Here’s Why You Should Eat More Soup This Winter
What’s the best meal to keep you warm and comforted during cold winter days? Soup! A steaming pot of soup is a healthy family dinner everyone can get behind–especially when it is packed full of fresh veggies and rich flavors.
Hearty, veggie-packed soups are hydrating, nutritious, and filling. You can easily consume a few servings of vegetables when enjoying a bowl of soup, but vegetables aren’t the only source of nutrients and minerals in veggie-filled soups: the broth is packed full of essential minerals, amino acids, and collagen, too!
Making a big pot of soup is also a great way to clean up tired veggies in your fridge. Most soup bases benefit from a hearty helping of chopped onion, celery, garlic, and carrots, so soup is the perfect meal to make when you need to use up these veggies. Other fresh foods that can easily be added to almost any soup are dark leafy greens like spinach and kale, peas, cubed potatoes, cut green beans, and corn.
One more benefit of making a big pot of soup is the leftovers you can freeze! Soup stored in the freezer can last for at least 3 months, which is why it is one of the best make-ahead freezer meals to pull out during a busy week.
Now that we’ve talked about why you should eat more soup this winter, let’s focus on how you can do it by featuring our two newest soup recipes! Prepared with colorful Bell Peppers and juicy Beefsteak Tomatoes, our Bell Pepper Lentil Soup and Stuffed Pepper Soup will satisfy all your cravings for hearty, flavorful, steaming bowls of soup on cold winter nights.
2 New Soups for the Veggie-Lover’s Soul
Cozy up with these two steamy soup recipes featuring the freshest ingredients!
Bell Pepper Lentil Soup
Lentil soup has gained a lot of popularity over the years because lentils are an excellent plant-based protein source, as well as high in iron and folate. Cooking lentils directly in the soup broth is also a perk of making lentil soup–they don’t need to be cooked separately and added later!
Our Bell Pepper Lentil Soup recipe is loaded with a vibrant mix of Bell Peppers, diced Beefsteak Tomato, red lentils, and other staple soup ingredients like onions, carrots, broth, and spices. It is aromatic with a light curry flavor that makes this lentil soup the perfect meal to warm you up from the inside out.
What You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to prepare this lentil soup recipe:
- Red, Orange, and Yellow Bell Peppers
- Beefsteak Tomato
- Yellow onion
- Medium carrots
- Celery
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Cumin seed
- Coriander seeds
- Chicken or vegetable stock
- Red lentils
- Tomato paste
- Cilantro
- Green onions
- Salt and pepper
Stuffed Pepper Soup
Do you love Stuffed Peppers? So do we! That’s why we decided to develop our very own Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe so you can enjoy one of your favorite dinners in soup-form.
Our Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe features all the same ingredients you would find in a Stuffed Peppers recipe, just broken down and mixed into a pot of soup! When you prepare this meal, you’ll enjoy a healthy and hearty bowl of soup full of color, flavor, and texture.
What You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to prepare your Stuffed Pepper Soup:
- Bell Peppers
- Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Ground beef
- White onion
- Celery
- Medium carrots
- Chicken or vegetable broth
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Bay leaf
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Brown rice
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley
- Parmesan cheese
Tips for Making the Best Soups
There are many tips and tricks out there for how to make soup that looks, smells, and tastes amazing. Here are some of our best soup hacks!
- Use a big pot – If you have a big stock pot at home, this is the time to use it. Using a large pot to make soup means you have lots of room to add as many ingredients as you want. A larger pot will also make it easier for you to double the recipe if you’re looking to freeze leftovers!
- More is (almost) always better – When it comes to veggies and protein, more is always better in a soup, but seasoning can be a different story. We recommend waiting until you’ve added all your other ingredients before mixing in your seasonings so that you can avoid over-salting your soup or overpowering the other flavors.
- Know when to add your ingredients – Some ingredients take less time to cook than others, so add your ingredients based on their cook time. Heartier veggies can go in first, while softer vegetables can be added later. Grains and pastas can be added in the last 10-20 minutes of cooking time to avoid getting soggy. Any meats should be pre-cooked and added to the soup at the end to warm through.
- Cook on lower heat for longer – The longer you simmer your soup, the better the flavor! Boiling rather than simmering will result in mushy veggies and reduce your stock, so simmering will always be your best bet.
- Use fresh herbs for cooking and as a garnish – Cooking with fresh herbs is almost always better than dried. Fresh-cut herbs will infuse your soup with richer, more aromatic flavors. Using fresh herbs for garnish will also add an extra punch of fresh flavor to each serving of soup!
Soup’s On!
Feeling inspired to eat even more soup this winter? Here are some more great soup recipes to try!
Roasted Pepper & Butternut Squash Soup
