13 Best Canned Soups When You're Sick, According To Experts

There are countless reasons to love sweater weather, but cooler weather often means more illnesses circulating, and eventually, we're all pretty much guaranteed to catch one.

Many foods are nourishing when you're sick, but a hot bowl of soup is tough to beat. Warming, hydrating, and soothing for a sore throat, it can lift your spirits and ease your discomfort when you need it most. You can quibble over whether homemade soup tastes better than store-bought soup, but if you're struggling to drag yourself out of bed, canned soup can be a lifesaver. Who has the energy to stand over a simmering pot when they're under the weather, anyway?

Canned soup comes in a wide variety, of course, with varying nutritional value. Cream of mushroom soup might be the secret ingredient that takes meatloaf to the next level, but it won't offer as many health benefits as, say, a vegetable-rich ginger chicken soup. To get the lowdown on which canned soups we should be eating when suffering through a cold, we spoke with three experts – Tammy Lomond, RD, MSc; Jennifer Pallian, RD; and Johannah Katz, MA, RD — who revealed which ingredients to favor and which to avoid to help speed your path to recovery.

Progresso soup is widely available, and some of its offerings suit those recovering from illness. The Garden Vegetable soup is one of the best, packed with ingredients that will provide some much-needed nutrients. 

Made with potatoes, carrots, tomato puree, kidney beans, green beans, celery, and corn, it's a veggie-heavy option that provides a respectable three grams of protein per cup despite having no meat. According to Johanna Katz, the key elements to look for when buying soup for a cold are fluid, protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables. This option has them all, though it leans more heavily on hydration and veggies than protein.

That said, one major downside of this soup is its sodium content. "Some sodium can be useful when you have been sweating, have a fever or have not been eating much," Katz explained, "But canned soups can contain quite a lot." People with high blood pressure should be especially wary of foods high in sodium. The Garden Vegetable soup from Progresso contains a whopping 650mg per cup, well over the 140mg Jennifer Pallian suggested as an upper limit.

Sometimes, simple is best. This is especially the case when your illness includes an upset stomach. Whether you're struggling to keep solids down or just need something soothing for your throat, Annie's Tomato Soup is a great option. 

It's about as stripped-back as any widely available canned soup, featuring just seven ingredients: tomato puree, sugar, corn starch, salt, olive oil, garlic powder, and onion powder. The key ingredient, unsurprisingly, is tomato, which is exactly what you should eat when you're sick. As Tammy Lomond explained, "Tomatoes contain lycopene, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that support the immune system." What better way to get a hefty dose of tomatoes than a bowl of piping-hot soup?

This option has a few caveats, though. First, tomato soup contains very little protein. One 14.3-ounce can gives you only two grams, a fraction of the recommended daily amount (1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight). It also contains quite a bit of sodium, 660mg per can, nearly five times the 140mg Jennifer Pallian recommends. Beyond that, it provides only 100 calories per can. This might be ideal if you're trying to limit your caloric intake, but if you're seeking sustenance during an illness, you might want something more filling.

Tammy Lomond singled out minestrone as an ideal option for colds. This classic Italian concoction is full of vegetables and beans, which Lomond noted have anti-inflammatory properties. This Pacific Foods version doesn't skimp on that. Made with white beans, chickpeas, and pasta shells, it has protein and carbohydrates to complement all the veggies.

Just one cup of this soup contains five grams of protein, making it one of the best vegetarian canned soup options out there. As for the vegetables, it contains tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, celery, potatoes, kale, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. This puts it squarely in line with what the experts advised. 

For one thing, it contains a wide variety of veggies, which Johannah Katz noted is better than trying to pin down a single "magical" immune-boosting ingredient. For another, it offers soft ingredients and mild flavor, two factors that Tammy Lomond noted were particularly desirable during an illness. Like many canned soups, this one contains far more sodium than recommended — 590 mg per cup. While that is certainly a factor to consider, it is still lower than some of the other cold-friendly soups on this list.

