25 Soup Recipes So Easy To Make, You'll Never Buy Them Again

Canned soups are great. They save time, they save stress, and they can quickly be incorporated into more elaborate recipes like green bean casserole. But the benefits of canned soups are frequently outweighed by their cons. Even reduced-sodium canned soups are often high in salt, and of course, nothing can beat the flavor of homemade soup with fresh ingredients. With the right recipe, even soup purchased from a restaurant might not live up to homemade standards; for instance, the wonton soup is particularly lackluster at P.F. Chang's, but we've got a great recipe in store for you later in this article.

Listed below are our favorite easy breezy soup recipes, each of which calls for just a handful of ingredients and very little active time. Sometimes all you need to do is roast or sauté ingredients before blending. In other preparations, you will simply chop vegetables before simmering them in broth. Many of these recipes are made in one pot, and sometimes that pot is actually a slow cooker. If you feel like getting more creative, you can vary your toppings or add extra vegetables of your choice. Who knows — with many of these recipes calling for common produce items and pantry staples, you might not even need to go to the grocery store.

This dietician-approved recipe calls for fewer than 10 ingredients (including salt, pepper, and olive oil). To make matters even better, everything is prepared in the same pot, from sautéing the onions and mushrooms to simmering the chicken and spinach in broth. If you are working with pre-sliced mushrooms, you'll have even less chopping to do. Not a mushroom fan? You can add other vegetables, such as carrots or celery, in their stead. This soup is thick, comforting, and a great excuse to eat bread as well.

Recipe: Creamy Chicken Spinach Soup

Tomato soup was made for those cold winter days when you just want to crawl underneath the blankets. This recipe only requires three main ingredients — garlic, tomatoes, and onions — which are joined by salt, pepper, and optional garnishes like basil or parsley. You will need an oven to roast the first three ingredients, as well as a blender for pureeing and a stovetop for heating the soup. Because this recipe is so simple, you should have time to check out our top tips for the best homemade tomato soup.

Recipe: Cozy 3-Ingredient Tomato Soup

If you love Japanese food, then you've probably had miso soup before. Here, the classic appetizer is transformed into a filling meal with mushrooms and tofu. This recipe is indeed simple — after you prepare the ingredients (including pressing the tofu), all you need to do is dissolve the miso in warm water before simmering the ingredients in the same pot. If you are new to cooking with miso, make sure to understand the difference between red and white miso and know which one is better for soup.

Recipe: Simple Miso Soup

Egg drop soup may initially seem intimidating if you have never made it before. How can one achieve such gorgeous ribbons of egg in the broth? This recipe instructs you to keep things in constant motion, though you can certainly experiment with other methods to master perfect thick egg ribbons in your soup. And if you don't achieve what you set out to do the first time around, don't fret: This recipe calls for only five ingredients, so you can easily make it again sometime soon.

Recipe: 15-Minute Homemade Egg Drop Soup

Cauliflower took the world by storm a few years ago when it began to star in everything from pizza to crackers. Part of this vegetable's appeal is that its flavor is subtle and unobtrusive. That's why this soup is so great — it's like a blank canvas to which you can add any number of toppings, including croutons and bacon. This recipe can be made vegan by opting for vegetable stock, too. The steps are simple: Roast the vegetables, simmer them in stock, and finally blend.

Recipe: Cauliflower Potato Soup

Celery is an underrated vegetable, and you shouldn't restrict yourself to dipping it into hummus or peanut butter. Make this dish, and you'll have a whole new appreciation for the vegetable. It helps that this recipe is quick to cook: Simply sauté the veggies, pour in stock, blend, add milk and half-and-half, and serve. Croutons make for an excellent garnish, lending this soup a bit more substance for a light meal. Don't overlook bacon, either, which provides a salty punch to mild cream of celery soup.

Recipe: Silky Cream Of Celery Soup

Tired of kale salad? Use up your leftover leafy greens in this soup, which also features potatoes and Spanish chorizo. This recipe can be whipped up in just over 30 minutes, with most of that time required for the soup to simmer. As you might expect, the nutritional profile of this soup is fantastic — you can expect plenty of protein, a generous amount of complex carbohydrates, and a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, courtesy of kale.

