The pros: Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Chicken Soup is tasty, well made, fresh tasting, and not too salty.
The cons: If you want noodles you'll have to add them yourself. Soup isn't overly salty, so depending on your preference you may want to add some salt. Not as cheap as the canned varieties, but the quality is here. More than a quarter of the sodium you should eat in a day.
The verdict: For $4.49 you get a good sized container of chicken soup. While this might seem on the higher end for chicken soup what you are getting here is loaded with veggies and most importantly chicken. If you have consumed canned chicken soup, you know that getting a chunk of chicken is like hitting the lottery. With canned chicken soup it is underwhelming in taste, over salted, and usually contains some of the mushiest veggies and noodles. It's soup on demand, but not close to what homemade tastes like. This tastes like homemade soup. There was enough salt that it wasn't bland, but some might find it under salted. So some adjustment might be necessary. I found the addition of Ritz crackers balanced out the need to add any more salt. There were plenty of veggies and the carrots weren't mush. As for the celery, I'm almost positive turns to mush no matter what. There is enough chicken fat in here to have a good mouth feel and add a bit of flavor. I'd reach for this any day over the canned variety. And yes, best of all, there is a good amount of chicken which is cut into bite size but not microscopic pieces. If you are feeling a bit under the weather or just enjoy chicken soup this is a good buy. If you like chicken noodle soup, you'll have to bring your own noodles.
The container of Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Chicken Soup in the refrigerated section:
The nutritional information and the ingredients:
How to prepare:
They don't skimp out on what goes into a good chicken soup:
After being cooked you get:
Would I buy this again? Yes, and I have purchased Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Chicken Soup every time I can actually find it.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
I went to Trader Joe’s last week and they were showcasing their chicken noodle but with gnocchi and heavy cream added into the soup. It takes like a potato soup on crack!!! By far my favorite soup and not expensive at all to make.
Hey Rachel! This is a good item. I never thought to add those tings. Thanks for adding that because someone might be inspired to try that at home. Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to stop by and share!
I did not have your experience. The soup was relatively flavorless and did not have much substance. The chicken and vegetables were scarce. The final turn off was the chunk of chicken skin.
Hey Tim! Thanks for stopping by and sharing this. I know I wrote this review a while back and maybe they've changed it since. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to stop by and share.
Do you know if it is gluten free? I have celiac and cannot find out. By the ingredients I say yes. But there is so seal or notification saying this is so.