14 Genius Ways To Make Your Campbell's Tomato Soup 10x More Flavorful

Campbell's tomato soup on its own definitely fills a certain need. When you're sick or it's really cold outside, or you just need something to accompany a spectacular grilled cheese sandwich, Campbell's tomato soup is there for you. However, this canned soup, which can trace its history all the way back to 1895 (though that original soup was packaged in jars, technically), sometimes does indeed taste a little old-fashioned and ho-hum. While comforting under certain conditions, no one's going to call a can of Campbell's tomato soup exciting or titillating.

Luckily, there are ways to fix that. You can really enhance your next bowl of condensed tomato soup by simply adding in a few new ingredients. We spoke with three foodie experts to get their ideas for the best ways to make a can of tomato soup more flavorful, including Erin Clarke, founder of Well Plated and cookbook author of The Well Plated Cookbook and Well Plated Every Day; Thérèse Buchanan, recipe developer and food blogger of Tessie's Table; and Olivia Wyles, food blogger of Real Life Recipes with Olivia Wyles. Here's what they had to say.

Campbell's tomato soup doesn't have a lot going for it in the texture department, and the flavor itself isn't all that robust or interesting. There's not much in the way of depth. However, this tip from Thérèse Buchanan could help you change that.

"One of my favorite ways to improve canned tomato soup is to roast a handful of cherry tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper until they start to burst and caramelize," she said. "Stir them into the soup or blend everything together if you prefer it smooth. Roasting brings out the tomatoes' natural sweetness and adds a much richer tomato flavor than you'd get from the canned soup alone."

In addition to roasting some cherry tomatoes for your soup, make a bigger batch and use your roasted cherry tomatoes in other dishes as well. Combine them with a scoop-able, spreadable cheese and some chopped basil and you have the perfect accompaniment for some crackers. Or add them to a pizza or sandwich.

While a can of tomato soup can be a bit blah, you can't really say the same for pesto. The umami is off the charts. That, plus its fresh brightness, makes it a good fit for adding to your tomato soup.

According to Thérèse Buchanan, "A spoonful of basil pesto stirred into hot tomato soup makes a huge difference. You get fresh basil, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil all in one addition. I'd start with a teaspoon or two, taste it, and add more if needed." She also explained that, because there's already salt in the pesto, you'll want to hold off on adding any other seasonings to the soup until you've incorporated the pesto and given the soup a taste. Otherwise, you could end up with a soup that's overly salty.

Skipped ahead a few steps and now have an overly salty soup on your hands? To fix a soup that's too salty, try adding a little bit of extra liquid, in the form of water, salt-free broth, or dairy.

Go ahead and toss some dairy into your canned tomato soup anyway, even if you're not worried about the soup being overly salty. Olivia Wyles said that butter and cream can add richness and jazz up your canned tomato soup in the process.

That's not your only dairy option, though. Don't limit yourself; look further into your fridge for that container of Greek yogurt you've been meaning to use. As Erin Clarke recommended, "Whisk in a spoonful or two [of Greek yogurt] off the heat so it doesn't curdle. It makes the soup creamier, adds some protein, and the tang cuts the sweetness canned tomato soups tend to have."

In fact, it's even an addition that gets the official Campbell's soup seal of approval, with the brand itself publishing a recipe for sesame and yogurt tomato soup on its website. For one can of condensed tomato soup, the recipe advises using 2 tablespoons of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt.

We're still talking dairy, but now we're focusing in on perhaps the best dairy of all: cheese. When pairing canned tomato soup with cheese, your first instinct might be to reach for the cheddar — which is all well and good. You might also opt for American cheese, as that's the go-to for the often paired grilled cheese sandwich.

However, we can do a little bit better. According to Thérèse Buchanan, cream cheese will make for not only a creamier soup, but also a thicker one. "Instead of adding regular cream, try stirring in a tablespoon or two of softened cream cheese," she said. "It makes the soup thicker and gives it a slight tang that works really well with tomatoes."

