Why McDonald's McSoup Was Ultimately Discontinued

Given that McDonald's is the most well-known, in some ways quintessential, fast food restaurant, it makes sense that they would have tried out a wide variety of new items over the decades. Sure, McD's is primarily known as a wide purveyor of burgers and fries, even if those fries took an unexpectedly long time to be added to the menu. But by now it is difficult to imagine walking into your local location and not seeing items like the Filet o' Fish or Chicken McNuggets offered. Those too were, at one point, new and seemingly quirky additions to what was otherwise considered a reliable menu.

However, there are plenty of attempts at new items that have failed spectacularly, earning more derision than praise among diners. Those who remember offerings like the McHotDog, the McPizza, and the Hula Burger will know what we are talking about. As will those who remember the McSoup.

Yes, the McSoup. It is what it sounds like: soup from McDonald's, served in a cup. Offered in chicken noodle and broccoli and cheese, it seems to hold a special place on lists about discontinued McDonald's items, though not necessarily for the right reasons. "The McSoup was basically Campbell's chicken noodle soup poured into a McDonald's cup and renamed McSoup," recalled u/evie1432 at the r/soup subreddit. Not exactly high praise.

Today, the only indication that the McSoup ever existed is a page on the McDonald's website for the broccoli and cheese soup, though, strangely, its picture contains only an empty serving board. As for the chicken noodle soup, it no longer even seems to have even a ghost of a page on the McD's website. 

There are, however, clearly some diners out there who think the McSoup was a good idea, though, and wonder why it isn't still on the menu. On a thread at the r/McDonalds subreddit about discontinued menu items, u/KawaiiDere expressed surprise about why more fast food joints don't have soup on the menu. "Like, it's easy to heat up/freeze/keep in a warm state, it can be easily dehydrated during shipping, and it's not too easy to make as a customer," they wrote, contrasting the ease with which many sandwiches can be made at home — though we're guessing they weren't necessarily referring to the more complicated sandwiches and burgers at McDonald's. Indeed, other fast food chains like Chick-Fil-A and El Pollo Loco do have soup on their menu. 

That being said, with so much of the emphasis at McDonald's on speed and convenience, we can see how including hot soup might be something of a liability, particularly when it comes to the drive-thru. There is no indication, however, that this was behind McSoup's removal.

As with many discontinued fast food restaurant items, McDonald's never made a public announcement about why both kinds of McSoup were axed from the American menu. With some, such as the McFish Bites and McHotDog, we know it had to do with lackluster sales, and there is a good chance that was the case with McSoup too. 

Despite the McSoup having unceremoniously vanished from most American McDonald's menus, those McD's diners regularly traveling internationally may yet stumble upon a form of soup served by the fast food giant. Which may mean we can add soup to the list of international items we really wish were on US McDonald's menus.

In Hong Kong, McDonald's breakfast menu includes a Hong Kong-style macaroni soup that includes veggies, meat, and a light chicken broth, as well as the option of a fried egg and sausage patty served on top. McDonald's in Taiwan also offers a small corn soup as a side, often substituted for fries. In Spain, it has been possible to get the cold tomato soup gazpacho at McDonald's. Portugal McDonald's, meanwhile, sells at least four different types of soup, including cream of vegetable and chickpea and spinach.