Broths, bisques, chowders, and noodle soups.
This comforting beef and wine soup from the Italian Alps combines rich beef stock with white wine for a warming broth. Topped with cinnamon-spiced toasted bread and creamy Parmesan, it's a simple yet elegant dish that highlights the region's culinary influences. Perfect for a cozy meal.
This dish works best with raw beef that has been sliced paper thin, as it cooks in seconds when placed in the hot broth.
Beef shin or short rib simmers slow with aromatics to build a rich broth. Grated beetroot, cabbage, carrot, onion and potato cook together with the beef and tomatoes for the second hour. A splash of vinegar at the end keeps the colour bright; soured cream and dill on top.
This is the soup Portugal eats in winter and at every wedding, christening and Christmas Eve: a velvety potato base, a confetti of impossibly thin kale shredded in right at the end, and a few slices of chouriço floating on top to flavour the broth. You sweat onions in olive oil, simmer potatoes in stock until soft, blend the lot smooth, then drop the kale in for the final two minutes (which is when the colour brightens and the texture stays alive). Lay the chouriço on top, drizzle olive oil at the table, tear bread in. It is a five-ingredient soup that depends entirely on the quality of the olive oil and the kale being cut almost transparently thin, ribbon by ribbon.
Saturday-soup in Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica is a category rather than a single recipe; the structure is always the same (curry-and-allspice-seasoned chicken, root vegetables, hand-rolled dumplings, a thickened broth), and the specifics vary household by household. This is the Jamaican lean: pumpkin in the broth as the thickening agent (Grace pumpkin soup mix is the household shortcut), coconut milk for richness, allspice and thyme for the Caribbean signature, and a single pot that's a complete meal. The dumplings are the soul, small hand-rolled cornmeal-and-flour batons that go in last and cook in the broth, slightly bouncy, slightly chewy, picking up the surrounding flavour. The broth is golden-orange from pumpkin and curry, rich without being heavy, with corn-on-the-cob rounds and chunks of Yukon Gold potato giving substance. Smell when you lift the lid is curry, allspice and sweet pumpkin. Easy if you've made stews before, with two hours of mostly-passive simmering. Eaten year-round in Caribbean households as the dependable one-pot meal; nominally a Saturday dish but no Caribbean grandmother would refuse you a bowl on a Tuesday.
A vibrant Caribbean soup featuring fresh fish poached in a spicy tomato-based broth with sweet potatoes and aromatic vegetables. The scotch bonnet chilli adds authentic heat, balanced by fresh lime juice for a refreshing finish.
A hearty Spanish soup featuring sweet chestnuts paired with spicy chorizo sausage, caramelized vegetables, and warming spices. The saffron adds a subtle earthiness, creating a comforting autumnal dish with rich, smoky flavors.
Dried hulled white corn (nixtamalised, also called posole or hominy corn, distinct from tinned hominy) soaks overnight. Pork hocks (or venison neck, or smoked turkey legs) simmer in salted water 2 hours to make a rich broth. Soaked corn joins; cooks for 45 minutes more until tender. Tinned red kidney beans go in; the soup simmers for 15 minutes to integrate. Salt to taste. Served plain, possibly with a side of frybread.
A rich and elegant seafood bisque featuring fresh crab cooked in a flavorful broth with brandy and cream. The soup is strained for smoothness, highlighting the sweet crab meat with a touch of spice from cayenne.
A creamy clam soup that takes the New England chowder format and smooths it out into something closer to a French bisque. You steam fresh clams open in a covered pot, strain the briny liquor (which is half the dish's flavour), then soften onion, leek, carrot and swede in butter before pouring the stock back in with a handful of short-grain rice. The rice cooks down to nothing visible but thickens the soup naturally, which is why this version comes out velvet-smooth after a turn in the blender. Cream goes in last, off the heat so it doesn't split, and the reserved clam meat drops back into the pan along with chopped parsley. You finish each bowl with a few clams left in their shells balanced on the surface for the look of it. Crusty bread on the side, a sharp white wine in the glass, and a small bowl of black pepper to grind over.
Beef or goat is parboiled with onion, stock cube and salt to make a base stock. Smoked fish hydrates in hot water and is picked clean. Egusi seeds are ground (or already-ground egusi powder is used) into a thick paste with a little water. Onion, garlic, ginger and Scotch bonnet blitz into a hot pepper paste. Palm oil heats until just smoking; the pepper paste fries in it 5 minutes. Egusi paste goes in and "fries" 10 minutes until it forms small clumps. Stock and meat join; everything simmers for 20 minutes. Smoked fish, ground crayfish and locust beans add depth. Chopped spinach (or bitter leaf) goes in for the last 5 minutes. Salt to season.
