When it begins to get chilly outside, one of the best ways to stay warm is with a hot cup of soup. Soups are a budget-friendly way to incorporate more vegetables into your day and there are many combinations of spices and flavors to try. We generally recommend avoiding cream-based soups like bisques and chowders due to the saturated fat content. It is best to stick with broth-based soups. Soups make a quick weeknight one-pot dinner, or when made ahead, can be a lunch that is eaten all week or frozen for later. Vegetable soups are often substitution friendly–meaning that you can substitute corn for peas or barley for rice.
When shopping for canned soups make sure to cut the salt, keep the flavor, and load up on beans and vegetables. Thanks to the new Nutrition Facts label, many soup cans now show the numbers for the whole can, jar, or carton in the second column. If you are buying a small-sized can, you may have to do some math since the can may not have space for the second column and will likely only show the numbers for 1 cup of prepared soup.
Soup Recipes to Try
- Tomato Lentil Soup – this dish resembles Raasam a Southern Indian soup. However, we have adapted this to be made with ingredients more common to American kitchens.
- Black Bean Soup – this recipe uses canned beans, which can be high in sodium. Be sure to rinse well to remove over ⅓ of the sodium indicated on the label.
- Salmon Chowder – this recipe uses whole milk instead of heavy cream and any mix of rice will work but wild rice adds a nice bit of color.
- Matzo Ball Soup – This broth-based soup is as soothing as it is delicious.
- West African-Inspried Chicken Peanut Stew – This recipe was inspired by the Senegalese dish called Maafe, a hearty stew that cooks low and slow to evolve many complex layers of flavor.
Bonus tip
Skip the expensive boxed stock and make your own vegetable or chicken stock.
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