Recipe: Portuguese Kale Soup

There's no mistaking that carrots are the star ingredient in this bright orange soup. With very few ingredients to overshadow their flavors, the root vegetable is given its due time in the spotlight. Because the carrots and onions are roasted, we are able to appreciate their caramelized flavors. The ginger is a bonus, and it provides digestive benefits as well. A simple garnish of cilantro or parsley is all this soup needs, so don't feel the need to break the bank while grocery shopping.

Recipe: Carrot Ginger Soup

This versatile option comes together in just a few steps: Chop your vegetables, sauté the aromatics, and simmer the bok choy and wontons in broth. If you frequently cook Asian food, you might already have the majority of the ingredients for this soup in your pantry. For additional protein, this dish goes well with tofu and chicken. To avoid a mushy wonton soup, cook the wontons separately or refrain from adding them to the broth until just before you are ready to eat. On that note, this recipe makes for great leftovers.

Recipe: Easy Wonton Soup

This soup is so green, there's no doubt that each slurp will move you closer toward your daily vegetable quota. Not only is it chock full of spinach, but leeks and potatoes, too. Make sure to scrub the leeks and potatoes well before roughly chopping them. After that, they are sautéd and simmered, then the spinach is added and cooked until thoroughly wilted. Finally, it's just a matter of blending and serving your soup, perhaps garnished with a sprinkling of chives.

Recipe: Easy Sautéed Spinach Soup

If you're a meat-and-potatoes kind of person, this filling soup is for you. Brought together with heavy whipping cream, this soup will stick to your ribs in the best way possible. And we know we said three ingredients, but make sure to have oil, salt, and pepper on hand, too. Here's a pro tip: If your potatoes are diced small, you won't need to wait as long for this to cook.

Recipe: Simple 3-Ingredient Potato and Sausage Soup

The most difficult part of this soup may be sourcing instant dashi and soba noodles, but specialty stores often carry these ingredients, and you can definitely find them online. Most of this soup's ingredients are cooked in the same pot. The exception is the udon noodles, but if you are comfortable with multitasking, you can boil these while the broth simmers. For greater ease, pick up a package of Trader Joe's high-protein super firm tofu, which requires minimal, if any, pressing.

Recipe: Sesame Soba Noodle Soup

Don't look for split peas in the produce aisle, or even in the frozen aisle. Split peas are sold in dry form, and they are a popular addition to French soups and Indian dals. In this recipe, you'll learn how to make mirepoix, and in the process, you'll realize that the aromatic vegetable base is actually quite easy to prepare. Indeed, the hardest part of this dish may be finding the spices you need in your cabinet (in which case, read our top tips for organizing your spice rack).

Recipe: Vegan Split Pea Soup

Egg rolls are delightful deep-fried appetizers, but if you'd rather turn them into a more substantial meal (or limit your consumption of fried foods), check out this noodle soup. Everything happens in one pot, and you'll be pleased to know that a generous amount of vegetables and meat are involved to give this dish a nutritional boost. Don't let egg rolls mislead you with their name: Egg is not an essential ingredient for this classic appetizer, and you won't find it in this soup, either.

Recipe: "Egg Roll In A Bowl" Noodle Soup

It's time to break out the Instant Pot again for this rice soup. This recipe is brimming with vegetables like mushrooms, carrots, and celery, each of which will soften under pressure as you go about your day, checking everything off your to-do list. As the name suggests, this soup also features wild rice, which offers a more complex flavor and texture profile than many other varieties of rice. Sage and thyme work to season this dish as it cooks, while fresh parsley adds flavor as a garnish.

