For a 200 g starter, Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal and 0.69 g salt per half-can of Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup; ASDA Groceries lists 76 kcal and 1.7 g salt for an entire 295 g can of Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup. Choose according to the amount you will serve, then check salt and ingredients for your guests and count bread or toppings separately.
If soup comes before a larger Christmas dinner, decide how much goes into each bowl. A tin labelled as two servings need not be served whole to one person; bread, butter, cream and croutons add to the starter separately.
Look for energy per stated serving and the number of servings in the tin. A whole-can figure and a half-can figure describe different amounts of food, even when both products are marketed as lower-fat choices.
Check the exact tin for salt and allergens before choosing a soup for guests. The Tesco and Heinz tomato soups discussed here contain milk ingredients, despite being vegetarian options.
Start with the portion you plan to serve, then compare its nutrition and ingredients with the rest of the Christmas menu in mind.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Portion and energy | Find the serving count and energy for the amount going into the bowl. Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per 200 g half-can of Low Fat Tomato Soup; ASDA Groceries lists 76 kcal for the full 295 g Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup can. | I’m serving a starter rather than a full bowl as a meal, so I want to compare the calories in the portion I’ll actually pour. |
| Salt | Compare salt for the same portion basis as energy. Tesco Groceries lists 0.69 g per half-can; ASDA Groceries lists 1.7 g for the whole Heinz can. Check the exact product rather than treating a low-fat label as a salt measure. | With gravy, stuffing or other savoury dishes on the menu, I want to see how much salt the soup serving adds. |
| Recipe and flavour | Check whether the recipe suits the guests. Sainsbury’s lists 98 kcal, 0.88 g salt, 5.6 g protein and 2.0 g fibre per half-can of its Tomato & Spicy Lentil Soup; its spicy flavour is a separate choice from its nutrition figures. | I’d like a tomato-and-lentil starter, but I need to know whether guests would prefer a milder soup. |
| Ingredients | Read the current tin’s ingredient list and highlighted allergens. Confirm vegetarian or vegan suitability for the individual recipe rather than assuming it from a tomato or vegetable name. | Some guests may need to avoid milk or other ingredients, so the recipe must fit their requirements before I serve it. |
| Accompaniments | Consider bread, butter, cream and croutons separately from the soup’s nutrition panel, and decide on their portions before serving. | I want the full starter, not just the contents of the tin, to reflect the amount I planned to serve. |
Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup and Sainsbury’s Tomato & Spicy Lentil Soup each declare two servings per tin. A whole tin is twice the stated half-can portion, before any sides or toppings.
Decide whether soup is a starter or the main meal, then portion it into bowls using the pack’s serving information.
ASDA Groceries lists 1.7 g salt in a 295 g can of Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup. Action on Salt & Sugar reported in February 2026 that 23% of 481 ready-to-eat soups assessed in major UK retailers exceeded UK salt reduction targets; that figure describes products assessed, not shoppers’ preferences.
Check salt on the exact tin alongside calories, particularly when planning other savoury dishes for the meal.
The Tesco and Heinz tomato soups discussed here contain milk ingredients. A vegetarian description does not answer whether a soup is suitable for someone avoiding milk.
Read the current ingredient and allergen label for every soup served to guests, and check any alternative separately.
The stated soup nutrition applies to the product and portion described on its label, not to added bread, butter, cream or croutons.
Choose the bowl size and accompaniments together when planning the starter.
Range names can help narrow the search, but the serving size, nutrition and ingredients belong to the individual tin.
The Weight Watchers from Heinz tomato soup is a named low-fat option with nutrition declared for its whole 295 g tin.
Tesco lists lower-fat tomato and lentil-and-vegetable soups in its own-label tinned range.
The Be Good to Yourself Tomato & Spicy Lentil Soup offers a tomato-and-lentil recipe in a two-serving tin.
M&S lists several Eat Well tinned-soup recipes, including tomato and basil, chunky vegetable, and spiced lentil and tomato.
These soup options offer mushroom, corn potage and bean recipes to consider for a Christmas starter. Check each pack’s portion information and ingredients before comparing it with the labelled tomato and lentil examples above.
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For a mushroom-soup starter, decide how much of the 400 g tin to pour into each bowl. Check the current serving and energy information, and check milk and wheat allergens for guests.
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For a corn-potage starter, check the labelled serving size and energy for the amount you intend to serve. Check the current ingredients for milk and chicken bouillon flavouring before offering it to guests who avoid either ingredient.
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This 400 g bean soup is an option for a bean-based starter. Check the serving count and energy for the portion you plan to serve, and check the current allergen label for celery.
No: use the energy figure for the portion you will serve and check the tin’s serving count. Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per half-can of its Low Fat Tomato Soup, while ASDA Groceries lists 76 kcal for an entire 295 g can of Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup; those are different serving amounts.
If you plan a 200 g tomato-soup serving, Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal and 0.69 g salt per half-can of Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup. For a tomato-and-lentil recipe, Sainsbury’s lists 98 kcal and 0.88 g salt per half-can of its spicy version. Choose with the intended portion, flavour and guests’ ingredient requirements in mind.
A calorie figure does not tell you the soup’s salt content. ASDA Groceries lists 1.7 g salt for the whole 295 g Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup tin, so compare both values for the amount you intend to serve, particularly alongside other savoury Christmas dishes.
Not necessarily. The Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup and Weight Watchers from Heinz Tomato Soup discussed here contain milk ingredients. Check the current tin’s highlighted allergens and ingredients rather than relying on its flavour or vegetarian description.
Follow the storage and use-after-opening directions on the exact tin. Check whether it instructs you to transfer unused soup to a covered container and refrigerate it; do not assume different recipes have the same use-by period after opening.