There’s nothing like a warm, comforting bowl of soup to make you feel cozy and satisfied, especially when the weather gets chilly.
Soup is the ultimate comfort food that’s also super versatile and easy to make.
Here are some of the tastiest, easiest soup recipes that’ll warm you up from the inside out!
Cream of Mushroom Soup
The best cream of mushroom soup recipe you will find. Perfect for those cold wintery days by the fire. Serve it with a grilled piece of toast coated with butter, olive oil or even grilled cheese. Made with button mushrooms and dried shiitake or porcini for that intense taste. Use a high speed blender to get the creamy consistency you love, and all without cream.
Vegetarian French Onion Soup
There’s no more satisfying dish than a French Onion Soup in the colder months. This one is the vegetarian version, and it’s so tasty you’ll never know the difference. It’s simple, it’s packed with flavor and made with few ingredients. The cheese croutons can be made with any stale bread. The caramelized onion flavour is what makes this dish so popular.
No need for chicken or beef stocks. And if you don’t like wine, then use apple cider. French onion soup is popular around the world with good reason. Traditionally made from a meat stock, caramelised onions, and loads of melted Gruyère cheese on croutons.
Garlic Soup Italian style
I know what you’re thinking, two heads of garlic, are you crazy! You can relax as the slow cooking of the garlic will dissipate the pungent flavor and leave a pleasing smooth note. This soup really has to be served with croutons or a slice of bruschetta, plus some coarsely chopped parsley for that freshness. A simple soup with amazing flavor and fantastic if you have a cold!
Hearty Minestrone Soup
Minestrone soup which means “Big Soup” has always been a favorite of mine. It has so many goodies and can be served as a first course or a main meal as it’s quite thick. There’s no real set recipe for minestrone as it was usually made up using available vegetables in poorer times. I personally prefer it simpler as it has a fresher taste.
It can be made as a vegetarian meal with vegetable stock or by using meat stock, this recipe uses chicken stock. You can also add pancetta for a different style flavour. Cook the hardy vegetables first and add the rest last, this will retain some bite. Add the basil leaves at the very end to get the full fresh aromas. Buy yourself the best rustic bread loaf, toast it and lace it with olive oil for a fantastic minestrone meal Italiano style. What an awesome comfort food!
Roasted Tomato and Basil soup
If you’re a tomato lover like I am, then you will love this soup. The tomatoes are firstly roasted to intensify their flavors and bring out the sugars. The selection of good quality tomatoes is of course important, you want sweetness and flavor. These days a lot of supermarket tomatoes taste like water chestnuts. So the best time to make this soup is when tomatoes are at their peak of the season. That’s also when fresh basil is in season, which is the other important ingredient.
Master those two ingredients and you will have a soup to die for. There’s two options here, make it as a regular soup or take it to another level by adding some golden crunch puff pastry. The steam will rise pushing the dough into a dome shape making your soup look like a spectacular soufflé from a fancy restaurant. Plus once you crack it open, a puff of fresh basil scented steam will permeate into your senses. It’s theatrical but it’s also a tasty combination.
Moroccan Chicken Soup Harira
If you’re a fan of the above hearty minestrone, then you will also love this! Harira is a Moroccan soup typically made with lamb or chicken, tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils, and a variety of spices. This version is made using chicken breast. It’s a soup that’s often served during Ramadan as a way to break the fast.
