Fast-food isn't just about burgers, fries and nuggets. In fact, fast-food soups are a cozy and surprising way to change up your drive-thru order.
9 Best Fast-Food Soups, Ranked
Published on Jan. 29, 2025
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9. Subway
Coming in at the bottom of our list was the chicken noodle soup from Subway. Here, an 8-ounce cup of soup sells for $3.49, which was one of the most budget-friendly options we found. While the price was nice, the soup itself was watery and skimpy on the vegetables. We did appreciate the larger chunks of chicken, and the noodles were adequate. Unfortunately, Subway didn’t provide any crackers or bread to go along with our soup, which was also a disappointment.
Bottom Line: Ultimately, our biggest complaint about the Subway soup experience was the fact that it was re-heated in a microwave right in front of us. It certainly didn’t align with the brand’s “Eat Fresh” slogan.
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8. Panera
For years, we have loved the soups at Panera. How can you not love a place where you can eat out of a bread bowl? They have a variety of options from the iconic broccoli cheddar soup all the way to seasonal options like autumn squash. The menu also offers a new hearty fireside chili as well as a classic homestyle chicken noodle. For the purpose of this ranking, we ordered a cup of the chicken noodle.
From the moment we walked in, it felt like Panera had changed. There was no human interaction, just ordering from a tablet. The technology was not efficient or intuitive, and it was difficult to just order a cup of soup because all options defaulted to a bowl. The real kicker came at the end when the grand total with taxes was a whopping $7.15. On top of that, the tablet system defaulted to ask for a tip though we hadn’t seen nor spoken to a person. When we drove off with a tiny bowl of soup and a piece of bread, the whole experience felt cold.
Bottom Line: Unfortunately, the taste test didn’t sway our opinion. While the small cup of soup did have nice noodles, the broth was too salty and there was one measly piece of chicken in the pricey bowl. The baguette was a lovely accompaniment, but not enough to justify the experience.
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7. McAlister’s Deli
McAlister’s Deli is a soup, salad and sandwich restaurant with 563 locations across the United States. This was our first time pulling up to the chain’s drive thru, so we were excited to see what they had to offer. McAlister’s sells cups of soup for $4.79 and bowls for $6.29. The prices seemed reasonable, and there were a variety of soups to choose from. This location offered chicken tortilla, broccoli cheddar, country potato, veggie chili, classic chili and a rotating soup of the day option. We ordered the classic chili, which included two packages of saltines.
There are many opinions when it comes to chili, and many purists believe that beans have no place in a bowl of chili. If this sounds like you, then McAlister’s Deli is right up your alley. However, we are fans of beans so we didn’t love that the beef was so finely chopped it felt like a blended paste.
Bottom Line: We would prefer a mix of hearty beef chili with chunks of ground beef, tomatoes and beans. The flavor of the chili was adequate, so we might give another soup a try someday to see if it might suit our taste better.
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6. Wendy’s
Wendy’s is one of the few drive-thru fast-food places where the chili has been a staple on the menu for years. It has led to such a following that people have started making copycat Wendy’s chili recipes at home. The recipe is quite basic with ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables. It sells for a budget-friendly $3.59 for a small cup size, and $4.39 for a larger bowl size.
Our cup of chili came with two packages of saltine crackers on the side. It’s important to note that Wendy’s was the only restaurant that asked if we wanted to add toppings to our order. They offer shredded cheese and chopped onions as options. Overall, we found the chili to be enjoyable.
Bottom Line: Wendy’s chili was good, not great. It just wasn’t enough of a standout to surpass other soups we sampled on this list.
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5. Noodles & Company
Surprisingly, there is only one soup on the menu at Noodles & Company. The chain’s signature chicken noodle soup is made with chicken breast, celery, carrots, onion and wavy egg noodles. It’s sold as a regular entree size for $6.55 or a side cup size for $2.85. Our cup came with a bag of oyster crackers.