Time when you add the cream cheese to the soup carefully, though. "Keep the heat low and whisk until it's completely melted," Buchanan advised. "You don't want the soup boiling aggressively once you've added it."

Yet another cheese you may've not thought to add to your tomato soup? Cottage cheese. Yes, cottage cheese has been a trendy ingredient for a few years now, but if you've yet to combine this popular ingredient with your Campbell's, you're missing out — both on the creaminess and the extra potential protein. As Olivia Wyles said, "If you want a quick way to add more protein, blending in some cottage cheese is very simple to do with an immersion blender."

Like the sound of this combo but don't have any Campbell's condensed tomato soup on hand? In 2025, a three-ingredient, high-protein tomato soup with cottage cheese went viral and you might just have those three ingredients in your kitchen right now: cottage cheese, a jar of marinara, and broth. Putting the soup together couldn't be easier, either. Even the measurements are simple — 1 cup of all three ingredients. Blend, heat, and eat.

Multiple foodie experts told us that they recommend adding heat to your canned tomato soup. Olivia Wyles does so by stirring in crunchy chili oil flakes (and then pairs that with a grilled cheese made in the waffle maker for extra crispiness) and Thérèse Buchanan likewise uses chili crisp in her tomato soup.

"Chili crisp is brilliant in tomato soup because you get heat, garlic, and crunchy bits all at once," Buchanan explained. "I like to spoon a little over the top just before serving rather than mixing it all in. That way, you still get some crunch, and everyone can control how spicy they want their soup."

Just make sure that you buy the best chili crisp possible. According to our exclusive chili crisp taste test, Lao Gan Ma is the brand that stands apart on the store shelf due to factors such as flavor, crunch, and value, outranking other brands such as Mr. Bing, Trader Joe's, Chile Crunch, Fly by Jing, and Momofuku.

While dairy and cheese will add richness and flavor to your tomato soup, sometimes you just want something with a little more texture and heartiness. Enter, orzo. "Stir in cooked orzo just before serving," advised Erin Clarke. "It gives the soup extra body and makes it super satisfying."

As you're at it, though, avoid the fatal orzo prepping mistake: overcooking. If you overcook your orzo, it's going to end up as a lumpy, mushy mess, completely ruining your tomato soup. 

Oftentimes, it only takes about 8 minutes to cook orzo in boiling water. Then, right before it's done, you can drain it and let it finish in whatever you're adding it to — such as, in this case, tomato soup. Don't rinse the orzo, either. The starch can help give the soup that extra body that Clarke references. The only time you want to rinse orzo is when you're putting it in a cold dish.

Every can of Campbell's condensed tomato soup is made with six tomatoes ... and not much else. That's great news if you prefer to eat foods that don't have ingredients lists a mile long, but it doesn't make for a lot of complexity or flavor. The other ingredients (besides those six tomatoes)? Water, wheat flour, sugar, and then 2% of a few random seasonings and preservatives like citric acid.

If you want to keep this simplicity going, though, while also improving the soup's flavor, you can do so in one extremely easy way: Chop up some fresh basil and scatter it across the top of your soup before chowing down. "A tried-and-true way is with a few fresh basil leaves and a bit of heavy cream," said Olivia Wyles. "That will always hit the spot."

If you don't want to do the actual chopping yourself, you can always just add fresh basil leaves to your soup and then give the entire pot a quick blitz with an immersion blender. No immersion blender? A countertop blender will do the trick, too, but be careful when pouring your hot soup into the blender body.

Bored of the same ol'-same ol' grilled cheese and Campbell's tomato soup pairing ... but willing to still admit that you like the flavor and texture combos? According to Erin Clarke, you can give this perfect pairing new life by making grilled cheese croutons. "Cut a grilled cheese into bite-sized squares and drop them in just before serving, so the edges stay crisp," she said. "It's so fun to eat this way, nostalgic, and comforting."

