7 Satiating, High-Protein Soup Recipes to Warm up and Fuel up This Winter
It’s been soup season for awhile now, but it’s easy to get into a rut of making the same chicken noodle or vegetable soups as winter begins to drag on. And the colder it gets, the more you may be tempted to opt for creamy bisques over nutritious, high-protein soup. But the most important thing to remember is that to make your soup a hearty, satiating meal that won't leave you hungry an hour later, you need to ensure that it includes plenty of protein and fiber.
Related: Feeling Under the Weather? Beat Colds With This Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe.
Here are our favorite soup recipes that actually make you feel full. Not only are they more nutritious and packed with protein, but they also deliver more flavor than typical canned soup. These eight dietitian-recommended, high-protein soup recipes will keep you satiated while slashing your recovery time all winter.
7 High-Protein Soup Recipes to Help You Refuel and Stay Satiated
1. Creamy Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup
Recipe from Colleen Christensen, RDN
Creamy tomato soup from a can is great with grilled cheese, but it’s often packed with sodium and fat. This homemade version is not difficult to whip up, but has way more antioxidants and vitamins from both the tomato and the butternut squash. Also, this tomato soup is high-protein, thanks to the creamy Greek yogurt added in place of heavy cream. Garnish with roasted pepitas for even more protein.
2. Sweet Potato Chickpea Chili
Recipe from Maria and Josh Lichty of Two Peas & Their Pod
Vegan chili definitely doesn’t have to be bland, and it doesn’t even have to include the trademark kidney beans or even black beans to be a high-protein soup recipe. The base of this soup is sweet potatoes and chickpeas instead. It includes tons of protein as well as Vitamin A from the sweet potatoes and the mineral zinc from the chickpeas, too.
3. Dairy-Free Salmon Corn Chowder
Recipe from Alexis Joseph, MS, RDN, LDN of Hummusapien
Chowders can be heavy, and certainly not suitable for anyone with dairy intolerance. This one is made with cashews instead of cream as a base, as well as vegetable broth, and veggies. If you eat vegan, you can make the chowder with just corn (but you’ll then miss out on the protein, Vitamin D, and omega-3s in the salmon).
Related: Swap out Your Favorite Meat Dishes for These 3 Seafood Dinners
4. Italian Harvest Soup
Recipe from Jessica Beacom, RDN and Stacie Hassing, RDN of The Real Food Dietitians
This high-protein soup is bursting with flavor from the sausage, mushrooms, kale, and the rest of the vegetables in the mix. (The RDs mention that you can swap potatoes for butternut or other winter squash, turnips, and add chard instead of kale.) Just one serving packs 14 grams of protein.
5. Tempeh Enchilada Quinoa Soup
Recipe from Jamie Vespa, MS, RD of Dishing Out Health
When you think of soup, most people don’t think of tempeh, made from probiotic-rich, fermented soybeans, as an ingredient. It’s also full of protein: The black beans add up to 18 grams of protein per serving. That’s pretty impressive for a gluten-free and vegan recipe.
Related: Prebiotics Vs. Probiotics: What's the Difference?
6. White Bean and Sausage Stew
Recipe from Marisa Moore, RDN, LD
This cozy, warm stew is easy to customize. Moore recommends spicy sausage to add a kick to the broth, but you can use chicken sausage, turkey sausage, or vegan sausage — whichever you prefer. Then, there’s the white beans to provide additional protein.
7. Vegan Ramen Soup With Crispy Tofu
Recipe from Deborah Murphy, MS, RDN of Dietitian Debbie
You don’t need to do takeout to get a hearty bowl of ramen. This high-protein recipe is not like your typical college cuisine: It’s full of vegetables like mushrooms, purple cabbage, carrots, and spinach. Thanks to all of that (plus the crispy tofu on top), each bowl has about 15 grams of protein in it.