Chicken soup is so closely associated with colds that it has become a cliché, but according to the experts we spoke to, that cliché is well founded. "Broth based chicken soups are a great choice," Johanna Katz said. "The broth contributes fluid, the chicken provides protein, and noodles, rice, or potatoes provide carbohydrates for energy." Warm broth can also help soothe a sore throat and clear up congestion, though those benefits are temporary. This Progresso option uses rice instead of noodles or potatoes, along with tomatoes, carrots, and celery. Onion and garlic powder provide additional flavor, as does dried parsley.

Each cup contains a respectable 4 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat. On the downside, the sodium content is high, as is typical with canned soup. One cup contains 600 mg, well above the recommended 140mg. Otherwise, it has all the hallmarks of an ideal meal for anyone suffering from a cold.

If you don't feel like eating chicken or beans, lentils are an excellent alternative. They provide protein and key nutrients, including fiber, iron, folate, zinc, and polyphenols, which our experts say you need when you're under the weather. Progresso's Mediterranean Lentil soup is packed with goodness. One cup contains more than five grams of protein, more than the brand's chicken and rice soup. It also provides 2 grams of fiber and 7% of the recommended daily iron intake.

Unfortunately, it does contain a significant amount of sodium. One cup clocks in at around 330 mg, well above the recommended 140 mg, but still much lower than many of Progresso's other options. If you're looking for a healthy vegetable soup to get you through fall and winter, this lentil soup is one of the best. Just make sure to avoid excessive amounts of sodium elsewhere in your diet to compensate.

Another chicken-and-rice soup option comes from Pacific Foods. Like the Progresso version, this soup offers a light broth that provides hydration and can help soothe sore throats and loosen congestion. It also provides plenty of protein from the chicken and nutrients and vitamins from vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions. For those who like to limit ingredients in store-bought foods, this soup has just 12, compared with more than 20 in the Progresso option.

In addition to a sizeable six grams of protein per cup, Pacific Foods' chicken and wild rice soup contains an unfortunate 640mg of sodium. That makes it one of the highest-protein and highest-sodium options on this list. If you're trying to maximize protein, it will do the trick, but if you're worried about sodium, it shouldn't be the first one you reach for.

Of Campbell's popular soups, only one met the nutritional experts' criteria: Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup from the brand's Heart Healthy line. Don't let Campbell's limited availability in this roundup put you off this product, though. Made with bone broth, egg noodles, carrots, and parsley, it's an excellent choice for anyone craving classic chicken noodle soup when they're ill. In fact, multiple reviews note that people reach for it when they or their family members have a cold.

You may notice the brand advertises this product as having "50% less sodium" than its regular Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup, but keep in mind that "less" is relative, and that relativity does a lot of heavy lifting here. Just a half-cup serving contains 410 mg of sodium, which is 820 mg compared with the typical one-cup serving listed on other canned products. 

For that reason, you will definitely want to follow the brand's recommendation to mix this condensed soup with equal parts water. That would bring its per-cup sodium content below many other canned soups on the market, though still much higher than the recommended 140 mg.

Annie's also has one of the best store-bought chicken soups, and for those who want organic ingredients with no artificial colors or flavors, it has the edge. Like Campbell's and Progresso, it has a thin, hydrating broth and nutrient-rich veggies like celery and carrots. 

Unlike other options, Annie's chicken soup also includes herbs like rosemary and thyme, along with turmeric. Tammy Lomond suggests seeking out products with turmeric because of its anti-inflammatory properties, but the nutrition label notes that it's used only for color, suggesting it's likely in such a small quantity that the health benefits are negligible.

As for sodium, Annie's chicken soup isn't the worst offender, but it's far from the best. A one-cup serving contains 590 mg, which is 26% of the recommended daily intake. If you eat the whole can, you'll consume more than 50% of your recommended sodium in one meal.

