For me, there’s nothing more satisfying than a bowl of hot soup. For the sake of convenience (and because I’m a lousy cook), I frequently buy canned soups. The majority of canned soups, however, are brimming with sodium. I’m trying to reduce my sodium intake, so I’ve been on the lookout for high quality low-sodium soups. Health Valley makes eight varieties of “no salt added” canned soups: black bean, lentil, minestrone, mushroom barley, potato leek, split pea, tomato and vegetable. What follows are reviews of all of them. My rating system is based on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being best.
Split Pea. The split pea soup is a huge disappointment. It’s as bland as bland can be. In fact, I had to force myself to finish the bowl. This is surprising because it contains a lot of wonderful ingredients, including onions, celery, and lentils. I’m afraid this one just doesn’t cut the mustard (or split the pea, as it were). Rating: 1.
Mushroom Barley. The mushroom barley soup is mediocre at best. It’s not bad, but it’s not something to write home about either. The amount of celery and carrots in the soup is adequate. The soup is in desperate need of more mushrooms and barley, however. Unfortunately, the dearth of mushrooms and barley makes the soup way too watery. Rating: 2.5.
Potato Leek. This soup is decent but it certainly doesn’t rock my world. It just doesn’t have enough pizazz . It’s a delicate soup and thus makes a nice appetizer because it leaves you wanting something more substantial. Rating: 3.
Black Bean. The beans are cooked to perfection; not too mushy and not too hard. This is a very filling soup with a hearty, solid texture and a nice kick to it. The corn and carrots are a bit underrepresented, but I can live with that. All in all, this is a highly satisfying soup. Rating: 4.5.
Lentil. The lentil soup is hearty, full flavored, and, most importantly, loaded with lentils. I’m something of a lentil soup aficionado, so when I like a brand of lentil soup, you can be sure it’s of the highest quality. Now, if you held a gun to my head and forced me to offer a criticism, I would say it could use a little more spinach. But that’s just a minor quibble. The soup is very satisfying as it is. Rating: 4.5.
Vegetable. This soup is outstanding. It’s a hearty, full-flavored blend of potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, peas, green beans, corn, onions, broccoli and kidney beans. Yum! It is astonishing that it only contains 70 milligrams of sodium per serving; it’s so flavorful that you’d swear it had more salt in it. Rating: 5.
Minestrone. Mama Mia! This excellent soup is full of authentic flavor. It’s brimming with traditional ingredients such as carrots, tomatoes, peas, pasta, and red kidney beans. I also noticed some rather large pieces of celery in my bowl. I love cooked celery so I could not have been more delighted. This soup would be terrific with some grated Parmesan cheese. I highly recommend it. Rating: 5
Tomato. The tomato soup is my favorite of the lot. It’s rich, creamy and enormously satisfying (yet only contains 60 milligrams of sodium per serving). That it is also rich in vitamin C and the antioxidant lycopene is an extra bonus. I couldn’t be more pleased with this soup. Rating: 5.
So there you have it. My take on all eight varieties of Health Valley “no salt added” canned soups. Based upon the above reviews, you can be certain that I will not be buying the split pea and mushroom barley soups ever again. I wasn’t thrilled with the potato leak, but I’ll give it another chance. You can be certain, however, that I will be purchasing the vegetable, minestrone, lentil, black bean and tomato soups on a regular basis.
