If, however, like us, you tend to get stuck in something of a soup rut – it’s spicy, gingery butternut squash on repeat here – we’ve scoured the web to find four ideas to shake up your soup game. Packed full of goodness, these are the ones to get blending this chilly season. Inspired? That’s lunch sorted for the week, which makes one less thing to worry about.
Main image credit: taste
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Taste
The beautiful earthiness of this mushroom soup feels like it is doing you good even as you eat it. Throw in that it is absolutely creamily delicious, and you have a perfect weekday lunch all ready to go. We love this take on a classic, which comes courtesy of the Australian website, Taste; the different varieties of mushroom give it a wonderful richness, while the tarragon adds a flavoursome depth. We’d be inclined to add a zingy squeeze of lemon to lighten it and for a shot of vitamin C, but each very much to their own.
The Most Epic Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
Joyful Healthy Eats
Is there anything more warming than the aromatic flavours of Thai cuisine? Attesting to that fact is Joyful Healthy Eats’ ‘epic’ soup, which is loaded up with brilliantly colourful health-giving veg. Plus, if you’re ailing with infections, this is a great one: the ginger, garlic and onion are all winners when it comes to warding off winter colds, while chicken broth is well-documented for its health giving properties. And then there is the fact that it is just incredibly tasty, thanks to the herbs, spices, zingy lime and curry paste; and it’s filling too (that’ll be the chicken and the noodles). This one covers all the bases, which is why we’ll be coming back to it again and again this winter.
Fish Soup
Jamie Oliver
If you want a tasty way to get more fish into your diet, all while warming yourself up into the bargain, Jamie Oliver’s brilliant fish soup must surely be it. It is flexible according to taste – the recipe simply specifies white fish, as long as it is sustainably sourced – while the big knock-out flavours come courtesy of the welcome kick of chilli, the tomatoes, the fresh thyme and the fennel. Meanwhile, the addition of mussels or clams makes it look completely showstopping too. This is one we’ll be returning to now and in summer, so versatile is it. We see this becoming a staple for dinners with friends.
Healthy Broccoli, Zucchini and Leek Soup With Feta and Seeds
Taste
This absolute powerhouse of a soup, which contains no fewer than five green veg (there’s also celery and spinach in there), all offset by the tangy bite of the feta with the crunch of the seeds, is absolutely brilliant for fighting winter colds and coughs. Leek is a natural prebiotic, which aids the production of good bacteria, while broccoli is packed with disease-fighting compounds. In short: exactly what we need right now. This is a fantastic way to get in a healthy veggie quota – both for yourself and the kids. It’s absolutely delicious, plus we love the vivid green colour. Make it, eat it and feel it doing you good.
By Nancy Alsop
Updated January 2024
