Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do people REALLY only eat half a carton of fresh soup?

212 replies

sprigatito · 02/01/2026 20:00

I’m struggling to get my head around this! I’ve seen on MN several times lately that people eat half of a carton for a meal, and I know the calories are given that way on the packaging, so officially it’s a serving…but I’ve never met anyone in real life who doesn’t eat the whole carton! I’ve lost 4.5 stone this year and I eat soup most evenings for dinner. I don’t overeat generally. My soups are mostly homemade, but I do use fresh supermarket ones sometimes, and half a carton really would be a miserable little puddle in the bottom of the bowl! Is it really, honestly normal? And…why?

YABU: half a carton is ample. You’ve lost sight of what a normal bowl of soup looks like
YANBU: nobody actually does that. It’s soup, not golden syrup with extra chunks of pork fat.

OP posts:
mumofoneAloneandwell · 02/01/2026 23:58

yanbu

see also people who can eat half a packet of biscuits and put the rest away (before mounjaro)

Winterburn · 02/01/2026 23:54

Half for me, same with cans. I can’t have a whole one, it’s too much. Not a big soup person really, so I’m bored and feel fatigued if I try to get through a whole one! Liquids are very filling to me, makes my stomach feel full and tight.

I would add that soup would be lunch for me, not evening meal. That would be extra miserable! I’d rather eat a bowl of veg than have endless soup.

2026x · 02/01/2026 23:52

AhBiscuits · 02/01/2026 21:38

I really recommend a soup maker as an alternative. Lovely fresh soup in less than half an hour. I was definitely a skeptic at first but it's fab.
I set mine before going for a shower then pour it in a flask and take it to the office for lunch.

Which one do you have?

2026x · 02/01/2026 23:50

A half one is ok if you also have a chunky sandwich. Otherwise it’s a full one with some bread.

ReignOfError · 02/01/2026 23:18

I have soup bowls from when I first left home in the 1970s, and half a carton fills one, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s a serving. It’s how much I make for my own soup too.

If it was a starter, I’d do about half of that, or a little less.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 02/01/2026 23:10

Cnidarian · 02/01/2026 21:02

There are people here who have soup with NO BREAD?! faints

My feeling exactly!

patooties · 02/01/2026 23:00

Half and some bread.

Boutonnière · 02/01/2026 23:00

Catwoman8 · 02/01/2026 20:08

Without bread, I would have a full carton presuming you are taking about the fresh ones like Covent Garden? They are about 600g.

If I am having bread with it then I will I only have half a carton and spread it over 2 days.

If I have a tin like Heinz, I would eat the full tin.

Me too - my DH will have a whole one of the ‘fresh’ packaged soups but I honestly don’t want that much, nor a big bowl of my homemade soup. I’m not tiny and I don’t diet, I like all kinds of foods, just get put off by what is to me a large portion. I accept that others don’t feel that way - we are all different.

FunnyOrca · 02/01/2026 22:53

A whole one is too much soup for me. Ideally I’d probably eat about 2/3 of the carton, but as I don’t want a piddly 1/3 left the next day, I eat half each day with some oatcakes.

Honeyandwine · 02/01/2026 22:50

I do have a whole but often think I should have half. I eat it with some pitta bread.

CoastalCalm · 02/01/2026 22:49

Half for me , as much as I love soup too much makes me feel like my stomach is swilling

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 02/01/2026 22:47

I couldn't eat a whole one, usually I have half and sometimes I'll split it into thirds. DH will usually have two thirds of a carton.

I would normally have bread, toast or a cheese sandwich with my soup.

Mabobsleigh · 02/01/2026 22:37

Husband and I shared a tub today with crusty bread and butter. I've never considered eating a whole one and I don't think he will would either. That said, I normally give us a larger portion when it's homemade soup.

CointreauVersial · 02/01/2026 22:32

Half for me.

I find soup quite filling, and I nearly always have something on the side.

Wednesdaysotherchild · 02/01/2026 22:30

Whole thing plus seeds sprinkles, and bread!

Farmhouse1234 · 02/01/2026 22:24

Half is def not enough - unless you throw in a lot of bread. But a whole one is just a bit too much. Annoying.

soupyspoon · 02/01/2026 22:23

I think what this thread has demonstrated is that the pot sizes are all wrong, completely wrong

BlackCat14 · 02/01/2026 22:18

I have half a carton, one carton lasts me to work lunches… BUT I have a cheese sandwich with it to dip in, so I guess that doesn’t really count!

catpigeon · 02/01/2026 22:12

Yes

Springbaby2023 · 02/01/2026 21:58

I usually have about 2/3 which is then awkward as I never know what to do with the other third

BreakfastClubBlues · 02/01/2026 21:56

Always half a carton for me, with two slices of toast.

PeloMom · 02/01/2026 21:54

I have a full one (600ml or whatever that is) for dinner. However that’s the only thing I have, no bread, crackers etc.

FussyFancyDragon · 02/01/2026 21:51

I have half a carton of Covent Garden for lunch. It wouldn’t be enough for dinner, but I wouldn’t have soup for dinner. I didn’t think a full carton would fit in a bowl.

WiddlinDiddlin · 02/01/2026 21:51

Half with a toasty or sandwich or crusty roll. Whole if its with nothing else.

Portion sizes on packets are nothing to do with how much you should actually need/eat and everything to do with labelling laws and sales. Do not base what you eat on them!

FurForksSake · 02/01/2026 21:49

Half, they can be super high in salt. So half with a small piece of bread and an apple probably.