As the name of the chain suggests, the noodles were fantastic in this bowl of soup. They were large, tender and perfectly cooked. We also appreciated the plentiful pieces of chicken and hearty vegetables.
Bottom Line: Our only complaint here was that this bowl wasn’t filled completely, making the portion size feel a bit skimpy even though the flavor stood out.
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4. Potbelly
Potbelly offers a variety of soups on its menu. There’s broccoli cheddar, garden vegetable, loaded baked potato, chicken potpie and chili. Each cup sells for $4.89 and a bowl goes for $6.59. We ordered a cup of chili that came with a bag of oyster crackers. We found the chili to be one of our favorites. It was a thick and substantial chili with an ideal ratio of meat to beans, peppers and tomatoes.
Bottom Line: The spices were well-balanced, and it tasted fresh rather than mass-produced. We were impressed enough that we want to come back and try all the other soup options.
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3. Café Zupas
This fast-casual restaurant is known for its soups, salads and sandwiches. The chain prides itself on using healthy, fresh ingredients. Needless to say, the soup menu was substantial and included golden curry, chicken enchilada chili, lobster bisque, Wisconsin cauliflower, tomato basil, southwest potato and green chili, chicken noodle, mushroom bisque, and chickpea and vegetable. Our mouths are watering just mentioning all the names of these soups! With such a plethora of choices, it was hard to stick to our plan and just order the chicken noodle. However, we knew that if it could successfully create a classic, we could bet the others would be just as amazing.
Ultimately, we were very impressed with our meal at Café Zupas. The cup of soup arrived with a lovely baguette roll and a chocolate covered strawberry! It made the meal feel extra special and handcrafted.
Bottom Line: The prices were on the higher side, but we felt like the quality justified the price. Here, a half portion of soup is $5.99 and a large is $8.29. We loved the perfect balance of noodles, chicken, vegetables and seasonings. It felt like it was homemade!
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2. Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A sells one of the best-ranked chicken sandwiches and also a couple of chicken soup options. There is always a classic chicken noodle on the menu, and, currently, there is a seasonal chicken tortilla soup as well. A cup sells for $4.35, and it arrived with two packages of saltines.
Once again, as we have come to expect with Chick-fil-A, this chicken noodle soup did not disappoint. In fact, it was our favorite of the chicken soups we sampled. It is made with shredded chicken breast, carrots, celery and egg noodles in a hearty broth. This one was so rich and thick, it was almost creamy and reminded us of something grandma used to make.
Bottom Line: We loved that this broth was a little different than the lighter, more watery broths from other menus. Of course the chicken was plentiful, and it was perfectly balanced with the vegetables and noodles. The soup was well-seasoned, but not overly salty.
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1. Culver’s
On all our trips to Culver’s, we were too busy ordering some of the best fast-food ice cream (or custard, in this case!) to think of trying the soup. But in fact, the Culver’s soup menu is quite robust, and the restaurant rotates what is available each day. Soup availability is special to each restaurant because everything is made fresh daily. Even with all these fresh ingredients, Culver’s is able to sell its fresh soups for only $4.22 a cup.
On any given day you might find broccoli cheese, chicken noodle, potato with bacon, stuffed green pepper, tomato Florentine, vegetable beef, wild and brown rice with chicken, Boston clam chowder as well as George’s chili. This chili comes from a family recipe that is one of Culver’s signature dishes. It is a hearty, medium-spicy chili con carne, made with simmered homestyle beef, diced tomatoes, dark red kidney beans, peppers, onion and celery, along with a secret blend of peppery spices. You can also order it as George’s chili supreme which tops each serving with sour cream, cheese and onions.
Bottom Line: After the first bite of this chili we were in love. We would never have guessed this came from a fast-food restaurant. We could tell this recipe was handcrafted and perfected over the years. It was the absolute best of all the soups we tried, and we can’t wait to go back for more!
