Easy Cozy Soups Ready in 30 Minutes or Less

August 27, 2019
Picture this: You arrive home tired and frazzled, and the family’s already clamoring for dinner—now! You’ve got to make it quick and easy. Minimal cleanup would also be nice. With the right pantry staples at the ready, you can have any of these speedy, cozy soups ready for dinner tonight. So pull out the soup pot and get cooking.
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Mexican Cabbage Soup

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Based on a popular weight-loss plan, this healthy cabbage soup recipe gets tons of flavor and a metabolism-boosting kick from spicy chiles.

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Classic White Bean & Ham Soup

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This healthy ham and white bean soup recipe is ready in 30 minutes and makes enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Just a little bit of ham adds savory flavor and protein without adding too much sodium.

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Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

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Skip the dipping and add crispy grilled cheese croutons right into your soup instead. Don't have a panini press? Make the grilled cheese for the croutons in a skillet or in a waffle maker instead. Opt for San Marzano tomatoes if you can. They have a much richer flavor and they tend to be lower in sodium.

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Ravioli & Vegetable Soup

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Fresh or frozen ravioli cook in minutes and turn this light vegetable soup into a main course. Look for whole-wheat or whole-grain ravioli in the refrigerated or frozen section of the supermarket. Tortellini can be used instead of ravioli as well. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

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This fragrant, Italian-flavored soup takes advantage of quick-cooking ingredients--boneless, skinless chicken breast, bagged baby spinach and canned beans. It features a simple homemade basil pesto swirled in at the end to add a fresh herb flavor. If you are very pressed for time, you can substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons of a store-bought basil pesto. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Minestrone with Endive & Pepperoni

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Considering that this minestrone soup incorporates mostly frozen vegetables, it is remarkably savory and aromatic. Look for frozen soup or stew vegetables with potatoes, carrots, celery and onion in the mix to give the soup the best flavor. Although pepperoni isn't traditionally part of minestrone soup, you'll find it's a great shortcut to add spicy, complex flavor. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque

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This satisfying vegetarian, sweet potato soup is inspired by the flavors of West African peanut soup. We like the added zip of hot green chiles, but they can sometimes be very spicy. It's best to take a small bite first and add them to taste. Try chopped peanuts and scallions for a different garnish. Serve with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette.

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Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage Soup

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This wholesome sweet-and-sour soup combines beef, caraway seeds, sweet paprika and cabbage--ingredients that star in a number of German dishes. It is particularly nice served with crusty rye bread. For an even heartier soup, add diced cooked potatoes along with the cabbage. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Cauliflower Soup

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A healthy take on a loaded baked potato, this creamy cauliflower soup recipe has all the fixings of a loaded potato (bacon included) but for way fewer calories and carbs. Ready in a quick 20 minutes, this easy soup is great for busy weeknights or can be meal prepped ahead of time to take for lunch or frozen for a ready-made meal down the road. This recipe was originally made for one serving but can be easily adapted to serve more.

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Fresh Tomato Soup

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This tomato soup recipe is full of flavor and perfect to warm you up on a cold day. Pair it with Grilled Cheese Croutons and be reminded of your childhood lunches!

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Quick Beef & Napa Cabbage Pho

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Classic Vietnamese noodle soup typically takes hours to make, but this healthy pho recipe gets tons of flavor from cooking the aromatics and spices before adding the broth. Serve with hoisin, Sriracha and lime wedges.

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Alphabet Soup

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Recite your ABC's while you enjoy this kid-friendly soup that you can feel good about serving--it's packed with healthy vegetables. If you can't find alphabet noodles, any small pasta (like orzo) will work.

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Italian Fish Stew

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This fish and shrimp stew is often served over crostini or toast. With less than 200 calories per serving, it makes a great diet lunch or light dinner.

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Thai Noodle Bowl

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Ready in under 30 minutes, this noodle bowl is full of vegetables and with the addition of turkey, is a good source of protein!

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Butternut Squash Soup with Avocado & Chickpeas

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Jazz up a can of soup by adding protein with chickpeas and flavor with curry powder. Stir in a little Greek yogurt to make it creamy.

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Chicken & White Bean Soup

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Once again, rotisserie chickens can really relieve the dinner-rush pressure-especially in this Italian-inspired soup that cries out for a piece of crusty bread and a glass of red wine.

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Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl

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Here's the quintessence of Japanese home cooking: an aromatic, protein-rich broth served over rice. Admittedly, Japanese cooking leans heavily on sugar--for a less traditional taste, you could reduce or even omit the sugar.

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Miso Vegetable Soup

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Tofu, rice and plenty of vegetables transform miso soup from a light accompaniment into a dish that's substantial enough to leave you feeling satisfied.

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Salmon Chowder

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The flavor of this salmon chowder is greatly enhanced by adding either fresh dill or dried tarragon: each herb lends its own distinctively different and appealing character to the soup. Even if you don't keep instant mashed potatoes in your pantry, it's worth picking some up for this soup. They give the soup a thick, chowder texture without any heavy cream or butter. Leftover mashed potatoes work too, but give a slightly less-velvety texture. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Russian Tortellini Soup

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Many cultures have a version of dumplings; for Russians, they're called pelmeni. One of the ways they're often served is in a cabbage soup. We substitute easier-to-find tortellini in this healthy soup recipe with great results, but if you can find pelmeni, go ahead and use them.

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Easy Butternut Squash Soup

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Just a touch of brown sugar sweetens this simple soup that gets its creaminess from pureed squash and fat-free evaporated milk.

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Curried Squash & Chicken Soup

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Red Thai curry paste adds heat and depth of flavor to this simple soup. If you like, omit the chicken and spinach to make an even simpler first-course soup.

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Black Bean Soup

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This is a zippy Southwestern-flavored black bean soup. We make it with canned beans so it comes together in minutes. If you have leftovers, pack them up in individual serving containers for lunch the next day.

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Broccoli, Cannellini Bean & Cheddar Soup

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White beans pureed into this broccoli soup make it extra creamy so you don't need heaps of cheese to do the job. Serve with a crunchy whole-grain roll and a glass of winter ale.

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Coconut Curry Cup of Noodles with Spiralized Butternut Squash Noodles

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This untraditional spin on Thai red curry features spiralized butternut squash noodles in a cup-of-noodles-style mason jar soup, but you could also use spiralized sweet potatoes or fresh egg noodles.

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Faux Chicken Pho Cup of Noodles

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Grating ginger and garlic with a microplane transforms them into a paste that easily mixes into the broth in this cup-of-noodles-inspired mason jar pho. Any cooked protein can be used instead of the chicken--think thinly sliced steak, shrimp or cubed tofu.

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Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

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Garlic and thyme complement the quartet of vegetables in this creamy soup.

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