Three Simple and Healthy Homemade Soup Recipes

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Easy Healthy Soup Recipes

When I think back on the meals I cook most often for my family, I have to admit to myself that I’d be pretty lost without my favorite healthy soup recipes. I don’t make soup every week, but I make it at least a few times a month, and I like to have several good homemade soup recipes in my rotation.

Homemade soups are great because they’re so easy to specialize to your food preferences. We were vegetarian for two years, and soup was a regular menu item because it so rarely has meat as a main ingredient. Now we avoid dairy for my youngest daughter, and again, with a simple substitution of coconut or almond milk, we have a healthy meal that we can all eat. Another diet restriction that’s relatively easy to abide by with soup is gluten intolerance. A lot of homemade soups don’t contain gluten at all, and if they do it’s a small amount that can be substituted.

A note on all of these soups: These are much easier to make if you have an immersion blender (like this one), but all of them can be transferred to and blended in a regular blender if necessary.

Easy Healthy Soup Recipes

Sweet Potato Soup

I’m starting out with my favorite recipe. My husband has had good luck growing his sweet potatoes for the last few years, so we always have plenty of them. This soup is sweet, but not too sweet, and creamy. I’m wishing as I write this that I had some for tonight. A huge bonus: my kids, who are three and five, love this sweet potato soup as much as I do!

Ingredients:

*(All of these can be substituted to suit your diet. In the past I have used a dairy-free butter substitute, gluten-free flour mix, and a cup of coconut milk in my versions of this soup.)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and whisk in order to make a roux. When the mixture has turned a nice, light brown, you can add the brown sugar and broth. Stir well, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the remaining ingredients (potatoes, cinnamon, and milk or milk substitute) and mix with an immersion blender to your preferred texture. Season with salt to taste.

(Recipe adapted from Food Network)

Black Bean Soup

When we were vegetarian, we ate a whole lot of black beans for protein. This black bean soup was, and still is, one of my favorite things to make. It’s simple, inexpensive, and healthy. Even better, this one is a naturally vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free soup!

Ingredients:

*(If you don’t want to use canned black beans, you can soak your own and you should have similar results. I use the canned because I prefer for this to be an extra-easy meal.)

Directions:

Dice onion and garlic cloves. Set aside. Open the black beans and pour them into a mesh strainer so that they can drain (don’t rinse), then set them aside.

Add oil and onion to a sturdy saucepan and cook on medium heat until onions are translucent. Add garlic and spices and allow the mixture to cook for a few minutes, until the garlic is tender but not scorched. Next, add the black beans. Stir well and cook for approximately two more minutes before adding the water. Bring the soup to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes.

Blend until your soup is the consistency you desire.

Tip: This soup goes well when topped with avocado, cilantro, and/or some homemade sour cream.

(Recipe adapted from Greatist)

Apple Parsnip Soup

We first made this soup when my oldest daughter requested parsnips at the grocery store. I’d never made them before, but I figured we could make something pretty good out of them, so we went ahead and bought some. I found a recipe for apple parsnip soup and we got to work. We liked this soup enough that we’ve had to start adding parsnips to our usual grocery list.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or whatever oil you like to use)
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 large or 3 medium apples
  • 3 large parsnips
  • 2 ½ cups organic vegetable broth or chicken broth (find organic vegetable broth here or chicken broth here)
  • salt, to taste

Directions:

Dice onion. Peel, core, and chop apples. Peel and dice parsnips. Set aside.

Add onion and olive oil to a sturdy sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add apples, parsnips, and vegetable broth. Allow to boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-35 minutes. Make sure the parsnips are very tender.

Again, get out your trusty immersion blender and puree the soup to your desired consistency!

(Recipe adapted from Real Simple)

How about you?

What are your favorite comforting, healthy soups to prepare? Share in the comments section below!

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About Emry Trantham

Emry is a writer, teacher, photographer and mother. She is interested in all things DIY and is willing to try any project at least once. She loves spending time with her kids and loves gardening, projects, and chickens.

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Comments

  1. Avatar photoRhoda Edwards says

    The soups look delicious. I will try them all. Thanks for sharing. There is always something special on this site. Thank you guys for caring and sharing all this good stuff with the world. Many blessings.

  2. Avatar photoKaren says

    Just made the sweet potato soup. It was really good. I baked the sweet potatoes ahead of time so it only took 20 minutes to put together. Used 2 cups broth because that’s how I freeze it. I was afraid the soup would be stringy, like sweet potatoes, but it was very smooth.