A fragrant Malaysian noodle soup combining shellfish with a spicy coconut curry broth, rice noodles, and fresh herbs. The balance of heat from chillies and creaminess from coconut milk makes it a comforting yet exotic dish.
Onions cook for nearly an hour in butter and oil until they're deep mahogany, almost jammy. They deglaze with sherry or cognac and meet beef stock, simmering long enough to marry. Ladled into oven-proof bowls, topped with toasted bread and gruyère, the lot grills until the cheese is bubbling.
Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper and stale bread soak in red wine vinegar with garlic, then blitz with olive oil into a smooth velvety soup. Strained for restaurant texture or left chunky for a more rustic version. Served very cold with a swirl of olive oil and finely diced vegetables on top.
This traditional Hungarian goulash is a rich, hearty stew featuring tender beef simmered with sweet paprika, caraway seeds, and vegetables. Originating from 9th-century Hungary, it's a comforting dish that embodies the flavors of the region's pastoral heritage. Perfect for a warming meal on chilly days.
This classic Thai hot and sour soup features succulent prawns in a fragrant broth infused with lemongrass, galangal, and lime leaves. The perfect balance of spicy heat from chillies and tangy sourness from lime creates a refreshing yet warming dish. Quick to prepare and full of bold flavors.
Onions and mushrooms cook in butter until the mushrooms have released and reabsorbed their liquid. Paprika blooms off the heat; flour stirs in to thicken; vegetable stock joins. Dill and milk finish the soup; sour cream is whisked in just before serving with a squeeze of lemon.
A clear, golden chicken broth fortified with a freshly pounded turmeric, lemongrass and shallot paste, finished with coconut milk and a squeeze of lime. The dish is built in three layers: a slow-simmered chicken stock, a fried spice paste that becomes the soup's backbone, and quick-soaked rice vermicelli to carry it all. Comforting and aromatic in equal measure.
This aromatic Thai-inspired soup combines tender chicken, rice noodles, and coconut milk in a flavorful curry broth. Packed with vegetables and fresh herbs, it's a comforting and spicy dish that warms the soul. Perfect for a quick yet satisfying meal.
This classic French potato and leek soup, known as Potage Parmentier, is a creamy, comforting dish made with simple ingredients. The subtle flavors of leeks and potatoes are enhanced by cream, creating a smooth and elegant soup. Perfect as a starter or light meal, served hot or chilled.
A two-part dish: a deeply concentrated prawn-and-chicken stock built from roasted prawn shells, layered with a freshly pounded laksa paste of dried chilli, galangal, lemongrass and candlenuts. The two are joined with coconut cream to create a glossy, fragrant broth that bathes rice vermicelli, tofu puffs and prawns. Finished at the table with sambal, lime, fresh coriander and bean sprouts.
New York's tomato-based answer to New England's milk-and-cream chowder, and the source of a regional argument that has been going on for a hundred years. You start by softening bacon with onion, celery and garlic in butter, then add potatoes, thyme and fish stock and let them simmer until the potatoes are tender. The clams go in next under a lid for a few minutes until they open; you pull most of them out of their shells (keeping a few intact for the look of it) and strain the liquor back into the pot. Then tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, cod and prawns, and a final low simmer of just three minutes so the seafood stays tender. A generous scatter of flat-leaf parsley at the end lifts the lot. Serve with crusty bread to mop the brothy red sauce, and ignore anyone from Boston who tells you it's not a chowder.
Two parallel jobs: a long-simmered chicken broth made from a whole bird with onion, carrot and celery, skimmed clean and finished with dill; and the matzo balls themselves, made from matzo meal, eggs, schmaltz and seltzer, rested in the fridge for the gluten to relax. The balls poach in salted water (never the broth, or the broth clouds), then sit in the hot broth at serving time. Light, comforting, traditional.
This vibrant Mexican seafood soup features halibut, prawns, scallops, and clams in a spicy tomato broth with corn and lime. Topped with a fresh avocado salsa, it's a zesty and flavorful dish that brings the tastes of Mexico to your table. Perfect for a light yet satisfying meal.
This hearty Italian minestrone soup is loaded with vegetables, beans, and pasta, topped with fresh pesto. A comforting and nutritious dish that captures the essence of Italian home cooking. Serve with crusty bread for a complete meal.
