We spent four days in NYC last week and ate out far too many meals. We had fantastic Chinese take out, Street Cart Chicken straight off the grill, sushi, and the best steak frites I’ve ever eaten. Although everything was delicious, we were so ready to come home and eat nothing but veggies. When we got home, I began our February meal plan, and quickly declared it to be The Month of Soup. Tomorrow may be the official midpoint of Winter, but the weather forecast promises February (and maybe March too) will be a terrific month (or two) to eat soup.
Sitting at my counter, armed with my meal planning calendar, computer and a gin martini, I texted my good friend Rebekah. “Send me all your favorite soup recipes. I’m going to see how many different soups I can make this month.” Everyone needs a friend like Rebekah. Within ten minutes, the two of us compiled a list of more than 30 different soup recipes. If I mix it up a bit and make a pasta dish or roast a chicken once a week, I’ll have enough soup recipes to last us until Spring arrives!
I used to hate soup. And I still don’t like smooth soups. To make the list of “good soup” in my book, a soup needs to have some texture; some bite; some chew. It needs to leave you feeling full, and like you’ve been wrapped with a warm and cozy blanket. If you are hankering for some good hearty soup recipes, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a month’s worth of soup recipes—from my kitchen to yours:
My youngest sister’s favorite meal growing up was Campbell’s Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. Just the smell of tomato soup made me want to run the other way. But when I discovered this Roasted Tomato Soup, I became a tomato soup convert. I’ve tried several other recipes over the years, but this is the only tomato soup I ever seem to like. I don’t put the bread on top of the soup though, I make cheese toast separately and serve it on the side. The kids prefer grilled cheese.
A few years ago, my husband gave me The New Best Recipe: Cook’s Illustrated cookbook for Christmas. (Always check the cookbook section of your local thrift store, friends!) The first recipe I tried was this Hearty Lentil Soup. I’ve shared about my fear of lentils on the blog before, but this soup will take all those fears away. It’s delightful for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Butternut Squash Soup is another one that I just don’t like. Part of what I don’t like is the traditionally smooth texture, but I also find most recipes are just two sweet. I love this Pumpkin Soup Recipe. The addition of green pepper and tomatoes help make taste like soup rather than pie in a bowl. We top it with roasted seeds or homemade croutons to give it a little texture. It’s also very good with a cup or two of white beans mixed in.
I make this Roasted Eggplant Soup in the summer when eggplant is overflowing and stash it in the freezer for the coldest winter days. It is a smooth soup, but I fix that by adding whatever cooked beans I have in the fridge. Are you sensing a pattern here? Smooth soup + Rancho Gordo Beans = Paradise
There is something so comforting about potato soup. Leeks give it a sweeter flavor than onion, and are typically plentiful in the Winter. I use an immersion blender to leave some chunks of potato and add cooked bacon and shredded cheddar cheese as toppings.
This soup is all about the broth. Also from my Cook’s Illustrated cookbook, but you can see the recipe online here with a 14-day free trial. You can also make a really good veggie broth, and add whatever vegetables you like in soup. Frozen peas, carrots, green beans, potatoes, greens; really anything goes here.
Pasta e Fagioli, or “Pasta and Beans” is more stew than soup. While you can make this with canned beans, beans really are the highlight of the meal, so I encourage you to find good dry beans. Rancho Gordo are my favorite, but I also love using the dry beans I find at local farms too. Whole Foods also has an excellent selection of good dry beans.
This one is a powerhouse of a meal. With beans, homemade broth, and tumeric, it is the perfect meal when you need a little boost of happiness or extra vitamins. This is originally a NY Times Cooking recipe that I altered based on what I had on hand. This is one soup you don’t want to miss.
Black Bean Soup has long been a favorite of mine and David’s. We used to make this recipe in the crockpot back in the days when we both worked full time. Now I make this one, which is only slightly more time consuming. Topped with crushed tortilla chips, it’s an instant trip south of the border.
Red Lentils are magical when they cook - disappearing into the most creamy broth you can ever imagine. There’s no need to puree this soup, because the lentils do all the work. I like to serve it with mini naan.
I’m not a huge fan of chowder, but this Corn Chowder has bacon and potatoes which makes it totally worth eating. We sometimes add cooked beans if we have them in the fridge. Hint—you can add beans to any soup to up the protein content. Beans always make soup better.
Tortellini Soup is one of those meals that makes everyone in the house happy. You really can’t go wrong with a bowl full of pasta, veggies, and broth.
Minestrone is one of those soups I usually make with whatever I have in the fridge (see later in this list) but I love this Sweet Potato Minestrone recipe for its use of sweet potatoes and pesto.
This Barley and Root Rainbow Vegetable Stew is one of the recipes my friend Rebekah sent me and I can’t wait to make it later this month. It uses whatever root vegetables you have in the fridge—I’ll be using turnip, purple carrot, parsnip, and sweet potato—and promises to be a beautiful bowl of soup.