If you don't want to go through the trouble of making grilled cheese sandwiches, though, even just adding on some generic croutons can go a long way to adding some texture and flavor to your soup. Use the stuff from a bag, or go a tiny step further and make croutons in the air fryer. Any bread will work (there's no need to wait around for a loaf to go stale) and all you do is chop bread into squares, toss them in oil and seasonings, and let the air fryer do its thing for 4 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you're looking for a way to make your can of tomato soup a little healthier and fresher versus homey and comforting, consider topping your bowl with fresh greens. "Warm the soup in a pot, then add handfuls of roughly torn baby spinach," said Erin Clarke. "It adds a serving of vegetables and makes it feel more like a complete meal."

Wondering about the nutritional benefits you could get from this addition? Well, if you're already eating a can of Campbell's condensed tomato soup, you'll be getting 17.5% of your daily fiber, 25% of your daily potassium, and 25% of your daily vitamin C. Let's say you throw ¾ of a cup of spinach on top of your soup and that will add 8% of your daily iron, 11% of your daily folate, 9% of your daily manganese, 12% of your daily vitamin A, another 7% of your daily vitamin C, and a whopping 91% of your daily vitamin K. That's not at all too bad for a meal that was exceptionally easy.

If your goal is to up your protein intake, you might not be keen on adding just spinach to the top of your tomato soup. And if you have been trying to increase your protein intake for quite a while, then you might be really, really tired of the whole cottage cheese bit. But have you considered topping your tomato soup with some rotisserie chicken? It's an option that Erin Clarke recommends.

Not only will this give you a more flavorful soup, plus texture, but you're getting all that protein, too. Just make sure that you wait until the very end of cooking the soup to add the chicken. You don't want to add it to the beginning and end up with pieces of chicken that are all dried out. Before you incorporate it, also chop or shred the meat so that it blends into the soup more easily, in bite-sized pieces.

Erin Clarke also said you could consider adding some leftover roasted vegetables to your soup. However, don't take them straight from the fridge to the stovetop, just simply tossing them into your soup pot or saucepan. For a better texture, she said, "re-crisp the vegetables in the air fryer or toaster oven first."

Leftover vegetables aren't the only leftovers you can add to your tomato soup, though. Just like you can add rotisserie chicken to your soup, leftover proteins also work well, whether you have leftover chicken, beef, meatballs, sausages, or similar on hand. Have some leftover rice or pasta? That'll work, too. Take a look through your refrigerator and see what you can throw into the pot. You may just be surprised at the results — and maybe even end up with a new favorite recipe and tomato soup "hack" of your own.

Sometimes, the simplest answers are the best. As Olivia Wyles noted, favorite spices and aromatics can go a long way in improving a can of tomato soup, particularly when you're balancing them against those aforementioned creamy add-ins like butter or actual cream.

There are tons of different spices and seasonings you could add to Campbell's tomato soup. Obviously, the first inclination would be to lean Italian. While fresh basil is usually best, if you don't have it on hand, dried is a good substitute, as are options such as oregano and thyme (or even a bit of generic Italian seasoning). Basics like garlic powder and onion powder work well. 

If you like a bit of heat but don't have any chili crisp, you can reach for cayenne, red pepper flakes, or paprika. Some even like to use taco seasoning, ranch dressing mix, MSG, or bullion powder.

Lastly, Thérèse Buchanan advised finishing off the tomato soup with a bit of parmesan and fresh black pepper. "Freshly grated parmesan adds a salty, savory flavor that makes canned tomato soup taste much richer," she said. "I like to stir a little into the soup and then add another sprinkle on top with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Use parmesan you've grated yourself if possible, because it melts more smoothly than the pre-shredded kind."

Love the addition of parmesan to your tomato soup and don't really need anything more complicated? Consider simmering the tomato soup with a parmesan rind for similar results, or making parmesan rind croutons. The former is one of Ina Garten's best tips for making a delicious soup, so you know it's a trust-worthy bit of advice. For the latter, cut up the rind and zap the cubes in the microwave. They transform into a crispy, crunchy treat.