40 Soups That Freeze Fantastically

mr-Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Candied Pepitas

Photo: Caitlin Bensel Food Styling: Tina Stamos and Gordon Sawyer Prop Styling: Kay Clark

Although they seem like opposing forces of nature, soup and the freezer make a great team when it comes to meal planning. Freezing a soup you just made will keep it fresh for the future, or just provide a more efficient way to preserve leftovers. These soups are free of foods that don't freeze well, like heavy cream, coconut milk, and cheese, to ensure the best possible thawed soup experience. If you're cooking soup that'll go straight into the freezer, you'll want to make a few adjustments. Don't add pasta or grains like rice, before freezing. Instead, prepare them while you're defrosting the corresponding soup to avoid altering the texture. Similarly, it helps to undercook vegetable-heavy soups, because they will continue cooking when reheated. For more information, check out our guide to freezing soup.

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Smoky Ham and Split Pea Soup

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Claire Spollen

Smoky Ham and Split Pea Soup Recipe

Potatoes contribute starchiness and silky thickness, while sweet carrots and salty ham balance out the peas' light, earthy flavor. Leftovers fare well in the freezer, so say hello to your new favorite make-ahead soup. Garnish with parsley and additional pepper, if desired.

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Harvest Beef Soup

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

Harvest Beef Soup Recipe

Edamame and kale are colorful and unexpected additions to this comforting soup. Feed a crowd, or freeze some for later.

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Summer Minestrone Soup

Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Claire Spollen

Summer Minestrone Soup Recipe

A gentle simmer keeps the vegetables in the soup slightly firm, so they maintain their texture during freezing and reheating.

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Instant Pot Tex-Mex Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Jennifer Causey

Instant Pot Tex-Mex Chicken and Black Bean Soup Recipe

This filling and flavorful soup is ideal for a chilly evening. Freeze leftover chipotle chiles and adobe sauce in a flattened Ziploc bag for future use. Want to make this soup in your slow cooker? Click here for the recipe.

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Bacon and Beef Stew

Photo: Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Cat Steele

Bacon and Beef Stew Recipe

Savory, rich bacon and beef pair perfectly with beer, mustard, and red wine vinegar creating a well-rounded, complex flavor profile. The recipe comes together quickly and makes 16 cups--enough for 12 generous servings. Make sure to use low sodium beef broth to keep a balanced salt level. Serve with crusty bread, cornbread, or butter rolls.

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Slow Cooker Creamy Lentil Soup

Greg DuPree

Slow Cooker Creamy Lentil Soup Recipe

Simple flavors and a rustic touch will make this soup an instant home-cooked favorite, especially on chilly, wintry days. Inexpensive dried lentils make up the bulk of the soup, helping fill in your fiber gaps and keep you full longer. Chickpeas are the secret ingredient to achieve supreme creaminess, which become delightfully smooth when blended, and sneak in an extra 3g fiber per serving.

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Caribbean Black Bean Soup

Oxmoor House

Caribbean Black Bean Soup Recipe
A little of this spicy soup goes a long way, so it's best when served as an appetizer soup. If you want to decrease the heat, seed the jalapeños.

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Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Claire Spollen

Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo Recipe

This gumbo is a great use for leftover roasted turkey, though cooked chicken will also work. We skip the long-stirred roux here in favor of filé powder, a thickener made from the sassafras plant; look for it on the spice aisle. For the best results, stir in the filé powder off the heat.

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Creamy White Bean Soup with Smoked Ham Hocks

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Cindy Barr

Creamy White Bean Soup with Smoked Ham Hocks Recipe
Creamy, starchy, and filling, this hearty, rustic soup is the epitome of comfort. And convenient: Beans go in dry--no need to soak.

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Hearty Chicken Soup

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

Hearty Chicken Soup Recipe

It makes sense that a classic like chicken soup would be best cooked in a classic Dutch oven. While we enjoyed the soup from all three cooking methods, the Dutch oven made the meat a little more tender and juicy. The broth also simmers without a lid, so it reduces and grows richer.

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Spiced Winter Squash Soup

Jennifer Causey

Spiced Winter Squash Soup Recipe

Smooth and custardy, silken tofu blends perfectly with the butternut squash and pumpkin to create the ultimate velvety texture. And thanks to its protein and fiber, the dish is quite filling—your family won’t even know it’s completely vegan.

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Field Peas in Herbed Broth Soup

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Field Peas in Herbed Broth Soup Recipe

If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a mess of freshly picked field peas, this simple soup will let their unique, earthy flavor shine. While most varieties of field peas can be used interchangeably in recipes, we recommend using lady peas (also called Lady Cream peas) here because they produce a clear, not cloudy, potlikker.

