Quick, Healthy Soup Recipes for Low-Pressure Meal Prep

If you’re trying to eat more vegetables, consider slurping more soup. Most of them rely on vegetables as a base, and from there, it’s easy to add even more for a belly-filling, nourishing meal. Without much effort, you can easily work two servings of vegetables into a single bowl.

Soup also happens to be one of the most simple and soul-warming things to make, a breeze to customize and easily packed for lunches, or frozen for a future you who is too busy and too tired to cook. These 24 soups give you all of that, along with plenty of nutrition and comfort in every bowl.

Christian Reynoso’s vegetable and tofu soup proves that light and hearty don’t have to be opposites. This soup strikes a perfect balance between bite and tenderness, thanks to a vegetable-packed broth finished with silken tofu.

Recipe: Hearty Vegetable Tofu Soup

Kristina Felix’s smoky soup comes together in about the time it takes to roast the chickpeas you’ll scatter on top at the end. As the rice simmers, it releases starches and gives the broth more structure, while chipotles add gentle heat. Skip the yogurt if you want to keep the soup dairy-free, and use low-sodium broth and less salt during prep if you’re watching your intake.

Recipe: Chickpea Tomato-Rice Soup

Inspired by sopa Tarasca, a velvety Mexican bean, tomato and chile soup, Kristina Felix uses convenient canned pinto beans and chipotles in adobo in her quick version. Fresh toppings finish the job: Avocado offers a cooling counterpoint, Greek yogurt adds tang and the chips bring a welcome crunch.

Recipe: Creamy Pinto Bean Soup

The beloved chickpea dip works overtime in Carolina Gelen’s tomato soup, creating a smooth and creamy base with built-in seasoning. Grilled cheese is a natural pairing, but avocado toast is a lighter option that keeps the meal dairy-free.

Recipe: Creamy Tomato Hummus Soup

Melissa Clark’s super-simple vegetarian soup doesn’t require any sautéing. Just toss everything into a pot and simmer until tender. A Parmesan rind adds umami, while chickpeas lend tender chew and heft. For more veg, toss in fresh or frozen green beans, napa cabbage or chopped greens. The amount of salt can seem like a lot, but you need more to season the dried beans than you do canned which often have added salt. And remember, you can always adjust to taste.

Recipe: Chickpea Vegetable Soup With Parmesan, Rosemary and Lemon

Comfort food that leaves you feeling healthy is a win, and Yasmin Fahr’s coconut-ginger soup is a perfect example of that. It’s soothing and substantial, silky from the coconut milk but not heavy. With rice and greens, it’s a light meal, but adding tofu would make it more filling.

Recipe: Turmeric-Ginger Coconut Soup With Greens

The secret to Tom Valenti’s pasta and bean soup is mashing the potatoes, which thickens the broth and gives it a smooth, comforting texture. Prosciutto is used sparingly, just enough to build flavor. Greens like kale or spinach are an easy addition to boost your veggie intake, or keep the soup simple and pair with some kale chips on the side for crunch.

Recipe: Pasta and Bean Soup

Melissa Clark’s quietly luxurious soup is layered with flavor, starting with butter to coax sweetness from the leeks and cabbage. A Parmesan rind adds body to the broth, and the grated Parmesan gives it a nutty finish. Brightened with lemon and herbs at the end, this soup hits the trifecta of “easy, delicious and satisfying.” Throw in a can of white beans for a more protein-forward meal.

Recipe: Parmesan Cabbage Soup

Yewande Komolafe’s light, brothy soup leans into the beauty of contrasting flavors. Tamarind and tomatoes provide brightness, and ginger and lemongrass add warmth while chiles bring just enough heat to keep things lively. It’s also impressive: “definitely in the running for a guest meal,” one reader wrote.

Recipe: Vegetable Soup With Tamarind and Lemongrass

Canned pumpkin proves it can pull year-round duty in Yewande Komolafe’s creamy soup. Onion, garlic and ginger deepen the base, while chile adds heat that’s softened by coconut milk and peanut butter. Keep it vegan, or finish with yogurt for extra creaminess and protein. Bread on the side isn’t required, but it’s tasty.

Recipe: Spicy Peanut and Pumpkin Soup

Lidey Heuck’s recipe makes “eating the rainbow” a breeze. The colors (and a spectrum of nutrients) come from frozen vegetables, an economical and welcome shortcut. The recipe also invites tinkering: Mix in different veggies, like zucchini or cauliflower, play with the seasonings, and add red lentils or chickpeas for protein.

