This Popular Grocery Store Makes Some Of The Absolute Worst Canned Veggie Soup Around

When you get a craving for a comforting, hot bowl of vegetable soup, it can seem like too much of a hassle to make a batch from scratch. Luckily, this problem can be solved by buying a can of veggie soup from the market — but not all store-bought soups are worth your time (and taste buds). To help you figure out which ones are worth keeping in the pantry for when that craving hits, we tasted and ranked 11 vegetable soup brands. In our testing, we found one that you definitely want to avoid: Wegmans vegetable soup.

Wegmans may be a popular grocery store, but unfortunately, its veggie soup ranked last on our list. While making this ranking, our tester considered taste, as well as nutrition (such as sodium count and ingredient list). While the Wegmans soup featured mostly good ingredients (including carrots, celery, potatoes, rotini pasta, and spices), the tester found the taste of the soup to be "meh" and "off," with the tomato puree base overpowering the other flavors.

Beyond that, the soup wasn't that great nutritionally, either — it contains 660 milligrams of sodium per cup. To put that into perspective, the American Heart Association recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium in an entire day. It's also worth noting that this soup is made with chicken broth, so it's not suitable for vegetarians.

If you've found yourself with a can of Wegmans veggie soup, there are ways to upgrade it to make it taste better. For one, you can add fresh or dried herbs, either of which can make a big difference in flavor. Similarly, add spices into the soup, such as cumin, garlic powder, or paprika — but avoid salt, for obvious reasons. 

Another addition that can go a long way in elevating premade soup? Acid. Fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar will help balance out and brighten the flavor profile. Similarly, your ticket to upgrading canned soup is an ingredient you probably already have: hot sauce. Hot sauce has plenty of acidity, so it will work in a similar way to lemon juice, while also bringing extra flavor and an exciting kick of heat.

In our beginner's guide to upgrading canned soup, we also recommend adding cheese or bouillon paste. Whatever you go with, your canned soup is sure to taste better than expected. And it may just inspire you to plan a time to make your own homemade vegetable soup.