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Onion, Kale, Chickpea, and Chicken Soup

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

Onion, Kale, Chickpea, and Chicken Soup Recipe

Few things beat a steaming bowl of veggie-packed chicken soup on a crisp autumn evening, and this one happens to be a perfect potion for the seasonal chills. You can leave the thyme sprigs in the broth (just ladle around them) so they'll keep releasing herbaceous goodness into any leftovers.

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Silky Tomato Soup with White Beans and Garlic Oil

Photo: Victor Protasio; Styling: Paige Hicks

Silky Tomato Soup with White Beans and Garlic Oil Recipe

Creamy, silky tomato soup is the ultimate comfort food. We've elevated the traditional soup with the addition of white cannellini beans and toasty garlic oil. You won't miss any of the cream or calories from this dairy-free tomato soup as the texture is still silky from blending the tomato base. Serve alongside our revamped Grilled Cheese Skillet "Panini" for a meal kids and adults will all approve of. With the addition of the white beans, each serving provides 8 grams of protein making this vegetarian meal foolproof.

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Easy Chili

Photography: Greg DuPree Food Styling: Rishon Hanners Prop Styling: Thom Driver

Easy Chili Recipe

Look no further for the ultimate, easy chili recipe. With just a push of a button, your weekday dinner is taken care of as the chili cooks away in the slow-cooker. Add chili to your next barbeque to top grilled sausages for an upgraded version of chili dogs. You can easily substitute ground turkey instead of beef for a lighter option and the rest of the ingredients should already be stocked away in your pantry. To top the hot, spicy chili, add shredded Cheddar cheese and corn chips for extra flavor and texture. To go beyond our favorite classic recipe, find more chili recipes here.

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Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Soup

Photo: Christopher Testani; Styling: Alistair Turnbull

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Soup Recipe

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Slow Cooker Chicken, Bacon, and Potato Soup

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas

Slow Cooker Chicken, Bacon, and Potato Soup Recipe

This chicken potato soup is perfect for ushering in fall: It's hearty enough for the beginning of soup season, yet brothy and veggie-packed so it doesn't feel too heavy. This recipe is ideal for a weekend, when you can check on the slow cooker after just a few hours. Although you can’t leave it unattended all day, this chicken potato soup still offers the benefit of hands-free, fuss-free cooking. Baby red, Yukon Gold, or fingerling potatoes will all work well here, as they'll maintain their shape nicely during cooking. Pair this easy chicken and potato soup with a slaw or kale side salad and crusty whole-grain bread for a healthy, satisfying dinner.

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Vegetarian Pozole

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Robby Melvin

Vegetarian Pozole Recipe

Plan to put this easy and comforting vegetarian pozole on repeat all season long. The vibrant stew offers the smoky, delicately spicy, and bright flavors characteristic of traditional pozole, simply without the pork. Fresh spinach and red kidney beans add color and hearty texture, while also upping the iron and protein content of the pozole. So whether you or loved ones follow a meat-free diet or are simply looking to cut back a little on the animal protein, it’s a perfect (not to mention, perfectly simple) dish that’s sure to impress.

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Warming Beet Soup

Warming Beet Soup Recipe

7 Fast and Filling Soups: Perfect for fast days, cook these meals, and then take single portions. Lose weight the 5:2 way. This healthy recipe is featured in the soups section of the new 5:2 Starter's Guide to The 2-Day Diet. The book provides a selection of over 100 tasty recipes to help you meet the daily 500 calorie allotment for the 2 days of intermittent fasting, as required by the 5:2 Diet.

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Slow-Cooker Jambalaya Soup

Jennifer Causey

Slow-Cooker Jambalaya Soup Recipe

Look for andouille near the smoked sausages in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. Want to make this soup in your Instant Pot? Click here for the recipe.

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Warm-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Claire Spollen

Warm-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Earthy, fragrant spices like allspice, cloves, and cinnamon make wonderful accents for the natural sweetness of butternut squash. Make sure to simmer the squash until very tender--the softer it gets, the silkier the puree.

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Chard and White Bean Soup

James Carrier

Chard and White Bean Soup Recipe
While the soup simmers, brush some slices of country bread or levain with olive oil and toast them, to serve with the hot soup.

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Black Garlic and Lentil Soup

Eric Wolfinger

Black Garlic and Lentil Soup Recipe

For Bar Tartine in San Francisco, chef Nick Balla created this smoky, earthy soup as a tribute to his Hungarian-America father. Dried chiles, paprika sausage, hot paprika, and black garlic--regular garlic roasted for days until it turns sweet and jet black, with a licorice-like flavor--give the soup a rounded spiciness.

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Southwestern Chicken Soup

Southwestern Chicken Soup Recipe
This top-rated Southwestern chicken soup is a great way to use up leftover chicken. The creamy chunks of avocado add a richness that's unusual to find in most chicken soups.

