13 Healthy Soups That Boost Your Immune System—And Your Mood
Imagine you’re working from home. You stumble into the kitchen, half-asleep and zombie-like, ready to throw in the towel and heat up another Amy’s Organic microwave dinner. You crack open the freezer door when out of the corner of your eye, a shockingly bright color catches your attention. It’s on your partner’s phone. They’re perusing recipes for immunity-boosting soups, which appear so lush and vivid that you assume they can’t be edible.
“What are those?” you ask, somewhat in disbelief over the seductive power of soup photos. “Oh, they’re recipes for soups that bolster your immune system and make for enviable Instagram photos,” your partner says. Intrigued, you scroll over the ingredients and read the instructions until you get struck by a crazy idea. You might actually be able to prepare one of these satiating superfoods, you think. It could even be fun, and after you do it, you get to hunker down and enjoy the fruits of your labor—plus bragging rights on social media.
“Let’s make one,” you suggest gingerly, thinking you need something to dunk in your homemade sourdough. “OK,” your partner agrees. Together, you chop up vegetables and program your slow cooker while singing “Imagine” ironically, not in the rich celebrity sense. It’s blissful. In fact, the hardest part was selecting only one soup to attempt, since they come in every color of the rainbow and all pack a staggering nutritional punch.
There’s good news, though. You can try another one tomorrow.
1. Pink Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Soup
Don’t be fooled by the electric pink hue. As eye-catching as it is, this tasty beet soup is also chock-full of nutrients and health benefits, as beets are known to have immune-boosting vitamin C, as well as anti-inflammatory and digestive-supporting properties.
2. Game Day Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Soup
This buffalo chicken soup will satisfy your craving for hot wings but in a healthier way, as it’s made with a ton of cauliflower, which contains a significant amount of antioxidants. Plus, you can make it in the Instant Pot, so it’s fast and easy.
3. Sweet Potato Turmeric Soup with Salty Almond Croutons
What do you get when you combine anti-inflammatory ginger and turmeric with vitamin-loaded sweet potatoes and almonds? A seriously nutrient-dense meal that also looks stunning.
4. Creamy Moroccan Tomato Soup
Rich in lycopene, tomatoes create the base for delicious broth featuring harissa and protein-packed chickpeas. Score key minerals like iron, selenium and phosphorous from the addition of coconut milk.
5. Purple Sweet Potato Unicorn Soup
This ain’t no smoothie bowl, folks. Reach for purple sweet potatoes to create this soup’s gorgeous lilac hue, then top with crunchy golden turmeric croutons for maximum antioxidant benefits.
6. Creamy Curry Parsnips Soup
This yummy vegan soup highlights parsnips, an unsung hero of the vegetable world which are not usually as popular as other veggies and thus, likely to be in stock at your supermarket. You’ll appreciate the punch of vitamin K, folate and fiber as much as the creamy curry flavor.
7. Slow Cooker Veggie Noodle Soup
A healthy remix of your classic noodle soup, this recipe calls for slow cooker-tenderized veggie noodles that warm your soul minus the carbs and calories.
8. Gluten-Free Italian Meatball Vegetable Soup
Satisfying Italian meatballs dance with nutrient-dense quinoa spiral noodles, carrots and baby spinach in this gluten-free medley.
9. Slow Cooker Lentil Soup, Golden Curry Flavor
Prepare this recipe for the cheery yellow color, then feast on the goodness of lentils. Brimming with micronutrient polyphenols, lentils are an ideal plant-based protein thought to lower blood pressure and improve digestion.
10. Sweet Potato Ginger Soup
Try not snapping a photo of this sweet potato and ginger confection—but know it’s more than just a show pony. Sweet potatoes are laced with vitamin B6, which helps counter chemicals in our bodies linked to degenerative diseases.
11. Mushroom Miso Soup
Miso lovers will melt for this simmering concoction of seaweed, cabbage, and mushrooms galore. Seaweed boasts iodine and tyrosine to boost thyroid function, and it’s rumored to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
12. Spirulina Cream of Cauliflower Soup
Say it with me: this isn’t a bowl of yogurt. No, you’re looking at the pastel perfection known as spirulina cream of cauliflower soup. Anyone who desires to bolster their cell function (with superfood spirulina, plus grapeseed oil and fennel) and devour a delectable homemade soup should start here.
13. Green Detox Soup
Broccoli and kale meet garlic and cilantro in this light, energizing green soup. Plan on licking down the bowl, it’s that good.
A version of this story appeared in March 2020.
