The 59p supermarket soup voted better tasting than Heinz favourite

The UK’s best-tasting tinned tomato soups have been revealed, with the top spots going to supermarket own brands that cost half the price of Heinz.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s Cream of Tomato soups were crowned joint first in a blind taste test by Which?, beating well-known and more expensive brands such as Baxter’s.

A panel of 77 soup fans compared more than 200 tins to find the tastiest supermarket options, with Asda, Crosse & Blackwell and Co-op also scoring highly.

With Which?’s top three ‘Best Buys’ each priced at 59p a tin, the results show you don’t need to splash out to enjoy a great-tasting soup.

Which soups scored the highest?

Sainsbury’s soup scored 78 per cent and was awarded Best Buy and Great Value, with tasters finding the balance of tanginess and sweetness “just right.”

Tesco tied with Sainsbury’s in first, matching them on “taste and value”, with top marks for creaminess and texture.

In second place, Asda’s own-label tin scored 77 per cent, while tasters ranked it among the best for it’s “well-balanced” flavour and aroma.

Crosse & Blackwell emerged as the highest-rated brand in the test with 76 per cent. Although cheaper than Heinz, it still costs roughly double the price of most supermarket own brands at £1.25 a tin.

Meanwhile, budget supermarket Aldi narrowly beat rival Lidl, scoring 71 percent compared with 70 per cent, but both lost points for creaminess and texture.

Which soups scored the lowest?

Surprisingly, Heinz placed near the lower end of the rankings, despite being one of the most expensive options at £1.70 a tin. Over a third of respondents found the flavour too weak and insufficiently sweet, while 62 per cent said it lacked creaminess.

Waitrose received the lowest overall score for own-label soup at 66 per cent, dropping marks on flavour as about half found it insufficiently thick or creamy.

Despite being the priciest option in the test, Baxters scored lowest overall at 58 per cent, with most tasters finding its flavour overly weak and texture insufficiently thick.

How were the soups scored?

Every soup was blind-tasted and rated by a panel of 77 people inside a specialist testing laboratory. Panellists were each served a 100ml sample of soup, warmed on the hob following packet instructions.

Brands were kept secret and discussion was strictly forbidden to ensure scores remained uninfluenced. Judges evaluated the flavour, aroma, appearance, and texture of every soup, providing feedback on their likes and dislikes.

The overall score was calculated using 50 per cent flavour, 20 per cent aroma 15 per cent appearance and 15 per cent texture.

Is tinned tomato soup good for you?

While Which? nutrition expert Shefalee Loth says that whole tinned tomato soup can be a healthy choice within a balanced diet, she warned customers to be wary of salt and sugar content.

She said: “All the soups we tested received an amber traffic light rating for salt, so opt for lower-sodium options like Morrisons (0.42g per 100g), Sugar is also worth watching, as brands add sugar to counteract acidity. Asda and Crosse & Blackwell both contain 6.1g of sugar per 100g, whereas Co-op has a slightly lower 4.4g.

“However, tinned tomato soup can offer some benefits. For example, it may count as one of your five-a-day if it contains at least 80g of vegetables. (This could come from fresh or tinned tomatoes, or from tomato purée — one heaped tablespoon counts as one portion.)”

Ms Loth added that an antioxidant found in tomatoes, known as lycopene, becomes “more bioavailable” when cooked and processed.