Easy Soup Recipes

Easy soup recipes are for everyone. This is a long-page; may I suggest you first scroll down and skim the content before reading in depth.

Go to any reputable restaurant and first up amongst the starters will be a soup. Why is it that we have such a fascination for vichyssoise and the like?

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 9th April, 2023.

To start with why is soup always number one on the menu? Two reasons come to mind. Having been puréed, it is an instant source of energy and satisfaction. If you are famished, first think of an onion and then add something interesting.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly if you have a weak diaphragm muscle, that which separates the chest cavity from the abdomen, the stomach may bulge through it causing a hiatus-hernia. It is really quite common.

INDIGESTION HEARTBURN

Indigestion and heartburn are often problematic for those with a sensitive stomach, particular if you have a soft white bread-roll with it; in fact just too many starches.

The net result, if you drink any fluid such as coffee or beer with or after the meal, it has a tendency to regurgitate into the oesophagus; the tube joining your throat to the stomach.

A condition known as GERD; gastro esophogeal reflux disease.

Unlike the stomach, the oesophagus is not protected against the very strong-acid. The result is indigestion and heartburn.

Avoid the hundreds of heartburn medications; they have awful side-effects. Instead, enjoy your soup at the beginning of the meal and if necessary your coffee too. Have only small sips of water, or any fluid with your meal and for the next hour or two.

I have my coffee first, if at all for dinner; but then I am weird my family tells me!

But it saves me from the tummy grumbles in the middle of the night, otherwise known as "indigestion and heartburn." Type them in the Site Search function key in the main menu above.

The condition is often worse at night, because upright, gravity helps helps keep your soup where it belongs during the initial stage of digestion; in the stomach. Lie down, and heartburn sufferers will find the gastric contents seeping into the oesophagus. That means pain, especially when lying on the right side; it contains extremely strong-acid.

I write on the subject of heartburn after soup for dinner at some length because it is a problem that I have myself had for years, particularly if it is enjoyed with bread of any sort; that would mean serious pain for me starting about an hour after a meal; often I could not lie down until midnight.

Imagine my surprise on discovering that after taking half a glass of kefir for a week that all my tummy pain had largely abated. I could enjoy soup and sourdough bread again for dinner. But I still have to lie on my left side for the first four-hours after supper.

Kefir benefits^[1] are profound and it is so easy to make in your own kitchen; it is a sort of very strong yoghurt with over 30 different friendly bacteria and yeast strains. It is known as a probiotic. Whether your epigastric pain is due to a hiatus-hernia or a helicobacter infection, it helps to restore the balance in your gastrointestinal tract; I in fact had both.

The problem with ordinary yoghurt is that researchers assert that Lactobacillus-Acidophilus is not particularly effective.

Just type side-effects of antacids in the search box at the Mayo clinic site. You will be shocked. You are warned about bone pain, mood and mental changes and severe constipation; and swollen ankles and wrists, muscle weakness, and more. Rather just enjoy these kefir benefits, particularly if you love a soup.

Chaote squash also has some incredible wellness properties for stomach lesions and is a nutritious vegetable for salads and stews.

Back to our easy soup recipes.

What is soup? Perhaps it is stating the obvious but virtually all these recipes start with an onion and then continue by combining other ingredients, usually meat or vegetables with stock or water. It is then boiled over low-heat, extracting the flavour from the constituents.

You get clear and thick-soups, and I confess an affection for the latter; so, if you are looking for a consommé, go elsewhere. The thought of straining off the solids and discarding them, goes against the grain with me, though I suppose you could use them in another dish.

For me, it is thick, hearty soups.

The French are the experts, and so you get bouillons and consommés, bisques and veloutés and the like. But then we are not talking simple soup-recipes. And often they now cease to belong to what I describe as slow foods, made fast. The French love to add cream and eggs, and so on.

