We Tried And Ranked All 5 Of Progresso's New Pitmaster Soups

It's safe to say that there's no shortage of canned soup options at the grocery store, but barbecue-inspired soups? Those are a little harder to come by. Now, thanks to Progresso's Pitmaster soup lineup, even barbecue-, steakhouse-, and smoky-style soups are a little easier to find. Progresso's Pitmaster soups feature five unique (yet somewhat familiar) flavors: steakhouse-style steak and bean, sausage and beer cheese with potatoes, smokehouse-style grilled chicken and potato with roasted vegetables, hearty smokehouse-style steak and potatoes with roasted vegetables, and BBQ-style grilled chicken and fire-roasted corn.

Surely any barbecue or smoky-flavored food lover would be intrigued by such options. I've put all five of the soups to the taste test, ranking them from worst to best to find the ultimate Pitmaster soup. An important factor when ranking these soups was whether or not they lived up to the smoky, barbecue-esque flavors that they claim to, but I also paid attention to how good each soup tasted in general, whether it had any particularly special qualities about it, and whether the ingredients seemed particularly tasty and cohesive together.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

There was one soup that was destined for last place on this list, and alas, that soup is the smokehouse-style grilled chicken and potato with roasted vegetables. Don't get me wrong. This soup wasn't terrible or offensive in any way, but it definitely lacked any smoky flavors compared to the other soups on this list. And, when a soup boasts "smokehouse-style" in its name, I think it's only natural to expect some distinctly smoky flavor in both the broth and the chunky ingredients.

Unfortunately, not only did this soup not have a whole lot of smoky flavor to offer, but it also didn't have a whole lot of flavor in general. The broth did strike me as bland right off the bat, especially compared to other soups on this list that did have nice, flavorful broths. Also, while the chunky ingredients like the grilled chicken and corn did have distinct grill marks on them, these marks didn't reflect any real grilled or charred flavor, as these ingredients were pretty bland too. Then there was the final component, the potatoes, which were perfectly fine and certainly bulked up the soup, but again — just bland, bland, bland all-around.

Coming in second-to-last in this ranking — though a soup that I do consider to be a step up — is the hearty smokehouse-style steak and potatoes with roasted vegetables. Now, keen observers will notice that this soup is an awfully lot like the previous one, but with steak instead of chicken. And, it is true that the soups are similar in both name and ingredients, but the broth was a little bit different in this one (as evidenced by the color alone), and that's where this soup had a little more success than its chicken predecessor. 

There was definitely some smokiness at play in this soup's broth, and that alone gave it some points in my book. I also generally enjoyed the broth's flavor, smokiness aside, as it had a nice, rich savoriness to it that reminded me of Worcestershire sauce, and unsurprisingly, this flavor profile worked really well with the steak. Speaking of the steak, I thought it was tasty enough (admittedly, I do tend to prefer beef soups as opposed to chicken ones), and it certainly tasted good alongside the other ingredients. The corn and potatoes ultimately didn't add a whole lot of flavor to the soup, but between the steak and the broth, I could tell that we were getting closer to those distinct barbecue-style flavors ... we just weren't quite there yet.

It's no secret that beans can be a bit polarizing, notoriously so in chili, but I'd argue the case for soup, too. Luckily, when done right (and balanced out with a tasty broth and other inclusions), beans can make for a rather tasty soup addition. Progresso's Pitmaster steakhouse-style steak and bean soup proves it. This soup was honestly quite similar to the steak, potato, and roasted vegetable soup, but with beans instead of potatoes and a far tastier broth.

The broth in this soup definitely captured a strong savory essence that balanced with a distinct smoky flavor quite nicely. I'd say that this broth was perhaps the most balanced of all the broths on this list in terms of nailing that savory-smoky flavor profile. The inclusions of steak and beans were pretty good too, but I was truthfully searching for even more beans in the mix. The soup was mostly overrun by corn, which isn't a bad thing, but considering that the soup's name alludes to steak and beans, it seemed like corn shouldn't have been the star player here. Overall, a tasty soup, but one that needed less corn and more steak and beans.

If there's one soup on this list that really sticks out from the rest based on ingredients alone, it's definitely the sausage and beer cheese with potatoes. Whereas the other soups feature either steak or chicken, this one features Italian sausage, something that really worked to its advantage. And, of course, we can't ignore that beer cheese broth, one that was absolutely laden with richness and an almost impossibly savory, cheesy flavor.

I could tell after a single bite of broth and sausage that this was a tasty soup. The sausage was by far my favorite meat, as it had that deliciously salty flavor profile and a texture that would make you question whether it came from a can. The sausage also paired very well with the beer cheese broth, as did the other main soup inclusion, potatoes. My only grievance with this soup is that it was very, very heavy — to the point where I questioned how easily one might sit down and enjoy an entire bowlful of this stuff. Overwhelming richness aside, however, this was an undeniably tasty soup, and any sausage or cheese lover will enjoy this one (perhaps in small doses, though). 

Taking the top spot in this soup ranking is Progresso's Pitmaster BBQ-style grilled chicken and fire-roasted corn, a soup that absolutely nailed that quintessential barbecue flavor profile in my book. Truthfully, I was worried that this soup would lean too heavily into a sweet flavor profile — trying to mimic the flavor of barbecue sauce — but I was wrong about that. There was certainly some sweetness to the broth, but it was very well balanced with the right hits of savory goodness, and plenty of smokiness to remind you that this is, indeed, a barbecue-style soup.

Other ingredients in the soup include grilled chicken, beans, and corn, all of which paired well with the broth. I can't deny that the barbecue broth was no doubt the star of the show, but the more neutral (yet still hearty) inclusions just made the broth all the more enjoyable. I found this soup to be well-rounded between the subtly sweet, smoky broth and the more savory-leaning inclusions, and it's one that I could see just about anyone enjoying (so long as you like barbecue and smoky flavors). Overall, this soup lived up to its BBQ-style namesake and had the best tasting broth of all the soups on the list, making for an easy first place choice out of the five Progresso soups that I sampled.

This lineup of five new Progresso Pitmaster soups is available at retailers across the country. Progresso supplied me with the soups for this tasting. When ranking these Progresso Pitmaster soups, naturally, flavor was the most important factor. I paid attention to how good a soup tasted overall; however, for many of them, smokiness and a true barbecue essence were key. The only exception to this smokiness rule was the sausage and beer cheese with potatoes soup, which I ranked in second place and thought highly of. This soup didn't claim to have a smoky flavor profile, so I didn't fault it for leaning more in an explicitly savory, cheesy direction.

Since all of the soups on this list tasted at least decent, the ones that I ranked in the last couple of slots were missing that certain something that made them stand out. The last place soup, for example, was lacking smokiness and sort of tasted like any chicken and potato soup that you might find at the grocery store. On the other hand, the No. 1 ranking soup had a distinctly strong barbecue flavor, so not only did it taste good, but it also felt true to what the Pitmaster soups were meant to represent.