Why You Should Avoid This Walmart Brand When Buying Chicken Noodle Soup

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Walmart's in-house brands can be hit or miss. Some of its Great Value ice cream flavors, on one hand, are really good, though there are plenty of grocery staples that are worth skipping, according to customers. After sampling an array of chicken noodle soups, our taster found that one can should never have a spot in your cart: Great Value's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup. This soup wasn't the worst of the lot, but it also wasn't in the same league as some of the heavy hitters on our list.

While our taster noted that the broth and its seasoning were top-notch and that there were plenty of noodles, it was very skimpy in the carrot and chicken department. Great Value's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup is also a condensed variety, but our taster found that adding water didn't do much for the soup's flavor or its texture. Although its price may be affordable (at the time of writing, a 10.75-ounce can was priced at under $1, compared to $1.24 for the same sized can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup), it's not worth buying if the soup and its components as a whole are underwhelming. 

Opinions about this soup vary, but it seems like many folks share the same opinion as our taster. "The watered-down taste that comes from preparing it as directed is, well, decidedly meh, and the ridiculous amount of sodium only makes things worse," said one reviewer on Walmart's website. "Replacing water in the condensed can never seems to turn out as well as the 18-ounce full-size uncondensed can," another customer shared. Some folks, however, didn't find this soup to be all that salty or lackluster, so this may be based on personal preference. 

Others instead took to Walmart's website to share how they like to upgrade this soup. "It's not Campbell's, but not far off! Add a little garlic, or oyster crackers and nobody would know," one shopper said. Perhaps if you enjoyed it with a hearty grilled cheese sandwich and skipped some of the water, you might not even notice the lack of chicken and carrots floating around in Great Value's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup.