27 Best Soup Recipes for Cold Days

Dairy-Free Butternut Squash Soup

This creamy, bright-tasting butternut squash soup makes a wholesome, warming winter lunch, or a great first course at family dinners and get-togethers with friends. It's especially great served alongside a grilled cheese sandwich.

Simple and inexpensive to prepare, and also dairy-free (soy milk is used to deliver creaminess), this versatile vegan soup is a great staple recipe to have in your back pocket. The recipe includes ideas for different ways to prepare this soup if you prefer a spicier or thicker preparation.

Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Here's a hearty, Tex-Mex inspired vegetarian soup with black beans, corn, and soft tortilla strips combined in a thick, tomato-rich broth. Amped up with Mexican spices and topped with shredded cheese and taco fixings, this protein-rich soup is also packed with fiber and protein.

Ready in 1 hour, it's a great winter soup to pack in a thermos for school lunches or take to the office on brown bag days. Serve it with soft Mexican bollillos and slices of avocado.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

This quick and easy recipe makes use of condensed soups and real cream for a thick and satisfying soup ready in less than an hour. Peas and carrots complement the thick texture of the soup and bring nutrition, while chopped parsley adds color and freshness to a creamy preparation.

Serve this soup with Venezuelan cheese sticks and a tossed salad for a simple and beautiful family meal.

Fresh Salmon Chowder

This delicious seafood chowder recipe makes a wonderful family meal, served along with biscuits, crackers, or crusty bread. But it's also fancy enough to serve as the first course at your next dinner party. Ready in just 45 minutes, this is a quick recipe to try. Make it gluten-free by skipping the flour, or use soy milk and vegan cheese to address any dairy allergies.

Fresh salmon can be used for this chowder, but it's also delicious with the canned type. The fish combines with chicken broth, hearty potatoes, sweet carrots, light cream, and cheddar cheese for a thick and creamy soup that's filling and packed with flavor. Serve with olive oil crackers.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

Italian Minestrone soup is a wonderful way to enjoy the goodness of nutritious garden vegetables during the cold winter months. Vegetarian and vegan, this low-calorie, low-fat homemade soup recipe is packed with heart-healthy tomatoes, carrots, celery, green beans, zucchini, basil, and garlic, all simmered slowly for maximum flavor. 

Macaroni pasta is added near the end of cooking. It makes a delicious, light, and healthy family lunch or dinner. Ready in 1 hour and 30 minutes, serve it with a side salad and some garlic bread.

Easy French Onion Soup

This bistro-inspired French onion soup is made with only five ingredients and is ready in 1 hour. The spectacular beef flavor comes from condensed beef broth, while the Gruyère cheese and bread make this soup extra filling and flavorful.

This elegant soup presented in individual bowls is a beautiful addition to dinner parties and holiday gatherings but is also a satisfying winter meal as a main served with baguette and a simple green salad.

Tomato Beef Barley Soup

This recipe transforms leftover cooked beef into a soup that's perfect for a winter lunch or dinner. Potatoes and root vegetables are simmered with tomatoes, beef stock, and barley for a homemade soup that's packed with healthy vitamins and fiber.

You can cook up this family favorite in about an hour, or use your slow cooker so you can prep and forget it until it's dinner time. Serve with garlic breadsticks and grate some Parmesan on top for an extra kick.

Instant Pot Potato Soup

This Instant Pot potato soup recipe is quick and delicious. The potatoes are cooked in a flavorful creamy broth accented with garlic, shallots, and thyme. By using the Instant Pot, it's ready in 30 minutes. Give it that loaded baked potato feel by topping each bowl with bacon, cheddar, chives, and sour cream.

This dish is hearty enough to work as a main, especially when served with crusty bread. It's also an excellent side for a larger meal, and fantastic alongside roasted meats.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Invite friends over for soup and cook up a big pot of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. This recipe lacks nothing in the flavor department. It's so good that it's Taiwan's national dish, complete with competitive street vendors vying to create the best soup.

The ingredient list is long, but the majority are used for seasoning. The complexly flavored broth is a perfect complement to the cubed beef. It's all simmered for a few hours, then served over noodles and adorned with bok choy.

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

This delicious, crock pot soup recipe has all of the flavors of your childhood-favorite split pea soup but uses herbs and spices in place of the usual diced ham to add flavor. This also makes the recipe suitable for vegan and vegetarian diets.

Fat-free and low in calories, too, the dish still retains an unbelievably rich texture. Serve with vegan grilled cheese sandwiches and a hearty apple-pecan salad, but use vegan mayo instead for the dressing.

Cauliflower Chowder

Cauliflower chowder offers a hearty soup with fewer carbs. It's left a little thicker than most chowders, so it can be a meal on its own when served with a thick slice of bread or salad.

The vegetarian recipe includes potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions, along with garlic and parsley for extra flavor. Greek yogurt gives it a satisfying creaminess that's even better when topped with grated cheddar cheese.

Instant Pot Taco Soup

The hearty and flavorful ingredients of a typical taco are cooked all together to make a delicious, filling soup. The Instant Pot makes the recipe quick and easy, as well as mostly hands-off, perfect for when you return from a fun winter outing. Ground beef is cooked along with onion, garlic, and taco seasonings and then combined with beans, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, stock, and green chilis.

Once pressure cooked for 20 minutes, it is ready to be topped with tortilla chips or strips and your favorite taco toppings like shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, and salsa.

Pasta e Fagioli

Vegetarian pasta e fagioli, or pasta with beans, is a tasty, filling, high-protein pasta recipe for vegetarians and vegans that is also perfect for warming you up on a cold winter day. Pasta and white beans are cooked in an Italian-seasoned tomato sauce with plenty of garlic, fresh basil, oregano, and paprika.

Top it with Parmesan cheese if your diet allows dairy, or use grated cashews instead for a vegan topping. Serve with herb dinner rolls.

Instant Pot Minestrone

Traditional minestrone combines carrots, celery, beans, spinach, and pasta in a tomato broth. You can stick with a vegetarian version or brown some Italian sausage or ground beef to add meaty flavor.

This hearty soup comes together with ease when you make it in an Instant Pot. Serve it with a dollop of pesto, a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and a warm hunk of bread.

Hungarian Goulash

Stewed beef and vegetables is a classic combination in many Eastern European cuisines, and the addition of bacon fat, vegetables, paprika, and other spices makes it a perfect cold day lunch or dinner.

This traditional flavorful Hungarian goulash recipe cooks for 3 hours until the chuck roast is fork-tender and all the flavors have come together, and while it does, make some garlic butter to serve with rye bread and the soup.

Potato and Ham Soup With Cheese

This cheesy potato soup features cooked ham, potatoes, and Cheddar cheese simmered in a flavorful creamy base that's filling and ready to eat in less than an hour. Skip the flour for a gluten-free version and add 1/4 cup of heavy cream instead to keep it extra thick.

A bowl of this soup is a complete meal, so you just need a fresh tomato-avocado salad and some garlic-Parmesan croutons on top to sit down and enjoy it.

Tomato-Barley Soup

Bright in color and flavor, this recipe combines the heartiness of barley, with vegetables and vegetable broth to make a filling soup packed with fiber and nutrition. Additional kale or spinach can go in the soup, or if you have omnivore guests grill some chicken, cube it, and serve it on the side for them to add to the soup.

For vegetarians, offer Parmesan to top the soup, and for vegans offer shredded vegan cheese or pepitas. Serve with Catalan tomato bread.

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Rich and flavorful chicken noodle soup from scratch in about an hour seems undoable, but it has actually never been so easy. This Instant Pot recipe creates an incredibly delicious broth filled with vegetables, shredded chicken, and tender cooked noodles, tasting like it cooked all day on the stovetop.

The onion, carrots, celery, and garlic are cooked on the sauté setting and then combined with chicken broth, water, and chicken thighs to pressure cooked. The chicken is removed and shredded while the noodles are added to the soup. Everything is combined along with lemon juice and fresh parsley.

