It’s always soup season. Ever satisfying, often easy, and always welcome, it’s a symbol of sick days and snow days, cozy nights and long weekends. (Even in the heart of summer, what’s better than a cooling bowl of chilled soup?) This collection brings together Food & Wine’s most popular soups of all time, spanning quick weeknight favorites, restaurant-inspired classics, and traditional recipes that have earned lasting devotion. From silky purées to restorative, slurpable noodles, these are the soups we return to again and again, no matter the time of year.
Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon and Crème Fraîche
Willamette Valley farmer Clare Carver intensifies the natural sweetness of squash by roasting it with honey and salt, then elevates this fall favorite with savory and luscious toppings.
White Bean Soup with Bacon and Herbs
Petrina Tinslay
Chef José Garcés offers a soup recipe inspired by Spanish caldo gallego, combining creamy white beans, smoky bacon, and lightness from the herb-loaded broth.
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
Diana Chistruga
Food writer Emily Farris’s bisque recipe offers her take on the vegetarian staple: silky, gently sweet, and ready in just 45 minutes.
White Bean and Ham Soup
Diana Chistruga
Grace Parisi’s childhood recipe purees creamy beans for body, then folds in smoky ham and paprika-dusted croutons for flavor and texture.
Hot-and-Sour Soup
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Martin Yan’s lightning-fast riff on the takeout classic lands the ideal balance of peppery heat and vinegar-driven tartness in about 30 minutes. Tofu, mushrooms, and egg ribbons give it texture and heft.
Mushroom-Barley Soup
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall
Good beef stock, meaty mushrooms, and chewy barley make for an old-fashioned, nourishing soup with plenty of depth in another recipe from Parisi.
Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup
Cara Cormack
Think loaded baked potato in soup form with sharp cheddar as the star — creamy, rich, and unapologetically cozy.
Chicken Tortellini Soup with Kale
Blend fresh ingredients and smart store-bought tortellini for this quick, brothy soup, served up with tender greens and plenty of comfort. It only takes 30 minutes to get on the table.
Corsican Bean Soup with Greens and Pork
Dried beans are the foundation for a rich, savory broth for this soup of verdant greens, earthy winter vegetables, and hearty pork. Swap in canned beans if you’re pressed for time.
Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Soup
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
Combine spicy sausage with tender chickpeas and savory aromatics for a one-pot stunner that’s thick, cozy, and easy enough for a weeknight. Drizzle with good olive oil before serving for extra oomph.
French Lentil and Vegetable Soup
In this classic recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Ina Garten reaches for Le Puy lentils — which hold their shape while soaking up aromatics — for a robust and utterly delicious soup.
Italian Wedding Lasagna Soup
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox
Serve up fennel-scented meatballs, baby spinach, and broken lasagna noodles in a creamy, tomatoey broth that’s just like your favorite baked pasta — reimagined for a spoon.
Sopa de Ajo (Basque Garlic Soup)
Cookbook author Marti Buckley’s version of this Basque classic is smoky, garlicky and restorative. First thickened with bread, then swirled with ribbons of egg, the broth is sharpened with a hint of sherry vinegar.
Cold Cucumber Soup with Yogurt and Dill
Cara Cormack
Chef Andrew Zimmern’s chilled soup is crisp and herbaceous, combining the cool, summer-ready tang of yogurt with plenty of fresh dill.
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
Layer fresh and dried mushrooms with sweet paprika, dill, and cream for this classic (and deeply savory) Hungarian soup. Serve with a thick slice of crusty bread.
Broccoli and Potato Soup
Cara Cormack
A clever puree of potatoes and broccoli stems gives this soup its creamy body, with florets stirred in for texture and bite. A final grate of Parmesan cheese over top gives it extra salty, nutty flavor.
Creamy Tomato Soup with Buttery Croutons
Cara Cormack
Seattle chef Tom Douglas builds big tomato flavor fast with pantry staples and finishes with brown-butter croutons for texture and richness.
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice
Diana Chistruga
This velvety Greek classic is all about its creamy egg-lemon broth, made even richer by shredded rotisserie chicken and plump grains of rice. This plush, comforting soup is ready in just 30 minutes.
Garlic Soup
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne
This is a staple of 1989 F&W Best New Chef Susan Spicer’s New Orleans restaurant, Bayona: a velvety, aromatic purée that turns mellow, sweet garlic into a luxurious, spoon-coating soup.
Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cheddar Soup with Garlic Croutons
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Priscilla Montiel
Julia Levy blends vegetables, croutons, and cream to create a lusciously thick body, then melts in cheddar and tops with more crispy, garlicky cubes of sourdough. A hint of Dijon adds tangy lift that keeps this cozy soup from feeling heavy.
Tuscan White Bean Soup
Food & Wine / Photo by Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Chelesa Zimmer / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Creamy cannellini beans, garlic confit, and Tuscan kale make this a decadant and satisfying soup. (Using pancetta twice, for depth of flavor and crunch, helps too.)
Restorative Ginger and Turmeric Noodle Soup
James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Hetty Lui McKinnon channels the restorative soups her mother made with a pantry-friendly ginger-turmeric broth and slurpable noodles.
Silky Zucchini Soup
Julia Hartbeck
Star chef Grant Achatz proves creaminess doesn’t require cream: This minimalist zucchini purée is impossibly smooth, delicate, and jade-green. Serve hot or chilled with julienned zucchini strewn on top.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Cara Cormack
Cookbook author Amanda Johnson’s one-pot soup is creamy, woodsy, and weeknight ready, with nutty wild rice and tender chicken coming together in about 20 minutes of hands-on time.
Chicken Pozole Verde
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
James Beard Award-winning author Anya von Bremzen layers shredded chicken and chewy hominy in a vivid puree of tomatillos, cilantro, and chiles for a pozole that’s bright, tangy, and deeply comforting.