Recipe: Vegetable Soup

“Incredibly easy and fast” is how one reader describes Ali Slagle’s chicken and rice soup. As the rice cooks, it releases starch to lightly thicken the broth, while chicken thighs add protein to make it extra satisfying. A hit of lemon provides some freshness and balances its cozy, restorative feel. Serve with a simple vegetable on the side, like honey-glazed carrots.

Recipe: Chicken and Rice Soup

Kay Chun’s hobakjuk, a traditional Korean blended porridge of squash and glutinous rice, highlights the natural richness of winter squash. Walnuts, seeds and dates scattered on top create what a reader described as festive and complex flavors and textures. If you like, make extra topping; it works on everything from yogurt to broccoli.

Recipe: Hobakjuk (Korean Squash Porridge)

This streamlined ramen recipe skips the seasoning packet in favor of a quick, deeply flavorful broth built from garlic, soy sauce and the bones and skin of a rotisserie chicken. Christian Reynoso balances richness with brightness using soy sauce and fresh citrus, creating a bowl that tastes slow-simmered but isn’t.

Recipe: Citrus-Soy Chicken Ramen

Yasmin Fahr takes run-of-the-mill broccoli and potatoes and turns them into a soup that’s more interesting than you might expect. Mashing a portion adds creaminess while maintaining some bite. Grated Parmesan finishes the soup and gives it another savory dimension, though sharp Cheddar is another delicious idea. Warm bread on the side is perfect for dunking.

Recipe: Broccoli and Potato Soup

Economical ground beef, potatoes, mixed frozen vegetables and canned tomatoes are turned into a satisfying, one-pot meal in this cozy soup from Melissa Knific. It also works with ground turkey or chicken. “Nostalgia in a pot,” one reader wrote. Toss in a can of beans for even more protein.

Recipe: Hamburger Soup

The delightful bright green color of Ali Slagle’s lentil soup comes from a spinach-miso mixture stirred in at the end, which keeps the color and flavor fresh and lively. Topped with sautéed mushrooms, it’s also excellent with a scattering of crumbled feta.

Recipe: Spicy Miso Lentil Soup

“The best soup I’ve ever had in my entire life,” wrote one reader about Yasmin Fahr’s lemony meatball soup. Oatmeal is added to the meatball mixture, which helps keep them light and tender, then again to the broth for texture.

Recipe: Lemony Chicken-Feta Meatball Soup With Spinach

Carolina Gelen turns pantry staples into a weeknight win with this pesto chickpea soup. Store-bought pesto does most of the work, while chickpeas pull double duty, thickening the broth and giving the soup staying power.

Recipe: Pesto Chickpea Soup

Eric Kim’s recipe brings out the savory flavor and natural sweetness of fresh cherry or grape tomatoes any time of year. The rice thickens the soup just enough, stopping short of anything stewlike, and little bit of guanciale is the savory touch that makes the whole thing click. Serve it with a boiled egg on the side for a bit more protein.

Recipe: Brothy Tomato Rice Soup

“A keeper,” wrote one reader about Martha Rose Shulman’s hearty soup. Feel free to mix things up by swapping out the beans or adding pasta instead of potatoes. You can’t go wrong with this nourishing soup, especially with warm bread on the side.

Recipe: Quick Tomato, White Bean and Kale Soup

Italian wedding soup gets its name from the “marriage” of meat and vegetables, and Lidey Heuck’s version gets that balance just right. One reader described it as “exquisite,” even with vegetarian swaps, like plant-based meat and vegetable broth.

Recipe: Italian Wedding Soup

A higher broth-to-meat ratio makes Melissa Knific’s vegetable beef soup a lighter choice than a classic beef stew, while still delivering the same comfort. For ease, use frozen veggies, and customize it as you wish by tossing in shredded cabbage. Or, do like one reader did, and add Spicy V8 for some heat.

Recipe: Vegetable Beef Soup

“This is my favorite recipe from NYT so far,” wrote one reader about Melissa Clark’s white bean soup, which is also an excellent way to use ground turkey. Another called it “more a guide than a recipe.” That’s part of the draw; adjust it to use what you have on hand, and it will deliver outstanding results every time.

Recipe: Lemony White Bean Soup With Turkey and Greens

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