For this test, I picked up cans of Campbell's Classic Chicken Noodle, Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup, Habitant Chicken Soup with Egg Noodles, Primo Roast Chicken Noodle Soup and Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle Soup.
There are many, many options out there, but these are arguably some of the most popular brands, so they're the ones I picked up while shopping at No Frills, Metro and Walmart.
In terms of ranking, I'll be judging these out of 5 based on how likely I am to re-purchase the particular soup. That being said, these are all good soups and I'd happily eat any of them — there are just a few that I think are better than some of the others!
Primo Roast Chicken Noodle
Primo Roast Chicken Noodle, $3.50 for 540 mL from Metro in Toronto.
There's nothing wrong with Primo Roast Chicken Noodle in that it's a perfectly serviceable soup, but I'd say it's lacking in depth of flavour.
The broth is quite plain and somewhat translucent and it seems like it needs a good hit of salt and pepper. I also resent the size of the spiral rotini noodles as it's hard to get one on the spoon with the chicken and veg due to the size of the pasta.
Overall, this is a fine soup, but given that it's one of the most expensive per 100 mL's out of all the options, it'd be the one I'm least likely to pick up while shopping.
Rating: 2/5
Price at Metro: $3.99 (for 540 mL)
Price per 100 mL: $0.74
Campbell's Classic Chicken Noodle
Campbell's Classic Chicken Noodle, $3.69 for 515 mLs at No Frills in Toronto.
Campbell's Classic Chicken Noodle is a classic for a reason and reminds me of sick days at home when I was a kid.
It says it has seasoned all-white chicken with twisted noodles, and indeed, the soup seems much more seasoned than the Primo option.
It has a very bold chicken flavour, and while I do appreciate that, the size of the chicken, veg and rotini noodles are quite large, so it's hard to get a balanced spoonful of soup.
If you're hungry, I'd recommend going for this tin — it feels super hearty, and would likely fill me up as a meal without needing to add any extra food.
Rating: 3/5
Price at No Frills: $3.69 (for 515 mL)
Price per 100 mL: $0.72
Habitant Chicken Soup with Egg Noodles
Habitant Chicken Soup with Egg Noodles, $3.50 for 769 mL at Metro in Toronto.
If I had a cold, Habitant Chicken Soup with Egg Noodles is the soup I would want as it's super slurpable.
The carrots and celery are quite soft, the chicken chunks are tiny but plentiful, and the straight egg noodles are perfect. Everything fits nicely on the spoon, and there are no harsh edges that would hurt your throat if it's sore from coughing.
You could easily drink this soup out of a mug with minimal chewing because sometimes that's what you need to do when you have the flu and you just need to get some nutrients into your body.
Rating: 3.5/5
Price at Metro: $3.59 (for 769 mL)
Price per 100 mL: $0.47
Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup
Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle, $2.97 for 540 mL at Walmart in Toronto.
When I'm hungover, Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup is my go-to.
I love the little baby shell pasta and the peas, they're much easier to balance on the spoon, and the broth itself tastes like the bird was roasted before being put in the soup, which adds a delicious flavour. The roasted flavour hits at the back of the tongue and has a nice amount of salt that you're expecting from a can of soup.
That being said, I feel like the Timmies soup could use a hit of black pepper or hot sauce, which is the only reason why it's not getting full marks from me — and it's a super easy fix, since you likely have that seasoning on hand.
It also seems to have more chicken than the other soups, which is a bonus!
Rating: 4.5/5
Price at Walmart: $2.97 (for 540 mL)
Price per 100 mL: $0.55
Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle Soup
Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle Soup, $2.97 for 540 mL at Walmart in Toronto.
And in first place, we have the Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle Soup.
The broth is super chicken-forward and very opaque which seems to indicate it's got more stuff going on in it — it almost tastes like the bird itself was boiled in the stock.
Like Tims, Swiss Chalet's soup has baby shells, which makes it easy to get a nice spoonful of everything altogether, and it's overall just nice, comforting and stick-to-your-ribs hearty.
Rating: 5/5
Price at Walmart: $2.97 (for 540 mL)
Price per 100 mL: $0.55
Overall, my winning soup is Swiss Chalet, but Tims is a very close second and Habitant is also a great option. If I was hungry, I'd totally appreciate Campbell's, and, well, if it was there and I needed some soup, there's nothing wrong with Primo!
If you're looking to get even more snuggly this winter, I recently tested out various store brand hot chocolates to see which tin comes closest to Tim Hortons' blend, and one house brand did it much better than anyone else, in my opinion.
You might want to stock up on foods to have during cold weather — winter is almost upon us, and no one wants to run out in a blizzard to pick up soup!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
Pictures shared on a Facebook group of Tim Horton's sign. 