A whole 400g tin of several tinned soups fits below 500 kcal as soup alone: Tesco Groceries lists its Low Fat Tomato Soup at 61 kcal per half-can, or 122 kcal per tin, while ASDA Groceries lists Heinz Lentil at 91 kcal per half-can, or 182 kcal per tin. Choose the recipe and texture you want, then compare salt and ingredients on the full-tin basis; bread, cheese and other additions count towards the finished dinner separately.
If you expect to eat all 400g, use the whole-tin figure rather than the often smaller labelled serving. The Tesco Groceries and ASDA Groceries examples above are 122 kcal and 182 kcal per full tin respectively, before accompaniments.
Soup calories do not tell you its salt content. ASDA Groceries lists 1.2g salt per half-can for Heinz Chicken Noodle, Carrot & Coriander and Lentil: that is 2.4g if you eat the whole 400g tin. The NHS advises adults to have no more than 6g of salt a day.
A flavour name cannot settle dietary suitability. Check the current pack’s ingredients, allergen declaration and any vegetarian claim for the exact recipe you intend to eat.
Start with the amount you will eat, then check what else the soup brings to the meal and what you might serve alongside it.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-tin calories | Check the can size and the nutrition basis. For a 400g tin, double a half-can kcal figure or multiply a per-100g figure by four; count accompaniments separately. | I plan to eat the entire tin and want to know whether my finished dinner, not just a labelled serving, stays under 500 kcal. |
| Salt | Calculate salt for the portion you will eat. For context, the NHS advises adults to have no more than 6g a day; a full tin of the Heinz Chicken Noodle, Carrot & Coriander or Lentil soups listed by ASDA Groceries contains 2.4g. | If soup is my dinner, I want its full-tin salt figure before deciding what to have with it. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the current ingredient and allergen declaration for the specific flavour. Check any vegetarian or vegan declaration separately rather than inferring it from the soup’s name. | Milk, wheat, egg or celery may matter to me, or I may want a vegetarian recipe; another flavour in the same range may differ. |
| Recipe and texture | Look for the ingredients and texture you prefer—smooth tomato, noodles, vegetables, lentils or beans. Compare any protein or fibre figures using the same portion size, without treating texture as a measure of how satisfying a soup will be. | Some evenings I want a smooth bowl; on others, I would rather have visible vegetables, noodles or pulses. |
A 400g tin may list nutrition for half a can. Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per half-can for Low Fat Tomato Soup, making the whole tin 122 kcal.
Calculate nutrition for the amount you will actually eat before comparing tins.
ASDA Groceries lists 1.2g salt per half-can for Heinz Chicken Noodle, Carrot & Coriander and Lentil. Eating a full tin gives 2.4g, even though each is below 500 kcal as soup alone.
Check calories and salt independently, including what you add at the table.
Recipes with similar dinner uses can have different ingredients and allergen declarations. A vegetable or lentil name is not a substitute for checking the exact can.
Read the current pack whenever an allergen or dietary preference affects your choice.
A soup-only calorie figure does not cover bread, butter, cheese or croutons. Those additions can change whether the finished dinner meets a 500-calorie target.
Work out the soup portion first, then add the labelled calories for the quantities of any accompaniments you use.
These examples show why the exact recipe and serving basis matter more than the name on the tin.
The 400g examples include Chicken Noodle, Carrot & Coriander and Lentil soups.
Low Fat Tomato Soup is a smooth 400g option labelled vegetarian in the retailer’s product information.
Be Good To Yourself Tomato & Spicy Lentil Soup offers a tomato-and-lentil recipe in a 400g tin.
The examples include Chunky Vegetable Soup and a minestrone with pasta and beans.
Tesco Groceries lists 295g condensed Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken soups.
These tins cover chicken-and-noodle, chicken-and-mushroom, bean and spiced-vegetable recipes for a quick soup dinner. Use each current pack’s nutrition declaration to check your intended whole-tin portion against 500 kcal.
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For a chicken-and-noodle soup dinner, ASDA Groceries lists this 400g recipe at 64 kcal and 1.2g salt per half-can—128 kcal and 2.4g salt for the full tin. Check the current pack for allergens and count any sides separately.
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A chicken-and-mushroom choice if you prefer a creamy-style recipe. Check the current can’s calories and salt for the full 400g, along with its ingredient and allergen declaration.
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Consider this bean soup when you want a different recipe from smooth tomato or chicken soup. Use the current label to calculate calories and salt for the whole 400g tin and to check dietary suitability.
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This parsnip-and-carrot recipe offers a spiced vegetable option. Check the full-tin calorie and salt totals, allergens and opened-soup storage instructions on the current 400g pack.
Here it means the entire unaccompanied 400g tin. Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per half-can for Low Fat Tomato Soup, so eating both halves gives 122 kcal of soup.
Possibly, but the soup figure alone cannot answer that. Add the calories for the quantities of bread, butter, cheese, croutons or other extras you actually use, then compare the finished meal with your target.
The supplied product information identifies Tesco Low Fat Tomato, Heinz Carrot & Coriander, Heinz Lentil and M&S Chunky Vegetable as vegetarian examples. Check the current can before buying: a vegetarian declaration does not establish that a soup is free from allergens.
Calories and salt are separate label figures. ASDA Groceries lists 1.2g salt per half-can for Heinz Chicken Noodle, Carrot & Coriander and Lentil—2.4g per full tin—while the NHS advises adults to have no more than 6g a day.
Follow the instructions on the particular can for transferring, refrigerating, using and reheating leftovers. Do not apply one recipe’s storage period to another, and check the heating directions before serving.