The first chilly fall day is a stark reminder that eating food above room temperature is both possible and desirable. We reach for warm jackets and hot, healthy soup recipes, seeking comfort and warmth from the inside out. There’s just nothing like a steaming bowl of soup when you’re chilled to the bone—it heats you up faster than any blanket could.
Switching from making summer salads to fall soups isn’t as tricky as you might think. The most you’ll need to do is dust off your big pot or Dutch oven, because you can probably repurpose whatever fresh produce you already have into a big, bubbling pot of cold-day comfort. And soups can make for an extremely nourishing and well-rounded meal—which typically consists of a balance of fat, protein, carbohydrates, and fruits or vegetables that keeps you full, satisfied, and energized, as Jessica Jones, M.S., R.D., certified diabetes educator and cofounder of Food Heaven, has told SELF.
Make one of these 45 healthy soup recipes as soon as the temperature drops. Along with being guaranteed to both fill and warm you up, these ideas include just about any type of soup you could possibly want. From creamy vegan options to pasta-filled, tomato-based numbers, the whole team is here.
A note about the word healthy here: We know that healthy is a complicated concept. Not only can it mean different things to different people, it’s a word that’s pretty loaded (and sometimes fraught), thanks to the diet industry’s influence on the way we think about food. At SELF, when we talk about food being healthy, we’re primarily talking about foods that are nutritious, filling, and satisfying. But it also depends on your preferences, your culture, what’s accessible to you, and so much more. We selected these recipes with those basic criteria in mind, while also trying to appeal to a wide variety of nutritional needs and taste buds.