Allicin^[2] is a compound with a sulphur molecule. It's the active ingredient in the onion and garlic family; growing leeks is also not difficult.

Salt

Canned soups have horrific amounts of salt added; and that does have a moderate effect on blood pressure. What is odd though is that no-salt recipes actually increase blood cholesterol, insulin resistance and markedly increase heart disease.

• Salt high blood pressure research.

Enjoying these slow-soups, made fast, enables you to keep control of the amount of salt in your diet.

Stocks

I use two basic stocks, for our easy soup recipes, the one simple, the other rather more tricky. I like them both because they are rich in glucosamine and chondroitin-sulphate that your hyaline cartilage desperately needs. That is the stuff that lines the bones in your joints; neglect it and you get arthritis.

Rather think of our best chicken-bone broth recipe and how to make fish stock.

Glycemic-index

 GI gives you a measure of how rapidly a carbohydrate is absorbed into the blood stream. High glycemic-index foods give your body an insulin rush; that's the hormone that stores fat. So they should be kept to an absolute minimum.

You may be concerned at the so-called instant source of energy and satisfaction, if you have a diabetic tendency, but these are still well within the normal limits; if you are unsure, then simple glucometer readings, before and after, are in order before enjoying these easy soup recipes.

Whilst our easy recipes will warm your soul and stomach, they still have a low glycemic-index; they are not fattening. What is more they will provide you with plenty of energy.

For example making lentils which have a GI of 30 into a soup only raises the glycemic-index to 44; that is still very low.

Tomatoes are excellent with a GI of 15. Making them into a soup raises it considerably to 38, but it is still well within the definition of low glycemic-index.

• GLYCEMIC INDEX and CARBOHYDRATE COUNT CHART ...
  

Let us go to the easy soup recipes.

For those of you with the time, and the yen, you can make these pretties, but my focus is on slow, nutritious food, made fast.

Let us get away from the fast-food dinners that busy people are now buying on a daily basis from the supermarkets. Quick maybe, but expensive, filled with hydrogenated oils, preservatives and flavour enhancers; more there are stabilisers and far too much salt.

That stuff I feel sure is at the root of many of the malignant tumours and auto-immune diseases that are sweeping our Western World. I don't want to get a neoplasm and I am committed to helping you avoid it too.

These recipes you can make fast, but if you are having guests to dinner, take a little more time, sprinkle them with chives, or finely-chopped parsley benefits, and even a dollop of cream if you know that your guests' blood cholesterol is in good shape.

Actually the cholesterol in our food has very little effect on our blood fats; it's the refined carbs that are the devil.

Thickening

For a thickening, I hate to add refined corn or wheat-meal; a tablespoon of this nutritious hummus recipe will give your easy soup some substance; or just a handful or blended-chickpeas.

Really hummus is so easy to make; it takes only five minutes once you have got the ingredients and rhythm; I make it twice a week and it blends in so well with many dishes. Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo-beans are number two in the list of foods that lower cholesterol; do you know what number one is?

Easy Soup Recipes

Easy soup recipes is about nutritious slow-food made fast.

Holy Grail soup

Our holy grail soup uses onion, carrot and celery for a foundation; add to that whatever is in season. It takes only ten minutes to prepare.

Lentil potage

A lentil potage is a very simple vegetable soup to which you can add a pork sausage or other meat. Should you have a pressure cooker, once you have the ingredients at hand, it takes no more than half an hour to prepare from start to finish.

You can easily supplement your lentil-potage with other legumes such as green beans or peas, broadening the nutrient base.

Spicy Thai curry soup

It is such fun to delve into the foods of different cultures, and this spicy Thai curry soup is no different. Including collecting the vegetables from the garden, washing and preparing them, this took less than an hour to make from start to finish. The only ingredient a little difficult was the lemon-grass that we have had difficulty growing.

Finally we discovered that lemongrass likes a warm but not too hot spot, and it handles some frost with aplomb.

