Like many people juggling work, family and exercise, you may often choose fast and easy lunch options such as broccoli cheese soup. Although it contains a large amount of fiber and some vitamins, canned broccoli cheese soup is high in fat and sodium. For this reason, you may wish to make your own soup with low fat milk and less sodium for a healthier lunch or dinner option.
Fat and Cholesterol
One can of condensed broccoli cheese soup contains 264 calories, more than half of which come from fat. One can contains 16.1 g of fat, which account for 145 of the calories. This fat is a mixture of approximately 6 g of monounsaturated fat, 5 g of polyunsaturated fat and 5 g of saturated fat. This is approximately 25 percent of the recommended amount of saturated fat per day.
While the percentage of fat calories in broccoli cheese soup is quite high, it is low in cholesterol. One serving contains only 12 mg of cholesterol, which is less than 5 percent of the maximum recommended daily amount.
Fiber
An additional 93 calories in each serving of soup come from the 23.3 g of carbohydrates. About half of these carbohydrates are starch; the rest are sugar and fiber. One can of soup contains 5.5 g of fiber, which is 20 percent of the dietary reference intake, or DRI, which is the recommended amount per day. Fiber helps you feel full faster and helps move food through the digestive tract.
Protein
The rest of the calories in one can of broccoli cheese soup are provided by 6.4 g of protein. While this is not a large amount of protein, less than 15 percent of the DRI, you could add protein to the soup by adding cooked chicken. Adding just one-fourth cup of chopped chicken to the soup would increase the protein content to 17.3 g, which is more than 30 percent of the DRI.
Sodium
Like many canned soups, chicken broccoli soup is very high in sodium. One can contains 2,003 mg, which is 85 percent of the maximum recommended daily amount. Lower sodium versions of broccoli cheese soup, such as Campbell's Select, are available and contain significantly less sodium. A similar serving of lower sodium soup contains approximately 600 mg of sodium, which is 25 percent of the daily recommendation.
Folate
Broccoli cheese soup is high in folate, one of the water-soluble B vitamins. One serving provides 30 percent of the DRI for folate, which is essential for red blood cell production and the prevention of anemia. Folate is especially important for infants and pregnant women, as it assists in the growth of new cells.
Fat-soluble Vitamins
Chicken broccoli soup is also high in fat-soluble vitamins. One serving provides 15 percent of the DRI for vitamin E, more than 20 percent for vitamin A and more than 100 percent for vitamin K. Vitamin K is essential for proper blood clotting.
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