'Soup Mates': The Retro Art Of Combining Canned Soups For More Creative Flavors

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

There's something about a good, old-fashioned food mashup: two recognizable flavors coming together to create something new, from sushi tacos to pasta-topped pizza. But what if those flavors were in liquid form? Enter an idea that stems back all the way to 1967, when Campbell's came up with the idea of combining its canned soups to create new and different combos: Soup Mates.

While this may not seem groundbreaking in our world of highly customizable food choices, it was novel at the time. It is certainly a fun idea to consider if your pantry is looking somewhat bare and you want a meal that feels new. Redditors in a sub dedicated to old recipes wax nostalgic about different duos that bring them back to childhood or make soup feel more satisfying. Official combos that made the cut back in the day were tomato soup mixed with chicken gumbo soup to create "tomato-chicken creole" and chicken noodle and chicken and stars for the ultimate noodle-forward "Big Dipper soup." 

Campbell's has a long-standing history as the face of condensed canned soup products. In fact, it has been selling its iconic red-and-white-labeled soups since 1898 when an exec attended the Cornell-Penn football game and was inspired by Cornell's red-and-white uniforms. Canned soup has long been doing double duty — from the Italian-inspired flavor that doubles as a pasta sauce to an unexpected flavor that transforms your mashed potatoes. But the idea of combining soups was part of a mid-'60s push to broaden soup appeal. It sits squarely within the brand's continued emphasis on soup's versatility, highlighted in campaigns like "It's Amazing What Soup Can Do," a multimillion-dollar ad campaign for the 2010s that focused on soup's nutritional value and contribution to emotional well-being. Back in the day (the '80s), there was even a Campbell's soup cookbook, "Cooking with Soup," that encouraged home cooks to think about using soup in new and different ways, including recipes for mains, sides, sauces, barbecue, and dips and spreads.

Mixing and matching to make your own Soup Mates at home could not be easier and really just comes down to what flavors sound appealing to you (even if it wouldn't pass a focus group flavor test). Though the original idea is a throwback, newer combos might include Campbell's Spicy Buffalo-Style Cream of Chicken with Double Noodle or Cream of Potato with Beans and Bacon. Tomato soup with White Cheddar Cheese soup must have seemed such a natural combo that Campbell's has introduced its Grilled Cheese & Tomato soup flavor, but you can control the levels of cheese and tomato if you make a DIY version. For the ultimate triple mashup, craft your own Soup Mate before adding beans to your soup to make it a more filling main or even using soup to upgrade mac and cheese.