Lima bean soup

At only 10g of carbohydrate and 5g of fat per serving, with high vegetable protein, our lima bean soup is one of my favourites. Best fresh straight from the garden but you could use a can of butter-beans.

Half an hour start to finish, not including picking them, this lima bean soup is certainly one of our best easy soup recipes.

MUSHROOM SOUP RECIPES

Mushrooms are particularly rich in Selenium, an anti-oxidant mineral generally in short supply, and strongly associated with protection against the most common serious male cancer of the prostate. It definitely qualifies for our nutritious food, made fast title. Simple to make.

A world-wide favourite, why mostly only enjoyed in high brow restaurants? MUSHROOM SOUP RECIPES ... so easy to make at home too. Type it into the site search engine at the top.

GREEN BEAN AND LENTIL SOUP

If it was good enough for Andre Agassi before a match, then it is absolutely fine for me. GREEN-BEAN AND LENTIL SOUP

If you are a gardener save bean-seeds incidentally; they are so rewarding and simple to grow.

VICHYSSOISE

Enjoy vichyssoise, also known as Irish potato and leek soup just across the sea, cold with a drop of cream and a sprinkle of chives for lunch; or hot on a chilly-night.

Growing leeks is not difficult but only for the larger gardens.

Broccoli soup recipes

Broccoli soup recipes are the queen of the fight against metastatic-disease; and in particular those branching varieties that continue to bear for months if you water them, and pick before the flowers appear.

Broccoli can only be described as a wonder-food and makes a perfect fit for our easy soup recipes. It is full of prevention of the bad stuff; rich in antioxidant vitamins and minerals, it should be on your shopping list every week.

Are you not convinced? Take a look at these broccoli facts. Scroll down for our easy soup recipes. It is even better of course if you also know what's potting in the winter-garden.

You do not need a degree in higher mathematics when it comes to planting broccoli but they do need a larger-garden.

There is always a question whether to pull or prune your plants after the main-harvest; the branching variety continue to produce delicious young tender fronds for your soups.

BUTTERNUT SOUP RECIPE

This is definitely my favourite easy-soup recipe.

This is one of our grandkids' favourites, especially if we can find a sweet-potato. Even the most fussy child will love this easy butternut squash soup recipe.

• Planting sweet potatoes ... so easy.

ASPARAGUS SOUP RECIPES

My philosophy is to make soups from each and every vegetable that I can think of. And then try to mix and match, which flavours enhance others; asparagus and celery?

Asparagus soup recipes were my favourite in Holland, where I could buy fresh young shoots.

CAULIFLOWER SOUP RECIPE

Cauliflower has no particular remarkable nutrient qualities but like all veg it's rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals; and surprisingly low in calories. It is also rather dull, so we dicky it up here with a little curry and yoghurt.

And cream if your cholesterol is disgustingly low like mine; despite enjoying quite a lot of high-fat food, and too much butter I confess. It is all about balance. Refined carbs are the great enemy; they are turned into triglycerides by the liver.

Visit our easy soup menu for recipes every week, and I guarantee your blood-fats will also drop.

I expect you know how to cook cauliflower, but just in case not, here are a few tips.

It's fundamental to our easy cauliflower soup recipe.

Salmon and broccoli soup

This salmon and broccoli soup is a wonder for your joints and mind.

Salmon is rich in Omega-3 essential heart and joint fatty acids, and broccoli has abundant anti-tumour nutrients; so it ranks highly at easy soups. Add to that great taste, and you surely have a winner.

Check out these "ways to cook salmon" using Site Search above and scroll down for the recipe.

Omega-3 rich FISH SOUP is one good way to protect your heart.

A good friend has just gone for a triple bypass operation. A non-smoker, not over-weight and very fit so what went wrong? I am not on top of all the facts, but the surgeon said his heart arteries were clogged with atherosclerosis. Perhaps it was a side effect of the anti inflammatory drugs he was taking for a very difficult Scheuermann's disease; think Omega-3, plan on fish soup.