Recipe: Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup

For proof that slow cookers really do make the world go around, try making this chicken tikka masala soup. Alongside a few aromatic ingredients and spices like garam masala, paprika, and ground turmeric, the raw flavors of tomato will transform into a rich, comforting gravy as this soup cooks. The addition of heavy cream makes the gravy even thicker and capable of holding up the chicken. Serve with naan for a filling meal, and don't forget a sprinkling of fresh cilantro.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala Soup

This soup is an economical alternative to the Olive Garden fan favorite. Flour is added early on to give this meal a thicker texture; just make sure not to burn it, and you'll be amazed at how much of a difference the pantry staple makes. Of course, half-and-half also helps in making this soup lusciously rich. Store-bought gnocchi is recommended to keep this recipe simple, and while bread is not a necessary accompaniment, you could try these frozen Olive Garden copycat breadsticks.

Recipe: Copycat Olive Garden Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

When you have a cold, the last thing you need to put on your plate (or rather, in your bowl) is an energy-intensive soup recipe. This chicken noodle soup is made in the slow cooker, allowing you to rest and recover as much as possible on the couch. Besides, a slow cooker helps draw out the complex flavors of the aromatics, parmesan rind, and chicken. After tasting your first spoonful, you'll wish you used fresh sage and rosemary more often in your cooking.

Recipe: Classic Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

The colorful recipe nails the art of timing. While the sweet potatoes are roasting in the oven, you can start sautéing the aromatics. Then simmer the aromatics with vegetable broth, miso paste, and smoked paprika before finally adding in the sweet potatoes and blending. Because the sweet potatoes bake with olive oil, maple syrup, and salt, you'll end up with a lovely caramelized flavor perfect for an autumnal meal.

Recipe: Caramelized Sweet Potato Miso Soup

These days, you can find dill pickles in everything from Ayoh! Foods' dill pickle mayo to California Pizza Kitchen's dill pickle pizza. In this Eastern European soup, dill pickles join potatoes and sour cream for a hearty dish that requires very little effort. Garnishes can easily be customized according to what might already be growing in your garden, including chives, cilantro, basil, parsley, and (naturally) dill. If you have an immersion blender, there will be even fewer dishes to wash.

Recipe: Hearty Dill Pickle Soup

This thick, flavorful vegetarian soup is just what you should be reaching for on a cold day. Cauliflower lends the soup a distinct creaminess, while cheddar ensures that it is bursting with bold, sharp, tangy flavors. After sautéing onions and garlic, simmer the cauliflower, potatoes, and vegetable stock before blending. Finally, stir in the cheese, season as per your preferences, and serve. Toss a handful of croutons on top for a more filling meal.

Recipe: Cheesy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

Yes, you can put apples in soup, and yes, this silky carrot apple soup should be the first recipe you try. You don't even need to peel the apples since they will soften plenty and get blended alongside leeks, celery, and (of course) carrots. This is a great recipe to use other seasonal vegetables, too. A few dollops of sour cream will complement the sweet flavors of this dish, as will the savoriness of fresh thyme.

Recipe: Silky Carrot Apple Soup

Red lentils add savory notes and a creamy texture to this comforting soup, while miso adds an umami flavor. After sautéing the onions, garlic, and mushrooms, add most of the other ingredients to the pot and set it to pressure cook for eight minutes. Let the steam naturally release, stir in the kale and lemon juice, and your dinner is ready. This soup is naturally vegan, yet full of protein, and the red lentils ensure that your belly will be full and happy.

Recipe: Instant Pot Miso Red Lentil Soup

Wondering what to do with those chestnuts you impulsively purchased for the holiday season? Incorporate them into this creamy chestnut mushroom soup, which requires minimal effort, but can potentially keep nourishing you for the next five days. This soup can be made thicker or thinner, as per your preferences. Even opting to sauté the aromatics in butter rather than oil can make a difference in texture. This dish is chunky and does not demand much in the way of garnishes, though fresh thyme would work splendidly.

Recipe: Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Soup

Calling all peanut butter fans: This spicy coconut peanut soup proves that peanut butter is not only a great match for jelly, but also for ingredients like ginger, sweet potatoes, and coconut cream. After cooking the initial aromatics, the rest of the ingredients are added to the pot to simmer for 50 minutes. Just remember to stir every so often. This soup is inherently a great source of protein, but you could also add tofu or meat for an extra boost.

Recipe: Spicy Coconut Peanut Soup