Put down the can opener — soup from scratch isn’t as tough as you think!
There are countless times when a warm bowl of soup is in order, and the return of chilly temperatures is just one of them. If you’re coming down with a cold, having a bad day, or need a little extraself-care, that's an occasion for soup no matter what the weather's like outside.
Like otherpackaged foods, however, prepared soups tend to be less healthy than homemade. Instantramenis a budget favorite, but not very nutritious on its own. Canned soups have been criticized because of the presence of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in can linings that leaches into the food inside. While theCan Manufacturers Institutereports that around 95 percent of canned foods no longer contain BPA, it’s unclear whether what has been used to replace the substance is any better, according to theEnvironmental Working Group.
Canned soups are also often high insodiumandfat, according to theInstitute of Food Technologists. TheAmerican Heart Associationincludes soup on its “Salty Six” list, pointing out that one cup of canned soup can contain as much as 830 milligrams of sodium — more than a third of your daily recommended intake.
“Typically, calories, fat,sugar, and salt are added to a prepared soup,” saysRoxana Ehsani, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “But when we cook at home, we can reduce these amounts by choosing healthier ingredients.”
If you’re thinking it’s too difficult and time-consuming to make your own soup from scratch, perhaps it’s time to explore making soup in an electric pressure cooker like theInstant Pot. “You can use it to cook nutritious foods likebeansquickly,” says Ehsani. The following recipes all make tasty, comforting homemade soups easy enough for any night of the week. Use low-sodium stock or broth to keep sodium levels in check.
Italian Wedding Soup
A bowl of mini meatballs floating in a savory broth, fragrantgarlic, and tender spinach is sure to help cure what ails you. This recipe from Eating Instantly gives you a choice between ground beef, pork, orchickenfor the meatballs. Choose ground chicken breast for the leastsaturated fat, and use a low-sodium broth. The Instant Pot will allow you to ladle this full-flavored soup into your bowl in 40 minutes flat.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Warming chicken noodle soup is the ultimate comfort-food classic, and this version from Well-Plated by Erin is especially wholesome. “This recipe calls forlow-sodiumchicken broth. Premade soups typically are quite high in sodium, but a low-sodium broth cuts down on the total sodium content, which boosts the nutritional value of this soup,” says Ehsani. The whole-wheat egg noodles addfiber.
Potato Soup
This recipe from A Couple Cooks delivers all the soul-soothing comfort of a loadedbaked potato, but in soup form and with far less fat and fewer calories. Homemadeshiitake baconreplaces the typical pork bacon you find on baked potatoes. To keep sodium in check, use unsalted butter, low-sodium stock or broth, and Old Bay seasoning with 30 percent less sodium. The addition of reduced-fat milk (instead of full-fat milk, heavy cream, or sour cream) keeps the richness with lesssaturated fat在all.
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White Chicken Chili
Olena Osipov's chili is the total package: It’s a30-minute mealthat’s as good for you as it is delicious. According to Ehsani, it has a lot going for it. “This recipe calls for using chicken breast, which is a lean source ofprotein, rather than traditional chunks of beef. It also usesavocado oilinstead ofbutter, so it increases your dosage of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and lessens saturated fat content,” she says.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
This popular soup is available at corner delis, chain restaurants, and in the soup aisle at the supermarket — why would you ever go to the trouble to make it yourself? Well, because your own from-scratch version ofbroccolicheese汤会更美味和健康的take little more time than picking up a quart from a restaurant. The secret ingredients in this recipe by Erin Clarke are cauliflower, which gives the soup a velvety texture without the usual heavy cream, and sharp cheddar, whose intense flavor allows you to use less.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Rich, savory, and incredibly satisfying, cream of mushroom soup is a comfort-food crowd-pleaser. And it’s much easier to whip up than you might think, especially with the help of an Instant Pot. Wild rice adds nutrition and complex flavor, and low-sodium stock or broth can save you more than 500 milligrams of salt per serving. Most cream soups get their richness from heavy cream or sour cream, but this version by Hummusapien relies on blendedcashewsto fill in for the dairy. It’s so creamy from the cashews and meaty from the mushrooms, you would never guess this soup is actuallyvegan.
Beef Stew
A mainstay in the canon of American comfort foods, beef stew can be healthy, too. When you make it yourself, you have more control over the ingredients than you get with beef stew out of a can. “[Slender Kitchen's] recipe calls for lean beef, which a [prepared beef stew] may not choose to use.Lean beefcuts down on total calories, total fat, and saturated fats,” says Ehsani. Use a homemade or low-sodium beef broth to keep the sodium down. On the stovetop, stew beef can take hours to become truly tender, but the Instant Pot can get the job done in only 35 minutes.
Lasagna Soup
If you have 20 minutes, you can cook up Confessions of a Fit Foodie's soupy spin on an ultimate comfort-food favorite: lasagna. “This recipe suggests usinggluten-freelasagna noodles, or whole-wheat ones if you want to add a source of dietary fiber to this dish,” says Ehsani. Go easy on the cheese toppings to save on saturated fat, and use ground turkey and low-sodium stock or broth to keep sodium levels reasonable.
