup should be red. Tastes more like juice than soup." "I like this more than I thought I would! Nicely balanced." "Less sweet than the others."

• #3: Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque

  <b>Comments:</b> "Yum! Sweet, with a 'real tomato' flavor. Love the chunks." "Super sweet but gets major points for tasting like SpaghettiO's." "A little tomato saucy, but not horrible. My heart wants cream or cheese." "Best texture of the bunch."

• #4: Campbell's Tomato

  <b>Comments:</b> "Tastes like the sauce for SpaghettiO's." "The sweetest of the bunch." "A little too acidic. Like regular Campbell's made with water. Too salty." [Editor's note: This is Campbell's made with water.] "Tastes like tomato paste." "This one actually tastes like tomatoes." "Classic, balanced flavor. Bright."

• #5: Campbell's Gourmet Bisques: Tomato Roasted-Garlic Bacon

  <b>Comments:</b> "This is pizza sauce with bacon in it. This would be good if I were a sugar-obsessed glutton." "Meaty, which I don't entirely hate." "OH MY. So much garlic! That is not soup." "Sweet and garlicky?" "Very creamy, cheesy and salty."

• #6: Progresso Vegetable Classics: Hearty Tomato

  <b>Comments:</b> "Bland but not horrible." "Disgusting!" "WAY too sweet. Like dessert tomato sauce." "Good, but too much tomato skin." "Extremely sweet. If you put it in an ice cream maker, you could easily pass it off as strawberry sorbet."

• #7: Muir Glen Tomato Basil

  <b>Comments:</b> "Horrible fake dried basil flavor." "This would be so good on a pizza! But it's not tomato soup." "Oddly sour, not in a nice way. Too thin and watery." "A little smoky and a little watery." "Tastes more like pasta sauce." "Nice herbal flavors, but the tomato flavor is muddy."

• #8: Campbell's Gourmet Bisques: Thai Tomato Coconut

  <b>Comments:</b> "AWFUL. NO!" "This soup is trying way too hard." "WOW. That has coconut milk and lemongrass in it!" "How bizarre! Tastes like chicken tikka masala sauce or something."

• #9: Progresso Vegetable Classics: Tomato Basil

  <b>Comments:</b> "Gooey. Slimy." "Tastes like celery. Too much celery." "Oh no. This tastes like cardboard." "Gross dough flavor."

• #10: Campbell's 100% Natural Harvest Tomato With Basil

  <b>Comments:</b> "Watery and awful." "Is this soup expired? Gross." "Oh no. More cardboard soup. Awful flavor, no tomato to be found." "Pasty." "Boring."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/best-canned-tomato-soup_n_2599625.html

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