Taste test

TOMATO SOUP

Is it spring yet? The weather doesn’t seem quite so sure, so we thought it was an appropriate time to test tomato soup, a good one for the transition from one season to the next.

Cully & Sully Creamy Tomato & Basil Soup, 400g, €2.69, 8/10 If your preference is a creamy tomato soup, then this is the one to go for as it is flavoursome without losing the comfort factor that’s — let’s face it — the reason we buy tomato soup in the first place. It’s gluten free too. 4g of sugar and 59 calories per 100g. The Happy Pear Tomato, Red Pepper & Basil Soup, 375g, €2.79, 7/10

This soup is suitable for vegans and there is a discernible coconut flavour, as coconut milk is used in place of dairy. It’s light and summery yet also has a nice creamy consistency — you’d want to like red peppers to enjoy it. 3.3g and 42 calories per 100g.

Kinsale Bay Tomato & Basil Soup, 400g, €2.99, 6/10 This gluten-free soup has only 24 calories per 100g (although it does have 4.9g of sugar per 100g) so it’s the one to choose if you are counting calories. It’s the simplest of the soups that we tested, with a thick tomato consistency and none of the creaminess that you get with the addition of dairy.

Fusion Street Tomato Soup with Fresh Coriander, Red Beans and Corn, 400g, €2.79, 5/10 With 30 calories and 2.6g of sugar per 100g, this chunky Mexican-flavoured soup was the most filling of the soups that we tried. Our testers thought that it contained too many (unannounced) green peppers — more than any other vegetable.

SuperValu Creamy Tomato & Basil Soup, 400g, €1.99, 4/10 With 83 calories and 4.7g of sugar per 100g, this was by far the most calorific and the sweetest of the soups tested.

Avonmore Vine Tomato & Basil Soup, 400g, €2.29, 4/10 The soup from Avonmore has 46 calories and 3.8g of sugar per 100g. It’s blandly comforting, but lacking in flavour.