For vegetarian options, Amy's reduced-sodium minestrone is one of the best. It's chock full of vegetables (including tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, green beans, and peas) and includes carbohydrate-rich pasta and protein-packed kidney beans. One cup contains four grams of protein, which is impressive for a meat-free soup. It also contains four grams of fiber, which accounts for 14% of the recommended daily intake.

Most notable, however, is the sodium content. While most soups on this list, even the supposedly reduced-sodium ones, contain well over 400 mg per serving, Amy's minestrone has just 270 mg. That is still nearly twice Jennifer Pallian's 140 mg recommendation, but it's a significant improvement over most other options on the market. Combine that with the protein and fiber content, and this soup is easily one of the best canned products you can find when you're wrestling with a cold.

Amy's quinoa, kale, and red lentil soup is a nutritional powerhouse and unlike any of the other options we've mentioned so far. Kale has even more vitamin C than spinach, and the quinoa-and-lentil combination also provides a hefty dose of protein. One cup of this soup provides four grams of protein, comparable to many canned chicken soups. It also contains three grams of fiber, which the experts we spoke to highlighted as a key factor to look out for. Meanwhile, quinoa is a superfood that contains all nine essential amino acids and can even lower your risk of diabetes.

The major downside of this soup is its sodium content. While you might associate organic products and ingredients like kale and quinoa with health, the sodium here is the worst of the bunch. Just one cup contains a staggering 740 mg, making it by far the highest on this list. If you need to limit sodium for medical reasons, this isn't the best option. If you aren't concerned about sodium in your diet, though, the other health benefits of this soup are hard to compete with.

When you're dealing with a fussy stomach during an illness, meat is sometimes off the table. You want soft, easily digested foods that won't sit heavy in your system. If that's the case, Amy's vegetable soup has your back. It not only has a thin broth that can hydrate you and maybe even ease your sore throat for a while, but it also includes many of the veggies the experts we spoke to recommended. 

Johanna Katz specifically singled out carrots, tomatoes, and spinach, all of which are present in this soup. It also contains flavorful sweet corn and peas, which add protein. In fact, while you might not think of vegetables as particularly protein-rich, this product provides a respectable three grams of it per one-cup serving. It might not beat the protein content of meat or legume-based options, but it's better than nothing.

The sodium content is a notable downside, however. Advertised as 25% lower in sodium than the brand's regular soup, this product contains 530 mg per cup. This is significantly higher than the recommended 140 mg limit, but it is still lower than many other canned soups.

If you're looking for a slightly healthier alternative to Progresso's standard chicken and rice soup, consider the brand's reduced-sodium chicken noodle option. It contains 460 mg of sodium compared to 600 mg and includes nutrient-rich vegetables like tomatoes, celery, and carrots. Though slightly higher in fat, it has fewer carbohydrates than its sodium-heavy rice alternative. This reduced-sodium option is also higher in protein. The chicken and rice soup contains four grams of protein per cup, while the roasted chicken noodle soup contains five.

Overall, if you're looking for a broth-heavy chicken soup to cure your hunger and soothe your illness, this one has a lot to recommend it. Its sodium content is lower than any other chicken soup on this list, though adding the recommended water to the Heart Healthy Campbell's soup bumps it down to second place. It also has relatively high protein and veggies, adding much-needed nutrients to your diet.

All three of the experts we spoke to singled out lentils as one of the best ingredients to have when you're sick. "They provide protein along with fiber, iron, folate and other nutrients," Johannah Katz explained. "They can be especially helpful for someone who wants a plant-based soup that is still substantial enough to count as a meal." 

Amy's version of lentil soup is an excellent no-frills option that also offers nutrients from carrots, onions, potatoes, and celery. If you're concerned about getting enough protein, this option is also ideal. One cup contains 6 grams, more than some of the chicken soups on this list.

Another major selling point is its sodium content. One cup contains 270 mg, well below many other canned soups, though still above the recommended 140 mg per serving limit Jennifer Pallian suggests. Holistically, the sodium content is a small price to pay for the protein, fiber, and nutrients this soup offers.