5 Hearty Soups That Won’t Leave You Hungry

Project 365, Day 73/365

At this point in the day on a Saturday, I would have already put together a grocery list with all the recipes or meals I planned on cooking. That didn’t happen today as I had a special project at work I was busy with, so here I am, with little to no idea of what I’m going to be cooking up this upcoming week. Something I do know is that winter is tapering off here in LA, not that it actually gets that cold to begin with, but I do love huddling over a steamy bowl of soup with some rustic torn bread fresh from the oven. The thought would be simply unbearable come July or August, so I’m going to get in my soup time while I can.

Will I only be cooking soup this week? Nah, though if anything would make Charles learn to cook properly, it’d probably be that, so perhaps it’s not the worst plan. I do, however, typically have about one or two soups in my weekly meal rotation, which means I have some very solid, tried-and-true, actually delicious recipes up my sleeve to share with you today. Here are five mostly healthy but really hearty soups I promise won’t leave you crawling back to the kitchen for a 9 pm snack.

Classic Tomato Soup via A Cup of Jo

I’ve been making this soup for years. It’s so simple but comes together with such great flavor. It’s all about using high-quality canned tomatoes (I like San Marzano varieties), fresh ground pepper (not the kind you sprinkle out of a little jar…trust me), and plenty of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. When you have a recipe with few ingredients, every single ingredient plays an integral part and can’t really be masked with 10 other things, so keep that in mind. One last thing I do here is to make my own croutons for the top. You could just as easily eat this with a yummy grilled cheese sandwich, or even just some crusty bread, but the crunchy, oven-fried croutons just take it to another level for me. (I just take a store-bought baguette, cut it into cubes about an inch in size, toss in some olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic, then crisp them up in a hotel oven of about 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes until golden.)

Hearty Vegetable Soup via I Heart Nap Time

I’ve blogged about this soup before back when I was doing Whole 30 in January, but it’s another one I’ve had in my recipe Rolodex for years. I don’t have to just be doing a Whole 30 to enjoy it either, because I genuinely love it. The name would suggest it’s just a bunch of vegetables, but it does have ground beef in it if that’s your thing. The key is the fresh basil at the end and a few hefty glugs of good balsamic vinegar both in the pot while cooking, but also in the bowl when serving. FYI, the recipe calls for 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic…I use that much in each bowl. I can be a bit of an exaggerator but it plays with the tomato base so well.

Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup via Bon Appetit

Talk about a simple recipe, but it all comes together somehow like magic. I’ve made it both with store-bought broth and homemade broth. It was good with store-bought. It was spectacular with homemade. You decide what level of “good” you’re after. Whatever you do, do NOT skip the fresh dill or the fresh lemon juice (don’t try using the kind that comes in the little plastic lemon, pretty please). Oh, and the recipe calls for chicken thighs while the photo shows chicken breast. Just use whichever you prefer (I go with chicken breasts).

Pasta Fagioli via Skinnytaste

I’ve made a lot of pasta fagioli recipes in my time. Some that took hours to do, some that used meat, some that didn’t. The recipes are all over the place. This particular recipe happens to be vegetarian, so don’t expect something that tastes like the Olive Garden (say what you will about OG, their pasta fagioli soup is awesome). The cannellini beans are part whole, part blended, which gives the soup a rich, thicker texture that’s really nice. Hot tip: If you plan on having leftovers, don’t add the pasta to the full pot of soup. Cook it separately and add it to each plate, then store it on its own in the fridge. Otherwise, the pasta swells up, overcooks, and by the time you’re heating it up the next day, it’s all mushy.

Lentil Soup via Recipe Tin Eats

Again, like pasta fagioli, I’ve tried a lot of lentil soup recipes. I like a lot of them, but I opted to share this one because it’s vegetarian, but also the lemon finish is very nice, as is the slightly pureed texture. I prefer lentil soup with green lentils, but I’m sure you could use red or yellow lentils, too. You just may need to adjust the time. Things like cumin and coriander are something I typically double because I like big bold flavors.

And that’s it! I suppose it might be time to start working on my grocery list for this week. I’m thinking I’ll add the lentil soup and the tomato soup, and save the other few for the weeks to come.

See you tomorrow, friends.