Make dashi (or use instant), bring just to a simmer, drop in cubed silken tofu and rehydrated wakame seaweed, then whisk in miso paste off the heat. Boiling the miso destroys its delicate flavour and aroma.
This Anglo-Indian mulligatawny soup blends curry spices with vegetables in a smooth, warming broth. A comforting winter dish with layers of flavor from aromatic spices and optional sauces. Perfect for spice lovers seeking a hearty soup.
The benchmark New England chowder: creamy, milky-white, thickened by potato starch rather than flour, and named in the same regional argument that produces Manhattan's red tomato version up the coast. You steam the clams open in a heavy pot with a splash of water, strain the precious liquor (which is half the dish's flavour) through wet muslin, then start the soup proper with bacon rendered down in oil until golden and sweetly smoky. Onion, garlic and diced potato follow, then the reserved clam liquor and a measure of fish stock, and finally the milk poured in and brought back to a careful boil. You simmer covered until the potatoes are tender, uncover for the last ten minutes to thicken slightly, then stir in cream, the picked clam meat and chopped parsley at the very end with the heat low (cream split in a chowder is a small disaster). A few clams left in their shells on top of each bowl, a handful of oyster crackers on the side, and a winter afternoon's worth of comfort in front of you.
Beef parboils briefly with stock cube and onion to make a quick stock. Smoked fish soaks in hot water and is flaked. Fresh okra is chopped very fine (or grated). Palm oil heats; chopped onion, garlic and Scotch bonnet pepper soften. Stock and meat go in; simmers for 5 minutes. Smoked fish, ground crayfish and iru join. Salt to season. Then the okra goes in and cooks just 5 minutes, barely, to keep the bright green colour and the unmistakable slippery thickness. Served over rice or with fufu.
Bone-in goat (or chicken or catfish, fish takes much less time) simmers in lightly salted water with onion, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet and the pepper-soup spice mix for 75 minutes until tender. Crayfish (ground dried shrimp) and stock cube go in for depth. Scent leaf (Nigerian basil) or basil leaves and chopped onion finish at the table.
A rustic, comforting soup highlighting the sweet, nutty flavor of roasted garlic combined with creamy potatoes. Pureed for smoothness, it's a simple yet flavorful dish perfect for garlic lovers.
A vibrant Thai soup featuring prawns in a fragrant broth of lemongrass, coconut milk, and red curry paste. The balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors creates an authentic taste of Thailand.
Pumpkin halves roasted cut-side down until the flesh collapses against the spoon. Onion and garlic sweated slow in butter, deglazed with stock. The roasted pumpkin scraped in, simmered together, and blitzed to a silken purée. Finished with a swirl of cream, a grate of nutmeg, and toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch. The roast deepens the flavour beyond what a stovetop simmer can manage; do not skip it.
A British coastal soup that leans Mediterranean in spirit, the kind of thing a Cornish bistro might serve as a starter on a summer menu. You build a tomato-and-wine broth flavoured with garlic, fresh herbs and a homemade fish stock; the depth of that stock is everything, so use the bones and heads from whatever fish you're cooking and let them simmer down properly. Into the gently bubbling broth go a variety of fresh shellfish (mussels, clams, prawns) and chunks of firm white fish, just long enough to cook through without overcooking. The natural juices the shellfish release back into the broth become part of the soup. Eaten with crusty bread to mop, a glass of cold white wine in the other hand, the sound of the sea half-imagined out the window.
Of the four main ramen styles, shoyu (soy) is the cleanest and most aromatic, leaning on a clear roasted-chicken broth rather than the milky richness of tonkotsu or the heavy punch of miso. The technique splits the work: a long, gentle simmer with kombu and shiitake builds the broth, and a separate seasoning sauce called tare goes in bowl by bowl at the end. That last step is what lets you tune the saltiness without compromising the broth's clarity.
Beef shank or stewing beef marinates overnight in épis and citrus, then browns and simmers in beef broth for an hour. A whole calabaza pumpkin is boiled separately until soft, then puréed with some of the cooking liquid and stirred back into the soup pot. Carrots, turnips, celery, cabbage, leeks and potatoes go in to simmer until tender; vermicelli noodles and a whole pierced Scotch bonnet are added near the end. Final adjustments are lime juice, a knob of butter, fresh parsley and salt. The soup is served on January 1st by tradition; the rest of the year it stays the family Sunday-soup of the Haitian diaspora.
