Soup Recipes

Soup recipes solve the hardest weeknight problem: one pot, little attention, and dinner that feels like it took effort. Most of what follows starts the same way, with onion and garlic softening in butter, and ends somewhere completely different depending on what you add next.

This collection runs from brothy and light to thick enough to stand a spoon in. Creamy broccoli cheddar and loaded potato for the nights you want comfort. Roasted butternut squash, apple pumpkin and sweet potato for the stretch of autumn when squash is cheap and everywhere. Chicken soups, lentil stews, and a few that happen to be vegan without making a point of it.

Two habits improve almost any soup. Brown your aromatics properly instead of rushing them, because that caramelization is most of the flavor you will taste an hour later. And season at the end, not the start, since a soup that reduces for forty minutes concentrates the salt you added at minute two.

Most of these reheat better the next day, and nearly all of them freeze. Make a double batch when you have the time; your future self on a Wednesday will be grateful.