Cream of Wild Rice Soup

Based on a time-tested Minnesotan recipe, cream of wild rice soup is a fantastic comfort food to have in your winter repertoire. Hearty and filling, this version is lighter than the traditional recipe while still packed with meat, vegetables, and rice. Skip the ham or replace it with chicken or turkey if you'd like.

You need 1 hour to have the soup on the table. Serve it with bread and butter and a colorful strawberry and spinach salad.

Cioppino

Cioppino is an Italian-American fish stew that originated in San Francisco. Our recipe is definitely fancier than the original, more humble one. Plan ahead because this soup requires 3 hours of prep and cooking, but it's worth the wait.

Packed with fragrant white fish, sweet shrimp and delectable shellfish, then simmered slowly in a rich and delicious vegetable broth, this fantastic recipe is perfect for a romantic holiday meal or New Year's Eve dinner at home. You can make and freeze the broth ahead of time, adding the seafood ingredients in the last minutes of cooking. Serve with a warm baguette.

Vietnamese BBQ Pork Pho

Vietnamese Pho soup is a hearty noodle soup that's a whole meal. Fragrant broth, soft rice noodles, and Asian flavors combine with savory barbecue pork in a delectable, satisfying soup that is packed with everything you need to warm up and delight your senses on a cold winter day.

Star anise is the secret weapon of this soup because it lightens up your palate with an unexpected flavor. Easy to cook, this soup needs just 25 minutes of prep and cooking.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

Lentils are healthy and vitamin-packed legumes that cook fast and are a wonderful addition to salads and soups thanks to their meaty flavor and texture. This lentil soup is tasty and totally satisfying while still being on the light side.

You'll be ready to sit down to a bowl of goodness in 1 hour. Serve with pita bread and offer some Pecorino cheese on the side to top your soup.

Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

All of the flavors of a filling chicken enchilada are cooked together in this Instant Pot soup. Onion, garlic, and jalapeno are sautéed and then boneless chicken, enchilada sauce, beans, corn, and seasonings are pressure cooked along with soup ingredients. The hearty soup is topped with homemade fried tortilla strips and your favorite Mexican toppings.

Curried Chicken Soup

Chicken soup is a wintertime favorite, but try something a little bit different with our delicious, East Indian-inspired chicken soup recipe. This preparation has the wonderful flavor of curry powder and other classic East Indian spices, along with tomatoes, apples, rice, and diced vegetables.

Ready in 1 hour and 25 minutes, make it for a soup and sandwich weeknight or serve with pepper jack biscuits and a tossed salad as a complete family meal.

Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup (Hot and Sour Soup)

Tom Yum Soup, also called hot and sour soup, is a traditional recipe from Thailand. This version offers a vegan way to enjoy this delicious preparation. Packed with potassium-rich mushrooms, heart-healthy tomatoes, and protein-rich tofu, plus the wonderful Thai flavors of ginger, soy sauce, lime and lemongrass, this first-course soup is nutritious and an absolute delight for the senses on a cold winter's day.

It's also delicious served over hot cooked noodles, or with white rice. Ready in 1 hour.

Corn Chowder With Bacon

Ready in 35 minutes, this corn chowder is filling and flavorful. You can add vegetables for a thicker texture or cook it in chicken or vegetable broth for a heartier taste. Serve it with a zucchini grilled cheese for a fun, colorful, and veggie-loaded meal.

Garbanzo Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Soup

This gourmet-style, vegetarian twist on a classic Italian Tuscan white bean soup recipe uses chickpeas and pasta in a deliciously seasoned broth for a super-healthy and hearty winter soup that cooks in just 35 minutes.

Fresh Italian herbs combine with red pepper flakes, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese to create the flavorful broth for this filling soup. High in fiber and protein, and low in fat, you can enjoy this authentic Italian recipe guilt-free at lunch or dinner. Serve it with warm bread and baked ricotta.