Didn't know they started another line... haven't bought canned soup in AGES!

I'm a soup lover myself but I try to avoid canned soups. They're sodium bombs. And low sodium versions taste awful.

There are tons of soup recipes that are quick easy to make, including lentil soup. Try it, you can control what's in it that way.

A few days ago I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, and happened to watch America's Test Kitchen, and one thing they were making was a Red Lentil Soup. I found the recipe online and followed it to the best of my ability and it was pretty good. Next time it might use even more of the spices. Below is the "as-made" version of their recipe

Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices
Serves 4 to 6

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
¾ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp minced ginger paste
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp minced garlic
6 cups water
4 tsp Better than Bouillon concentrated chicken stock.
1 ½ cups red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 Tbsp lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
1 ½ tsp dried mint, crumbled
1 tsp paprika

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add
onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until
softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, ginger,
cinnamon, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant,
about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in broth, water, and lentils and bring to simmer. Simmer
vigorously, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and about half
are broken down, about 15 minutes.

Whisk soup vigorously until it is coarsely pureed, about 30 seconds.
Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and extra lemon juice to taste.
Cover and keep warm. (Soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Thin
soup with water, if desired, when reheating.)

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet. Remove from
heat and stir in mint and paprika. Ladle soup into individual bowls,
drizzle each portion with 1 teaspoon spiced butter, and serve.

To respond more directly to the original post:

Interesting to hear they have a new soup line. From the names of some of the new soups, there are some that I might try and like, and others where I'd likely decide not to buy.

I do buy and use canned soups fairly frequently, but usually use them as a starting point and then add quite a bit to the canned soup to make it better. I find most canned soups to be unpalatably salty, and adding enough other ingredients without adding any more salt is one way to make it less salty.

Reading the label for a couple of the new "Well Yes" line of soups they seem somewhere in the middle of the salt-per-serving range of their other lines of soup. It does seem odd to me that the lentil soup you mentioned would also have pasta as one of the ingredients.

I had coupons and tried the Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice. I didn't even come close to yelling "Well Yes!!"

I have to say "Well No" to canned soup. Haven't eaten that since I was ten. There is too much salt.

I love Progesso's New England Clam Chowder. Perfect for my lunch at work. I also make homemade chicken soup using a whole chicken. I boil it until done, skim off the bad stuff. I cut up the chicken and add it back to water with onions, celery and carrots, salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, and parsley. I add the cooked noodles last. Perfect cold Sunday meal and Monday's left overs.

Bob, that recipe sounds good. How do you think it would be without the tomato paste? (I can't have tomatoes.) BTW, thanks for introducing me to Ras al Hanout spice blend, which I've been enjoying ever since. Thinking of making some to give at Christmas.

Just bought two cans today. I am going to try them this weekend.

I'll stick my head in for alisande's question for Bob. Who of course should reply anyway.

Cooks Illustrated (people behind America's Test Kitchen) often suggest a quick saute of tomato paste in recipes to provide an injection of the umami sensation. One tablespoon of tomato paste in 6 cups of water isn't going to bring any tomato flavor so I'm going to guess it's for umami purposes. A substitute would be a quickly sauted squirt of anchovy paste (maybe for 10 seconds before adding other stuff, it does not impart any fish flavor at all) or maybe a half-cup of chopped mushrooms. Slice and then microwave the mushrooms for a few minutes first before chopping, to remove water. Pour out the water or save to add to the soup after the sauteing step. Mushrooms need the heat of a saute to concentrate and develop umami and without removing water content that will leach out when they hit the hot pan, they'll not get hot enough.

Just came back from the store and was in the soup aisle. I saw the Yes soups, but they cost over $3 a can. They ought to be VERY good at that price.

Way too much sodium in those "Well Yes!" soups even though they try to make them sound healthy. I buy the Amy's Organics Low Sodium soups or I make my own tomato soup (Martha Stewart recipe).

On a side note, Oprah has come out with her own soups (in the refrigerated case). She may have cut down on the calories but once again, the sodium level is out of sight. Very disappointed that Oprah is touting these as healthy foods.

They sound like a competitor to Oprah's line.

The extra sodium would be good for me on my diet. I aim for 5000 mg but rarely get it.

Soup is one of the things i love to make. It is easy and I can control what gives into it. One of my favorites is split pea and ham, so tasty and very easy.

Yes, I make pea soup, too. I have some in my freezer now!

I tried one can of "Well Yes" soup and hated it. It was chicken and barley, I believe. It was very watery and tasted like tin can. I threw it out. I emailed Campbell's and they sent me a coupon.

I recently saw someone here mention Sundowner Soup for dinner. I found a recipe for it on allrecipes.com and it was fabulous. Instant favorite!

The sodium question sent me to look at the lone can of Campbell's condensed soup on my shelf. I expected to see some whopping number, but it's only 17% per serving. (Healthy Request Tuscan-Style Lentil). I haven't tasted it; maybe it's terrible! I was just surprised at the low salt content in a condensed soup. I should be a pillar of salt, given all the Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup I was fed as a child.

I do look at salt content, but reject all MSG.

The basic recipe for Turkish lentil soup is 6 mugs of water, one mug of red lentils, one onion, one carrot, spices of your choice. Put in pot and boil. Couldn't get any easier, but for a regular recipe I love this one:

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/turkish-red-lentil-soup

But I generally make a variation on this recipe, since I always have lots of chard and I have to travel to get red lentils. Our local store only carries green and brown:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lentil-and-swiss-chard-soup

But I agree with everyone else--it's well worth the trouble to make your own soup. I make a big pot then freeze it in my muffin tins, then put in freezer bags to store. Each indentation holds half a cup (mine are from the days before a muffin became meal so YMMV), so I just grab two of them for a cup of soup.

I had coupons for Well Yes soup,plus it was on sale, so I bought a couple of cans for less than a dollar each. The chicken was okay but the vegetable one was awful. I think I won't be buying it again, even with coupons!

Alisande, The recipe would probably be fine without the tomato paste. I likely would have omitted it except I had about a third of a can already open in the fridge from a day or so earlier.

Since the above recipe calls for North African spices, if you are already making Ras al Hanout, you could probably substitute that for all of the spices in this recipe.

Thanks, Bob!