9 Store-Bought Panera Bread Soups, Ranked From Worst To Best - Tasting Table

"When determining the ranking of these Panera goods, I paid attention to flavor, texture, and whether the soup lived up to what it was supposed to be or tasted like. Did the lobster bisque actually taste like lobster? Was the creamy tomato actually creamy and tomato-y? Was there plenty of tortellini to be found in the Tuscan-style tortellini soup? These were all questions I asked myself (and found the answer to) when trying and ranking these soups."

"The soup realm can be a confusing one, and more specifically, it can be difficult to keep track of all the different types. For example, there's a difference between a soup and a bisque, with the latter being a type of soup with a specific seafood focus. Bisques are often creamy, but don't necessarily mistake a bisque for a chowder, because those are technically different too, with the former typically being smooth and the latter chunky."

Panera Bread sells a variety of store-bought soups at grocery stores alongside its in-café options. Nine popular Panera store-bought soup flavors were purchased and taste-tested to determine which flavors stood out most. Evaluations focused on flavor, texture, and whether each soup matched its expected profile. Most soups avoided being outright awful, while some clearly performed better. Specific checks included seafood presence in the lobster bisque, creaminess and tomato intensity in the creamy tomato, and tortellini quantity in the Tuscan-style tortellini. Panera's lobster bisque is silky smooth but delivers a lackluster lobster flavor.

Read at Tasting Table