Healthy Soup – don’t you just love it? You get some good ingredients, throw them into a pot, add some liquid, some spices, and then wait for the magic to happen. Now that I said that, it does sound a lot like a witch describing potion-making… It’s quite similar indeed, good thing the witch-hunt is long gone! But seriously, what dish is easier to make? And frankly, I can’t think of too many things that are sure to satisfy both my stomach and my soul as a good homemade soup does.
With all I’ve said, I was preparing to give you a wonderful surprise. Not just one soup recipe – though I’m absolutely providing you that as well. But also four additional healthy soup recipes! Can you imagine my generosity? But when you’ve something good, you must share it with everyone else. And certainly, these healthy soups for dinner are worth sharing. They are dairy-free and can serve as the best soup for weight loss since they don’t have too many calories and are rich in protein. Just don’t add cream and you’ll have the perfect dish for when you’re on a special regime. For those who are just looking for an easy soup recipe, this one is good for you as well. See? I really have something for everyone.
Why Should You Pick Healthy Soup For Dinner?
Do you have soup haters in your life? I do. Most of them claim something about the texture of this heart-warming dish is weird for them. I’m not going to argue, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it’s wrong. But there are plenty of reasons why you’d want to learn how to make a healthy soup for dinner. For starters, it’s incredibly easy. You just have to get the hang of what goes well with what and the rest is waiting for it to cook on the stove.
Luckily for you, I’m offering some suggestions for ingredients that go perfectly together in my recipes for soup. You’ve got chicken soup, salmon soup, and meatball soup. Plant-based eaters, worry not, I didn’t forget you – there’s a variation for you as well. The best part is, they all use the same base. Once you master how to prepare it, you can switch between the variations I’m about to offer you and enjoy all the possibilities.
Healthy Soup Base Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need for the base healthy soup I’m offering you.
Potatoes. Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew – this widely loved ingredient is good for pretty much all purposes. It’s part of the dairy-free soups recipes because it gives nice creaminess and also serves as a good fiber source and has various health benefits.
Carrot. Did you know eating carrots can give you super-human eyesight? Well, not technically, but they can influence your eye health positively and also help in digestion.
Onion. Onions just make pretty much all foods taste better. Maybe except for desserts. I’m adding them to our soups because of their flavor but also because they’re packed with nutrients and have antibacterial properties.
Other vegetables. I’m just on a roll with the customization of these soup recipes. Alongside the mentioned veggies, you can use kale, spinach, and broccoli – and here goes part of your daily fiber intake secured. Add some sweet potato or butternut squash for more creaminess and peas or green beans for protein.
Barley. This is one of the best grains because it reduces hunger and prevents gallstones. If you don’t like it, though, you can use rice or bulgur in any of the suggested soups.
Mint. This herb adds a great fresh taste but if you find it weird to put fresh or dried mint in your soup (it’s not) you can add basil, dill, or parsley as well.
Salt. Don’t overuse the salt but be generous, especially if you’re using water and not stock, you want some flavor after all.
Stock or water. You can use stock or water, again, depending on the salt intake you’re into.
How To Make A Basic Healthy Soup
For the base of our soup, which works perfectly well as a soup on its own by the way, you’ll need to follow these steps:
- Rinse and drain the barley – it’s been outside, bugs likely crawled all over it, then people touched it, and there’s likely still dirt and dust all over it. You get it, you need to prepare it for eating and clean it nicely!
- Then prepare the vegetables by rinsing them and shredding them, only cutting the onion thinly. This way your soup will be a lot more creamy and thick.
- Add everything to a cooking pot, alongside the additions I’ll mention in detail in a bit. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and cook your healthy soup for about 30-35 minutes at medium heat. Keep your eye on it and add stock or water if needed.
- Enjoy your soup warm or heat it up when eating later!
Healthy Chicken Soup
In order to turn the base healthy soup into a chicken one, you’ll need 500 grams or 1 pound of cooked shredded chicken thighs, boneless and skinless. This is the only add-on that needs to be prepared beforehand so you’ll have to spend some extra time but not too much, don’t worry. Then the rest is the same:
- Boil your chicken and shred it.
- Prepare the grain of your choice – barley, rice, or bulgur.
- Shred the vegetables and alongside the chicken add everything to a pot with water or stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook for up to 35 minutes.
Healthy Salmon Soup
If you’re more into fish than chicken, you can add salmon to the healthy soup base I just described. You’d need 500 grams of salmon fillet. Chop it into bite-size pieces and add it alongside the grain and veggies into your stock or water. When serving, you can add a slice of lemon as it’s a universal fact that the citrus and fish are a match made in heaven.
- Cut up your salmon into pieces.
- Prepare the grain you prefer.
- Shred the vegetables and add them alongside the fish to a pot with water or stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook for 30-35 minutes.
Healthy Meatball Soup
Who doesn’t love a good meatball soup? The base recipe I gave you works perfectly for that as well. You just need to add to it 500 grams of ground beef or another minced meat like turkey or chicken to prepare delicious meatballs.
- Prepare meatballs by mixing the ground meat with ¼ cup barley, 2 tsp dried mint, and 1 tsp black pepper.
- Prepare the grain you want by cleaning it.
- Shred the vegetables and add them with the meatballs to a pot with water or stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook for about 35 minutes.
Healthy Vegetable Soup
This one is the easiest healthy soup variation – just use the base recipe and add extra potatoes, a coup of peas, green beans, or even chickpeas. You can have an extremely filling meal if you add one of the last three in particular since they’ll offer you a good source of protein.
- Prepare your grain of choice.
- Shred the vegetables and add them with your beans to a pot with water or stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook for 30-35 minutes.
How To Store
All of these healthy soup recipes can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge. There they can last for around 3-4 days. When you serve them, heat them up and add some fresh herbs to make them even more appetizing.