A British bistro soup that pairs the gentle anise of fennel with vibrant green spinach, the result somewhere between a French velouté and an Italian zuppa. You sweat fennel and onion slowly in butter until they're soft and faintly translucent, then add stock and let them cook through. Spinach goes in at the end (just a minute, no longer, so it stays bright green rather than collapsing to khaki) and the whole soup blends to a smooth pale-green purée. A swirl of cream enriches the texture; a few fennel fronds and toasted seeds on top for the look of it. Eaten as a starter with a small chunk of crusty bread, or as a light lunch with a tomato salad on the side.
Beef shank parboils briefly to remove scum. Aromatics, ginger, garlic, scallion, star anise, cinnamon, dried chilli, Sichuan peppercorn, doubanjiang (fermented chilli broad bean paste), fry in oil until fragrant. Tomato deepens the broth. Beef stock, soy, rice wine, and rock sugar build the body. The shank simmers for 2-3 hours until fork-tender. Noodles cook fresh; broth ladles over; pickled greens and chilli oil top.
A zesty Thai soup featuring tofu and mushrooms in a spicy, sour broth infused with lemongrass, galangal, and lime. The tom yum paste provides authentic heat and flavor, balanced by fresh herbs.
Tom kha gai is a popular spicy coconut soup. The tasty broth is more important than what you put into it as a main ingredient, which in this case is chicken, although you could substitute prawns (shrimp) to make tom kha goong, or meaty white fish. You could also leave the meat out and make it into a vegan soup, adding whichever vegetable you like or even fried tofu. If you want to have this as a main dish, you could add other ingredients such as noodles to make the soup more filling.
When you go out for Thai food this is sure to be on the menu. I love the spiciness of this soup, you get a good hit of spice but it doesn’t linger. Some chefs add sugar to it but, for me, this is a spicy, savoury and tart soup with only a hint of natural sweetness from the fried shallots and tomatoes. Do, of course, taste the soup and adjust the flavour to your liking, adding sugar if you want. It makes a delicious starter but you could bulk it up by adding other ingredients such as noodles to make it a light main. The word ‘gai’ means chicken, so this is a chicken tom yum soup. You could substitute prawn (shrimp) stock and prawns to make a delicious tom yum goong, or go vegetarian and use water and tofu.
Authentic Thai hot and sour soup with prawns in a fragrant, spicy broth made from prawn shells, tamarind, and lime. The balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors defines this classic dish.
The British weeknight classic, the soup that arrives in a mug with a buttered slice of bread on a damp afternoon. You soften onion, garlic and celery in butter, then drop in fresh ripe tomatoes (or a generous tin if winter is being unhelpful), stock, a sprig of basil or thyme, and simmer for twenty minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and the kitchen smells like a Mediterranean greengrocer. From there you can leave it chunky and rustic or blitz it smooth in a blender, with a slick of cream stirred in at the end if you want it richer. Eaten with a grilled cheese sandwich, fresh bread torn alongside, or a scatter of croutons on top. A simple, forgiving recipe; the only thing that matters is the quality of the tomatoes.
A vibrant Mexican soup featuring crispy fried tortilla strips in a smoky tomato broth, topped with fresh avocado, cheese, and herbs. The combination of textures and flavors makes it a satisfying and authentic dish.
A nourishing chunky vegetable soup that gets cooked at the end of the week when there's an awkward collection of half-vegetables in the fridge that needs a home. You build a base of onion, garlic and celery softened slow in butter, then add whatever's around: squash, carrots, courgettes, leeks, leftover green beans, a tin of cannellini or butter beans. A light tomato broth pulls everything together, and the soup simmers gently until the vegetables are just tender. Best the next day, by which point the flavours have settled into each other. Eaten with crusty bread, a wedge of cheese on the side, the lid back on the pot for tomorrow's lunch.
Onion, carrot and beetroot sauté together; the colour bleeds out; cabbage and potatoes join in stock. Tomato paste deepens; bay and dill infuse; vinegar and a touch of sugar balance at the end. Sour cream and dill go on at the table.
A classic Vietnamese pho featuring paper-thin beef slices cooked in a fragrant broth spiced with star anise and cinnamon, served over rice noodles with fresh herbs and sprouts.
A comforting Chinese soup featuring delicate pork-filled wontons poached and served in a clear chicken broth, garnished with soy sauce and sesame oil for authentic flavor.
Mushroom (dried shiitake) and kombu (kelp) infuse hot water for the broth base. Garlic-and-ginger oil fries; miso paste, soy and mirin make the tare. Noodles cook fresh; everything assembles in deep bowls with toppings stacked artfully.