Pathophysiology of Atherosclerosis despite the seeming complexity is one of the most read pages at our site.

How to make fish stock is a recent addition to our site.

Also salmon is a vitamin B6 food, central to the prevention of the development of frailty in the elderly.

Tomato soup

Research proves that a tomato a day will reduce the chance of getting prostate cancer by a massive 50%. There's a suggestion that cooked it is even more effective.

This easy tomato soup recipe should be on the home menu at least once a week. An impotent man in the house is not something to be relished by man or wife, and it is increasingly prevalent in our society with soaring rates of type 2 diabetes; over two-thirds of men at age 70^[4].

Copy and paste "tomato soup recipe" or "prostate gland" into Site Search tab in the main menu above for more information.

Toscanini celery soup

Toscanini celery soup will help you to relax.

The maestro demanded an easy soup recipe before every concert: only his celery soup would calm his nerves.

When did you last bite into a stick of celery or enjoy a dish like this Toscanani Soup. It's anti-arthritis properties alone, never mind what the fibre will do for your gummed up colon; and the flavour? Something to die for, he wasn't such an ol' fart. A genius.

Type "Toscanini celery soup" into the Site Sell function in the main menu bar.

Mexican avocado soup

Mexican avocado soup

Some like it hot, and I'm one of them; especially as the capsaicin in jalapenos is strongly anti-inflammatory. Add one of my favourite herbs, herby cilantro that grows like a weed in our mild climate, and you have a winner.

Creamed spinach soup

Any dish with a generous helping of spinach is going to be super nutritious. Just ask Popeye. At our fresh spinach recipes you'll find this delicious creamed spinach soup.

After radish, spinach is probably the easiest vegetable to grow; in a mild climate the plants often go on bearing for years. Not in Chicago though where I did my training as a DC.

All these vegetables need plenty of irrigation. Think about harvesting the rain; thanks to a our large underground reservoir we use no municipal water.

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Asbestos fibers that are ingested or inhaled can be lodged in the body, causing infections or swelling and ultimately lung and bowel-tumours. If you're a smoker too, it is deadly; double trouble. Are you on a municipal supply using aging asbestos pipes? That would spoil your easy soup recipes. That is why we have built our own rain water harvesting reservoir.

And if you really want to join the green journey, then it is also time to think of building a solar farm at your home. On a new roof I would consider Elon Musk's solar roof tiles. For our established home it meant erecting photovoltaic panels.

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Bernie's beetroot soup

Bernie's beetroot soup, generally known as a borscht from its home in Poland, is like most of these recipes so simple to make. What's a little different perhaps is a couple tablespoons of vinegar.

• Bernie's beetroot soup

What is potting in the winter garden could supply most of your needs for these easy soup recipes.

Chickpea soup recipe

I do whatever I can to replace red meat with legumes; we have had a heap of cancer patients in our family; they died in misery and I don't want to die that way. This chickpea soup recipe is delicious and so simple.

Limburg mustard soup

Having lived in the south of the Netherlands for three years we were introduced to a people who love good food; I leave this favourite Limburg mustard soup with you.

Easy soup recipes is definitely a part of operation end waste; don't dump those left overs; turn it into a soup.

Easy lunch recipes

These easy lunch recipes are really meant for the packed lunch, but you can just as easily adapt them for your family, and even guests. Did you know that you can make hummus at home in only 4 minutes? I make it every week.

• AUTHENTIC HUMMUS RECIPE ...

Bernard Preston

Are you enjoying this site in general, and these easy soup recipes in particular? If so, you'll love Bernard Preston's books. Start with Bats in my Belfry; it's dirt cheap from Amazon. 

USEFUL LINKS

• Starting a compost pile - essential if you're planning to grow some of these veggies.
  
• Nutritious CHOICE FOODS …
  

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