So, I’m still undecided about my thoughts toward canned soups. On one hand, they are quick, convenient, somewhat healthy, and can be bought very cheap (when you catch the right sale – I’ll explain in a minute). So, does that mean they are a good buy or a good thing to add to your diet? I’ll share my thoughts, and then I am hoping you can share your thoughts.

Quick and Convenient

The types of soups in this picture are the heat-and-eat kind, where you don’t even need to add additional water, as they are not concentrated. Because of the preservatives and canning process, these things can sit on your shelf for weeks/months until you are ready to eat them. I like to keep some non-perishable food items at my desk at work so that I can make sure I NEVER go to the vending machine. Also, on those days when I am running out the door in the morning, and absolutely don’t have time to pack my lunch, one of these cans of soup does a nice job of filling me up.

Get ‘em Cheap

There is no way I would buy any of these at their normal price (which I think is something over $2 a can). I know you are paying for the convenience, but I can easily make the same soup, better and cheaper than that! However, some of our local groceries frequently run specials where they are marked down to between $1 – $1.50/can. OK, that’s getting better, but still… I dunno.

Alright, how about this? What if you combine a doubled coupon with that special store sale? Now we’re talkin’… I frequently find coupons for Progresso soups in the Sunday newspaper: either $. 50 or $1 off (which are actually the same at Kroger, because they double any coupons up to $ .50 The current sale for the Progresso soups at Kroger is 4 cans for $5, which makes them $1.25 each (no, you don’t have to buy 5).

Buy 2 @ 1.25 each = $2.50

Use a $.50 off of 2 coupon (doubled) = -$1.00

$1.50 / 2 = $.75 each

Of course, that deal would be even better if you have a $1 off on 1 coupon, but I just had the ones that required purchasing 2 cans. Anyway, at $.75 for a meal, that’s not too bad!

Are they Healthy?

OK, here is the tricky one… The soups are indeed convenient, and we now know that they can be “cheap”, but are they good for you? Honestly, I don’t really know on this one… Even at eating both servings, most of the varieties I choose end up somewhere around 10g-15g of total fat, and maybe 400 – 500 calories or so. There are other varieties that are significantly higher, but I try to stay on the lighter side with those choices. BUT, for those concerned with your salt intake, these soups might be a cause for concern. In order to provide that incredible convenience, they are typically loaded with preservatives and salt. 2 servings (1 can) of most varieties I looked at provided a combined 40-70% of the recommended daily intake of sodium (according to the nutritional data on the can).

This is where I am going to turn over the mic…

What do you think of these types of soups? (I’m not picking on Progresso, they were just mentioned specifically because of the coupon. Let’s open it up to all the brands of canned soups)

How big of a deal is the sodium?

Is the convenience worth it?

Did you know you could get them so cheap? (BTW, I’m open to hearing other extreme coupon examples as well!)