Our winter soup recipes will warm up even the chilliest winter nights. Every spoonful is packed with flavor and cozy feelings.
35 Winter Soup Recipes We’re Cozying Up With
White Bean and Sausage Soup
This soup has it all: carbs from the barley and beans, protein from the sausage and lots of nutritious vegetables, thanks to kale, onions, carrots and a tomato-scented broth. It’s a one-pot wonder that’ll simmer on the stove for a bit, filling your kitchen with all the herbaceous, savory aromas.
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Thank you, Instant Pot, for cooking our favorite soups in less than 30 minutes. Here, it makes us this creamy, cheesy potato soup with red pepper, sage and bacon for flavor and a bit of color.
Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)
Pho may take a while to make, but that’s what makes it so good! Really, the broth is the most time-consuming part; everything else comes together quickly. Save this for a special Sunday dinner or make the broth Sunday night and build bowls all throughout the week.
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Wild rice is such a special ingredient for soup. Toasty, nutty and packed with fiber, wild rice adds a lot of nutritional value and bulk to soup without costing a fortune.
Classic Beef Stew
Now this is a bone-warming stew. The chuck roast is the star of the show, but I personally love the potatoes since they soak up all the rich broth made from red wine, paprika, herbes de Provence and fresh rosemary.
Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
There isn’t a soup more soul-satisfying than chicken noodle. Here, it’s made in a slow cooker so the chicken can slowly cook with all the vegetables, herbs and spices.
Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
No need to go overboard at Olive Garden when you can do it in the privacy of your own home. This recipe makes 12 servings, so while it’s not quite endless, there certainly will be minestrone available for seconds and thirds. Of course, serve the soup with copycat Olive Garden breadsticks.
Priscilla’s Vegetable Chowder
A lot of comforting cheese, ham and whole milk are included in this chowder, but it’s a vegetable-forward soup, thanks to plenty of potatoes, broccoli, onions, carrots and celery. The bread bowl is optional but highly recommended.
Vegetable Lentil Soup
I love using seasonal vegetables, and wintery butternut squash takes center stage in this I-can’t-believe-it’s-good-for-you soup. It’s even suitable for plant-based eaters!
Clam Chowder
Even if you don’t reside on one of America’s northern coasts, you can still make an exceptional clam chowder at home. Canned or frozen clams, plus clam juice, give this soup plenty of punch, while potatoes, bacon, onions and a creamy broth base introduce other savory flavors.
Tom Kha Gai
If you’re looking for a creamy, rich soup but you need it to be totally dairy-free, you’ve found it. Tom kha gai is a classic Thai dish that’s truly packed with flavor. We have substitute ideas if you can’t find a few of the traditional Thai ingredients.
Chicken and Dumplings
Any time I came down with a cold during the winter, my mom would make me this soup. The scent is so good that it’s torturous. After eating a bowl, I swear I always feel better the next day.
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
The slow cooker allows us to slowly infuse all the great ingredients into this Thai soup’s broth: gingerroot, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fish sauce. Once your liquid gold broth is finished, all you have to do is build your bowl with cooked rice noodles, rotisserie chicken, any of your favorite toppings and the broth.
Sausage and Lentil Soup
This sausage and lentil soup is the reason I love to make soup during the winter. It’s easy, fast, affordable and loaded with good-for-you ingredients.
Million Dollar Soup
No need to take out a loan just to make this soup; it only tastes like a million dollars (phew!). Expect ultra-rich ingredients like gnocchi, bacon, cheese, cream, white wine and bread crumb toppings. Don’t worry—there’s a little kale in there too!
Spicy Montana Chili
While this chili definitely has a kick of heat, it’s not the only flavor present. Plus, it has more vegetables packed into it than usual. Served with cornbread, this winter soup will definitely keep you full until morning.
Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Pot Pie
This Pennsylvania Dutch classic is more chicken noodle soup than chicken pot pie. Instead of fusilli noodles, the dish calls for flat, square noodles. If you live in or near Lancaster County, you can find these noodles at the grocery store. But if you don’t, our recipe shows you how to make them from scratch.
Contest-Winning Pizza Soup
—Jackie Brossard,
Kitchener, Ontario
I adore this fun spin on pizza! The tomato broth has all the flavors you’d expect from pizza sauce, and the usual pizza toppings—pepperoni, bell peppers and mushrooms—are simmered in it.
Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup
Broccoli cheddar and beer cheese combine into one in this broccoli cheddar beer soup. Dunk pieces of crusty bread into the soup or try soft beer pretzel nuggets instead.
Sausage Potato Soup
When soup is flavorful and easy, it’s sure to become a rotation dinner for busy weeknights. I like this soup for cooking novices since the precooked sausages take a lot of hard work out of the recipe.
