Low-Calorie Veggie-Packed Soups

This vegetable-packed minestrone soup recipe is inspired by a popular Weight Watchers vegetable soup recipe. It makes a big pot of soup, so keep some in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and freeze the rest in single-serve portions. That way you always have an easy, delicious vegetable soup to start your meal or to eat for lunch. Think of this vegetable minestrone recipe as a starting point for other healthy soup variations, too: toss in leftover chopped cooked chicken or whole-wheat pasta or brown rice to make it more satisfying.

Lentils seem to go well with just about anything, and here they play well with a collection of greens and some cumin and coriander to add a gentle spicy note to this soup recipe. The result is a hearty winter soup with layers of flavor. Both French green lentils (available in natural-foods stores and specialty markets) and more commonly available brown lentils are delicious in this soup. The French green lentils hold their shape better when cooked, while brown lentils will start to break down a bit.

This spicy vegetable, quinoa and peanut soup recipe is a modern take on a traditional Bolivian soup recipe called Sopa de Mani. Serve this healthy quinoa soup recipe as a starter or make it a heartier meal by adding diced cooked chicken or turkey breast to the soup.

This Italian Wedding Soup recipe is Italian comfort food at its best, and this easy soup recipe lends itself to countless variations. Substitute spinach, chicory, chard or any other leafy green for the escarole or kale, and any leftover cooked (or canned) beans for the white beans in this healthy Italian wedding soup recipe.

This simple tomato soup is perfect paired with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Make a double batch and freeze the extra for rainy-day emergencies.

A little fresh goat cheese and a touch of butter are just enough to make this spinach soup silky, creamy and a little nutty--but not enough to overdo it. We use dark green spinach for this soup because of the lovely color it produces, though you could use red-veined spinach and have just as good a flavor in a more Army-inspired khaki color.

This creamy rye and butternut squash soup recipe is a healthier take on a traditional squash and rye bread soup from the Valle d'Aosta region of Italy, usually made rich with milk and cheese. This healthy butternut squash soup variation gets its richness from the creamy starches released by the bread and winter squash. If you like caraway, be sure to use rye bread with caraway seeds.

The yellow vegetables of summer--fresh corn, yellow tomatoes and yellow peppers--make this slightly sweet gazpacho soup recipe a beautiful and delicious alternative to red gazpacho.

Who wouldn't want to eat their vegetables when they're tucked into a fragrant broth with bits of tasty chicken and spiked with a shot of fresh lime and cilantro? This healthy chicken vegetable soup seems even richer with the smoky flavor from roasted poblano peppers and garlic. Serve this healthy chicken soup recipe with tortilla chips.

This wonderful winter vegetable chowder recipe is rich, filling and great for a winter supper. It's full of potatoes, rutabaga and carrot, but other vegetables could be added, such as sautéed mushrooms or fennel, chopped tomatoes or cubes of roasted winter squash.

Like most soups, this Moroccan lentil soup recipe gets better with time as the complex seasonings have time to develop. Make it a day ahead if you can--this easy slow cooker/crock pot recipe variation makes it a cinch to get the soup cooking while you do other things.

This easy gazpacho recipe is heaven on a hot day. Just puree everything in a blender and top the gazpacho with a drizzle of great olive oil.

You don't need much beef in this homey mushroom-beef noodle soup recipe, since mushrooms and a little Worcestershire sauce give it plenty of savory flavor.

Even people who think they don't like beets love this vibrantly colored, vegetable-packed borscht soup recipe, inspired by the legendary borscht soup served at New York's Russian Tea Room. Plenty of mushrooms, cabbage and carrots along with a judicious amount of beef make this healthy borscht recipe special.

This hearty bean and barley soup tastes like it has simmered for hours, but actually it's quite quick to throw together. Plus this recipe for healthy bean and barley soup freezes beautifully. If you have cooked barley on hand, omit the quick-cooking barley and stir in 1 1/2 cups cooked barley along with the broth in Step 2.

In this recipe, the humble turnip is transformed into a rich turnip soup made creamy with just 1 tablespoon of butter. Serve it as a starter or side soup. The mini salad on top is optional, but we love the bit of texture from the greens and pop of flavor from the vinaigrette.

Ribollita, a traditional hearty Tuscan soup, typically uses day-old bread to add body and thicken the broth. This ribollita recipe uses a bean mash, which keeps the soup gluten-free and adds fiber. Garnish with extra-virgin olive oil or pepper and grated Parmesan.

This simple healthy minestrone soup recipe cooks in less than 30 minutes and uses celery stalks, leaves and dried celery seed to flavor the delicious Parmesan-laced tomato broth.

This aromatic green curry soup is packed with spinach, mushrooms, green beans and broccoli stems (save the florets for another night). Green curry paste gives this soup a delicately spicy broth. The vegetables are cooked just enough to be tender, but retain their freshness and distinct textures.

This chard and spinach soup gets complex flavor from slowly cooked onions and lemon juice, while a sprinkle of rice gives it body and a velvety texture. Serve with a swirl of fruity, fragrant extra-virgin olive oil for richness.

This cold cucumber-dill soup has a surprisingly seductive taste. The secret is that both the broth and the yogurt garnish are loaded with fresh (never dried) dill and chives. Serve as a starter or a light lunch entree. The recipe calls for “handfuls” of herbs; if you are relying on the grocery store instead of the garden or farmers' market, you'll need about one large bunch or one to two 2- to 3-ounce packets. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

This luxurious potato-artichoke soup is simple enough to be served with a salad for dinner, yet turns into an elegant first course when you top it with a slice of garlic-rubbed crostini smeared with olive tapenade.

Sweet, tender leaves of early-season chard, caramelized onion and a salty bit of capicola fill these bite-size dumplings with flavor. Beet greens or kale would also work beautifully--just adjust the cooking time accordingly and add a little extra liquid if using tougher greens. This recipe makes 72 dumplings for 8 servings of soup. To save time and make the recipe for 4 servings, halve the filling amount and roll half as many dumplings.

Mushroom-soup lovers, this soup is for you! Russet potatoes make it hearty, and dill and paprika add plenty of flavor. We skip the generous amount of full-fat sour cream and butter typically used in creamy mushroom soups. Serve with a green salad and warm pumpernickel bread.

Richly satisfying, this luscious-looking soup made with red bell peppers gets a touch of heat from Thai chiles. For an extra-nutty flavor, puree an additional 1/4 cup shelled pistachios with 1/4 cup water and serve the soup with a dollop of this pistachio puree on top.

Tomatoes, onions and garlic develop a deep, rich flavor when roasted. A mix of different colored cherry tomatoes will add a playful note. This soup is adapted from a recipe in Amy Goldman's book The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table (Bloomsbury USA, 2008).