This weekend I taste tested 5 different types of microwavable noodle soups, some with an Asian flair, others touching closer to my chicken noodle soup comfort zone. I made 5 bowls of soup, all of a pretty large proportion in less than 10 minutes, which if you think about it, is pretty gross. Pushing that thought out of my mind, I began my taste test. As soon as I tried my first bite, the gross factor completely left my mind because, lets be honest salt tastes SO GOOD when its combined with carbs.
5th Place: Annie Chun’s Soup Bowl – Vietnamese Pho – Overall Ranking 2/10
Just nope. First of all preparing this soup was a terrible experience. The vegetables came in a mysterious solid block and the soup flavoring was a brown goo, dripping from a small green packet. Revolting to say the least. The soup itself was pretty horrible too. It had a very weird aftertaste, sort of a sweetness but with a lingering sour feeling and the noodles were extremely rubbery. My friend literally wiped her tongue with a napkin, saying “that was not edible.” Don’t try this at home kids.
Photo by Janey Asher
4th Place: Maruchen’s Ramen Soup – Chicken Flavor – Overall Ranking: 5/10
I didn’t hate this soup but I didn’t love it either. If I was bored and it was sitting in front of me, yes I would eat it. But I probably wouldn’t seek it out myself. It was pretty bland and really oily. My friend who was testing with me said that her previous experiences with Ramen have not been as terrible as this one. But this one was pretty bad.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
3rd Place: Shin Bowl Noodle Soup – Gourmet Spicy Flavor – Overall Ranking: 7/10
As the first soup that I tried, the indicated “flavor” on the packaging really threw me off. How could a flavor just be “spicy”? Spicy what? Befuddled, but over it, I took a rather large bite of the noodle and I understood exactly the meaning of the flavor. There is no other words I could have used to describe this soup. It was just spicy. Really spicy. But really good.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
2nd Place: Bowl Noodle Soup – Spicy Kimchi Flavor – Overall Ranking: 8/10
This soup had pretty much the same flavor as the Shin Bowl but with a less of an overwhelming spicy flavor. The Kimchi still gave this soup a nice kick and didn’t leave my lips stinging for 10 minutes afterwards. The broth itself was pretty good too.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
1st Place: Cup of Noodles – Chicken Flavor – Overall Ranking: 9/10
And Cup of Noodles comes out on top. My friend and I were not surprised at this result in the least. I grew up eating Cup of Noodles (on the rare occasion that my mother would allow it) and I feel a sort of allegiance to this brand. It’s perfectly salty with a satisfying flavor and it even has fake vegetables to try and make you feel better about all the other chemicals going into your body. Cup of Noodles proved to be an all around winner in my eyes.
Photo by Janey Asher
Try these out for yourself and make your own ranking. Just be ready to be extremely thirsty for the next few days.