This week, Pricewatch tastes and tests four types of Minestrone

Dunnes Stores minestrone

€1.85 for 500g

HIGHSIt's onion-laden, hearty soup and surprisingly good. The vegetables retain a decent crunch – except the peas which are mush – and the thin pasta strands are nice.

LOWSIt's salty and the added sugar and a couple of preservatives on a long ingredient list didn't do it any favours either. It makes much of the presence of Grana Padano cheese – just 0.2 per cent – and we could taste it. There were no beans either.

VERDICTExcellent value

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Avonmore Classic Italian Minestrone

€2 for 600g

HIGHSThis well-known, widely available soup is cheap and filled with vegetables – half a carton equates to a portion of recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables.

LOWSAnd nearly a third of your salt intake. While it looks lovely, it's a little bland. There wasn't much texture to the vegetable although the pasta had a bit of bite to it.

VERDICTLacking substance

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Casa Rinaldi Minestrone

 €4.55 for 550g

HIGHSThis olive oil-laced soup, with its velvety texture, crunchy vegetables and a surprisingly hefty chilli kick, is comfort food at its finest. It is rich in tomatoey goodness and will almost certainly leave you wanting more.

LOWSWhile it is undoubtedly miles better than the competition, it is also heartbreakingly expensive.

VERDICTTop notch

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Baxter's Minestrone

€1.04 for 415g

HIGHSThis can has the longest shelf life of any of the soups tried and is also the cheapest. It's made with large pieces of roughly chopped vegetables and – weirdly we thought – full of pieces of penne pasta.

LOWSIt is a bit thin on flavour (we were going to say tin, but that might be a bit mean) and the vegetables and pasta are mushy and tasteless.

VERDICTCheap

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