Sopa de Albondigas, or “Meatball Soup” is one of those soups that we never have leftovers of. I love making this when we have company for dinner because it’s easy and always delicious.
You may not think you like cabbage, but this Cozy Cabbage & Farro Soup may just change your mind. Even my cabbage-hating family devours this soup every time I make it.
Rebekah recommended this one too, but I haven’t tried it yet. I love mushrooms and I love farro, so I can’t imagine being disappointed. My family doesn’t like mushrooms, so I’m saving this for a night when the husband is out of town and I give the kids the purple box of mac and cheese.
I have a container of miso hanging out in the back of my fridge, and am picking up fresh fish from the local fisherman tonight. I considered making fish tacos, but with the temperatures dropping into the negative teens this weekend, I think I’ll try this Miso Fish Chowder instead. Hint: you can find a gifted link in this week’s Five Quick Things.
Everyone needs a good recipe for Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, but you also need to know how to make it the easy way. Especially for those days when someone spikes a fever and wants to eat nothing but Gramma’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Here’s how you do it: Saute some carrots, onion, celery in some olive oil in a pot on the stove for a couple of minutes, or until translucent. Pour 4-6 cups chicken broth in the pot. It can be homemade broth from your freezer or a box of broth from the store. When it comes to a boil, taste it. Add salt if it needs it (this will largely depend on how salty your broth is). In a second pot, boil pasta of your choice until al dente. Put pasta in a bowl, top with vegetables and broth, and you have almost instant chicken noodle soup. And yes, it is still homemade.
You can put dumplings in any soup and make it more delicious, but Chicken and Dumplings is my very favorite. It’s also my favorite way to eat parsnips.
There is nothing more satisfying on a cold winter day than a big bowl of chicken and rice. Chicken and Rice was the very first meal I had at home after becoming a mother and it will always hold a place in my heart as the coziest meal in the world.
Beef & Barley Soup is one of the very best meals for the coldest of days. It’s hearty, it’s delicious, and it makes you think you’re cozied up in a ski lodge somewhere glamorous.
I made this Sausage, Lentil & Spinach Soup earlier this week thinking there would be leftovers for lunch all week, but we ate the entire pot in just two sittings. Springdell friends, this one is excellent with Garlic and Cheese Sausage!
I always forget how amazing this Chard & White Bean Stew is. I make it when fresh chard is plentiful and stash it in the freezer. Come March, it’s a wonderful surprise to open the freezer and discover it hidden in the bottom. Don’t forget the sherry vinegar and garlic toast to finish it off.
I don’t make beef stew often, but it would be unfair to leave it out of a month of soups. This recipe is one of the more complicated Beef Stew recipes out there—you could just throw everything in the crockpot and walk away—but it is also one of the most delicious.
When our church has events and food is involved, Haddock Chowder is always on the menu. The quality of the soup depends on the quality of your haddock. Since fresh haddock is easy to come by here, this is a recipe every New Englander should have in their back pocket.
I typically don’t use a recipe for Tortilla Soup, instead throwing a bunch of taco leftovers into a pot with some broth and salsa, but when I am feeling a little fancier, I love this Simple Chicken Tortilla Soup from Smitten Kitchen.
I first made Italian Wedding Soup from the first Weelicious cookbook. It’s easy and kid-friendly, so it was a no-brainer. It’s been years since I made it, but after seeing it on the soup bar at Whole Foods last weekend, I want to make it at home. If you don’t have the Weelicious cookbook, this recipe looks like a winner.
Egg Drop Soup is my oldest’s favorite soup of all time, but I have not been able to master the recipe at home. When I discovered Samin Nosrat included a recipe in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, I knew I had to add it to the list for soup month. I’ll probably pair it with Lo Mein or Beef & Broccoli, but my daughter can make a meal off of Egg Drop Soup alone.
I saved a ham bone from Christmas and I think it will be perfect for this Ham & Split Pea Soup.
If you ask my youngest what her favorite soup is, she’ll probably say Broccoli Cheese. I make this soup all year—it is great with fresh broccoli, but you can also make it with frozen broccoli. It’s great with a good crusty bread, and is almost more a dip than a soup.
Any soup with meatballs in it is a winner in my house. I love that this one includes greens too; it’s one of the few ways I can get my kids to eat greens in soup. The recipe uses fresh greens, but you can absolutely use that bag of greens in your freezer too.
Chili is one of those recipes that people have very strong feelings about. If you have a favorite chili recipe, by all means use it. And then send it to me, because I don’t think I ever use the same recipe twice. This Black Bean Chili is good if you want to use ground beef (turkey, pork, or chicken all work too). This Chili con Carne is excellent if you want to use Chuck Roast. This Chicken Chili is my favorite crockpot meal. And this three-bean chili is a great vegetarian option.
I can’t publish this blog post without reminding you that the story of the day I first made Refrigerator Soup is available over at Substack for Premium Subscribers. I think if you try out a subscription for a month, you’ll want to continue. But no hard feelings if you decide it’s just not for you.