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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo

Instant Pot Chorizo Butternut Squash Soup image

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Marianne Williams

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo Recipe

For an easy and elegant fall entertaining dish you can make in your Instant Pot, look no further than our savory butternut squash soup. This Instant Pot butternut squash soup is a perfect recipe for effortless autumnal vibes. Featuring chorizo sausage and spices like cumin and chili powder, matched with butternut squash’s inherent sweetness, this Instant Pot soup exudes seasonal warmth. It’s excellent when served with crusty bread and a green salad for a light entree, but also makes for a fantastic appetizer served in smaller portions. A speedy and flavorful twist on classic butternut squash soup, our Instant Pot version delivers a delightful blend of textures and flavors in each bite thanks to toppings that make the dish as beautiful as it is delicious.

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Vegetable-Beef Soup

Photo: Oxmoor House

Vegetable-Beef Soup Recipe
Slow-cooking top round steak with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and Worcestershire sauce creates a succulent soup full of tender beef. This soup is sure to please the whole family.

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Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Robin Bashinsky; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew Recipe

For our largely hands-off take on the classic comfort food, we create an intensely flavorful base by first pressure cooking a whole chicken on top of a combination of boxed tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and a handful of flavor power player ingredients.

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Ham, Kale, and White Bean Soup

Photo: Jennifer Causey

Ham, Kale, and White Bean Soup Recipe

The water used to cook a pot of beans is really liquid gold, infused with aromatics and thickened with starch from the beans. It makes perfect sense to give the cooking liquid a second life as the broth for the soup (and save the trouble of rinsing and draining). The ham hock will season the broth and the beans as they cook; you won’t need additional salt once they are done. Instead of cooking the kale and carrots in the soup, give them a quick sauté and stir them in at the end so they retain their vibrancy.

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Two-Bean Soup with Tomato-Chive Crostini

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Claire Spollen

Two-Bean Soup with Tomato-Chive Crostini Recipe

For a vegetarian version of this bean soup, substitute the chicken broth for a vegetable mushroom broth. Garnish with a tomato-chive crostini for added crunch to this 30 minute soup.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

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Mexican Chicken Stew

Mexican Chicken Stew Recipe

Ground guajillo chile powder found in Mexican markets is quite different from regular chili powder. This spicy chicken soup recipe is made simple with the pressure cooking power of your Instant Pot.

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Tomato-Red Pepper Gazpacho with Fresh Vegetable Medley

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Linda Hirst

Tomato-Red Pepper Gazpacho with Fresh Vegetable Medley Recipe

Topping tomato and red pepper-flavored gazpacho with fresh veggies makes a refreshing summer soup.

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Instant Pot Sambhar

Photo: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland

Instant Pot Sambhar Recipe

This dish is traditionally prepared with sambar spice, a mixture of ground spices and lentils—what we have here is a simplified version that still provides lots of layers of flavor and just the right amount of heat. This recipe has a lot of steps, so give yourself plenty of time for the pressure cooker to return to pressure between cooking the lentils and the sweet potatoes. Despite the high involvement, the different elements of this recipe all come together at the same time.

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Vegetable-Lentil Soup

Photo: Kate Sears; Styling: Elizabeth Blake

Vegetable-Lentil Soup Recipe

After a hectic day at work, hearty bowlfuls of Vegetable-Lentil Soup await you in the slow cooker.

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Instant Pot Two-Minute Taco Soup

Time Inc. Video Studios

Instant Pot Two-Minute Taco Soup Recipe

Dinner doesn’t get any easier than this tasty taco soup that the whole family will love.

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Smoky Two-Bean Vegetarian Chili

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Lindsey Lower

Smoky Two-Bean Vegetarian Chili Recipe

A wee bit of canned chipotle chiles goes a long way in infusing this hearty chili with rich, smoky flavor and a hint of heat. (Cost for 4: $4.69)

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40 Soups That Freeze Fantastically

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Smoky Ham and Split Pea Soup

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Harvest Beef Soup

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Summer Minestrone Soup

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Instant Pot Tex-Mex Chicken and Black Bean Soup

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Bacon and Beef Stew

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Slow Cooker Creamy Lentil Soup

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Caribbean Black Bean Soup

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Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

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Creamy White Bean Soup with Smoked Ham Hocks

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Hearty Chicken Soup

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Spiced Winter Squash Soup

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Field Peas in Herbed Broth Soup

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Onion, Kale, Chickpea, and Chicken Soup

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Silky Tomato Soup with White Beans and Garlic Oil

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Easy Chili

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Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Soup

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Slow Cooker Chicken, Bacon, and Potato Soup

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Vegetarian Pozole

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Warming Beet Soup

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Slow-Cooker Jambalaya Soup

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Warm-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

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Chard and White Bean Soup

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Black Garlic and Lentil Soup

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Southwestern Chicken Soup

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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo

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Vegetable-Beef Soup

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