Slow-Cooker Corn Chowder
More than just corn is happening in this slow-cooker corn chowder. Expect pieces of ham, bacon and shredded hash browns throughout the thick, creamy base.
Best Lasagna Soup
The idea of this soup may sound weird to some, but I promise it’s delicious and actually a regular dinner in my home come winter. It really does taste just like lasagna!
Mexican Corn Chowder
This Mexican corn chowder has a slight kick. Hot sauce and green chiles add spice, but the sweet corn, succulent chicken, heavy cream and cheese temper it down a bit.
Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)
There’s so much flavor in this incredibly beautiful stew. Marinated pork belly, tofu, kimchi, fish sauce, fresh gingerroot, gochujang, bok choy and mushrooms are just a few of the ingredients in the lineup. Serve it with rice, and the kimchi stew will keep your belly full and warm all night long.
Lobster Bisque
Please don’t be intimidated by the from-scratch broth; it’s what takes lobster bisque from great to mind-blowing. Serve the bisque with a fresh and crunchy Caesar side salad and good-quality dinner rolls like Parker House rolls.
Cheesy Wild Rice Soup
Cheesy wild rice soup is hearty without being heavy. Sure, there’s plenty of cheese and bacon, but the nutty wild rice and fresh chives introduce new flavors and textures. It gets only better with oyster crackers.
Traditional Italian Wedding Soup
The meatballs here have an unexpected ingredient inside: raisins! Their earthy sweetness cuts some of the salty richness. Look for acini de pepe pasta, the traditional pasta shape for this soup.
Split Pea and Ham Soup
Split pea and ham soup always makes me feel as if I’m dining in a cozy pub with nowhere else to be for the rest of the day. The best part? The slow cooker handles all the heavy lifting.
Salmon Chowder
Precooked salmon makes this creamy, comforting soup so easy. Once you cook the vegetables, dump in the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer. While the soup simmers is a good time to crisp up the bacon in the oven—a must-have topping on the soup.
Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
This is basically the soup version of mushroom risotto, which is so many people’s favorite side dish. Make sure you really allow the mushrooms to caramelize so there’s a ton of great flavor in here. Steamed mushrooms won’t have quite the same effect.
Ground Turkey Vegetable Soup
Ya know that post-holiday feeling where your body is basically yelling at you to stop eating cookies and start eating vegetables again? This is the winter soup designed to fix that. Bonus: It’s a great way to use up leftover turkey!
Pozole
I’ll never forget how, in one restaurant where I worked, one of the cooks would make pozole for a family meal every few weeks. It was such a warming and enriching dinner, filled with spices, hearty beef and hominy (which you can find in the canned vegetable aisle), to have right before service.
Taco Soup
In this recipe, all the incredible flavors of tacos are wrapped into a comforting bowl of soup. I love serving this with tortilla chips so my guests and I can scoop up bite after bite, sans spoon. It makes the soup so much more filling too!
Cheesy Cauliflower Soup
A great pot of soup doesn’t have to take all day to make, and this cheesy cauliflower soup is a testament to that. I love that the soup isn’t one-note cheesy: There’s plenty of flavor thanks to nutmeg, dried parsley, cayenne, curry powder and white pepper.
Buffalo Chicken Chili
This soup is basically Buffalo-flavored white chicken chili, and it’s perfect for game day. Start it five to six hours before kickoff, ladle it into bowls and top each one with crumbled blue cheese.
Winter Soup Recipes FAQ
What are the best cozy cold weather soups to eat in winter?
The best soups to eat in winter are the hearty, stick-to-your-bones ones that are served warm. These can include soups with carbs like lasagna soup, potato soup, or chicken and wild rice soup. Other hearty winter soup ideas are those with a thick soup base, like rich chowders, cream-based soups, vegetable purees or dishes that are more like stews and chili.
What are some healthy winter soup recipes?
Healthy means something different to everyone. To us, that means dishes that prioritize whole, nutritious ingredients and have enough carbs and lean protein to keep us satiated for hours. As far as healthy winter soup recipes go, our minestrone, vegetable lentil soup, tom kha gai, ground turkey and vegetable soup, and taco soup fit the bill.
Can you make-ahead hearty winter soups?
Yes, you can make almost any hearty winter soup ahead of time. The only ones I’d avoid making ahead are any noodle-based soups, as the noodles can soak up a lot of the liquid over time. Before storing, allow the soup to cool completely to room temperature in under two hours to keep it out of the temperature danger zone. Store the soup in the fridge for up to three days, depending on the recipe.


































