There’s nothing quite like coming home after a long winter’s day, filled with snow, ice, and maybe a sniffle or two, to a piping hot bowl of healthful, filling, comforting soup. On some winter days, you have ample time to stand at the stove or to let a pot simmer, filling your home with the delicious smells of a soup or stew. On others, you’re rushing home from work or you’ve been feeling under the weather, so a long cooking process is out of the question.
Whichever camp you find yourself in, we have a healthy soup to warm you up this winter. Here are five of our favorites.
1. Greek Lentil Soup
A traditional Greek soup, also referred to as fakes soup, this dish is vegetarian, flavorful, and comes together in just an hour. All of the ingredients are pantry staples, so you likely already have what you need to make a batch, on hand. In fact, we’d recommend making a batch of soup larger than what you plan to eat immediately. This soup keeps in the fridge for up to five days and will make an excellent lunch or dinner later on in the week.
get the recipe2. Turmeric Soup with Carrot & Ginger
This soup’s healing powers are impressive — ginger, turmeric, what more do you need? — and the flavors are equally so. It’s another recipe that can be made in a big batch and saved for eating throughout the week, but it only takes 45 minutes to come together. Do note that you will need a stick blender or regular blender for this recipe, but otherwise, the ingredients list is minimal.
get the recipe3. Roasted Tomato Soup
If you have kids at home, they might turn up their noses at lentils or the bright colors of a carrot-based soup, but no kid can say “no” to tomato soup, especially if you add in some savory treats, like a sprinkling of your favorite cheese or a few crusty, crunchy homemade croutons. (Although the classic grilled cheese-tomato soup combo is a winner, too, obviously.)
This soup doesn’t just appeal to the kiddos, though. It’s flavorful enough to woo the adults at your table, too.
get the recipe4. Winter Vegetable Minestrone
If you like a soup with some texture and chunky bites of fresh veggies, and maybe some pasta, too, then you can’t go wrong with this winter veggie minestrone. Requiring just an hour of your time, it combines butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, beans, tomatoes, and pasta for lots of variety and loads to enjoy in every bite.
get the recipe5. Black Bean Soup
Give taco night a healthful, comforting, winter-worthy upgrade by serving this black bean soup on the side (or just skip the tacos altogether and serve this soup with tortilla chips and a sprinkling of cheese). This is a soup that requires a longer cooking time, so is best saved for the weekends, or turned into a two-day project. To get the full flavor of the dried black beans (and, trust us, dried is the way to go for superior flavor), you’ll need those beans to soak overnight or for at least eight hours, and then you’ll cook them for a few hours further.
get the recipe