Soup season is upon us. If you know anything about me and my love for soup, you should know that I will gladly say yes to a bowl of soup no matter how full I am. When I first started at Millersville, I ended up learning the daily soup schedule so fast because of how much soup I ate. Soup is not only delicious, but it lasts forever. Freezing soup means I can have a cup of my moms chicken soup from December in February. Freezing soup is probably the best thing ever aside from soup itself. When I began dieting, one of the biggest tips I took away with me was that soups are better than whole foods because you can eat more for less. Liquids fill you up more than solid foods and lo-cal soups can still be as delicious as denser ones. Now I present to you my top 5 good soups and my bottom 5 too.
Best Soups
- Baked Potato Soup
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Baked potato soup is probably the most underrated and delicious soup. It has subtly notes and it is very filling and delicious. It is creamy, hearty and can be topped off with whatever you normally put on your baked potato. It is less bulky and filling as an actual baked potato which means you can eat more.
- Chicken Noodle Soup
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The glory of chicken noodle soup is that you can basically put anything in it. Traditionally, it is made with carrots, egg noodles, celery and chicken and broth. However, it is up to the maker to decide what else they want in it. I personally like carrots, celery and peas in mine like the picture above. When my mom makes chicken noodle, she puts in spaghetti noodles instead and no veggies so that I can have mainly brother, chicken and soft noodles. This is especially helpful when I am sick.
- Pho
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Pho is a beautifully cultured dish. The first time I took my boyfriend out for pho, he basically fell in love with it. I love putting in cilantro and lots and lots of sprouts into mine. He likes chili oil and spicy broth in his. We both get a meat based one but our toppings couldn’t be any different. For many Vietnamese and Asian cultures, pho is their version of chicken soup. I’ve heard people say that their mothers would make it when they felt sick and I see why. The brother is so delicious that it would also make me feel better instantly. This is one of the many any-season soups.
- Italian wedding soup
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I personally love Italian Wedding soup. This soup is warm and inviting. The broth is delicate and the meatballs and pasta also are just so gentle on the stomach. This is one of those soups that I need to learn how to make. I could eat bowls filled with this soup alone. Each Italian Wedding soup is made differently from what I’ve seen already. This soup is an any season soup.
- minestrone
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My mom makes the best minestrone ever, but I’m also a big fan of Progresso’s. Minestrone is a tomato based soup with beans, pasta, veggies and more. It is one of those soups that is unique to every maker as it should be. I love my mom’s because of her pasta choice and that she knows I can’t eat whole/crushed tomatoes. She customizes it to my dietary needs. It’s a great soup to do just that.
Worst Soups
- Gazpacho
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I tried gazpacho in Spain and I was thoroughly disappointed. Gazpacho is a cold soup made of various vegetables. It’s native to the southern Iberian Peninsula which is why I had it authentically in Spain. Gazpacho is traditionally made with tomato, onion, olive oil, cucumbers, vinegar, peppers and red wine. These are all things I hate eating. For me, a cold soup and all the veggies I don’t like really didn’t do it for me.
- French Onion SOup
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I don’t like onion let’s start there. A soup entirely based on onion just sounds disgusting to me. This soup doesn’t look appealing, doesn’t sound good and doesn’t even look good. Now if I were in France, I would try it since that’s its native place. I don’t think I would like it personally. You can’t just mask an onion flavor with cheese and bread.
- tomato soup
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This comes from my very personal dietary needs. I have acid reflux and tomatoes instantly trigger that. Canned tomato soups like Campbells are a kind that do not make my stomach feel good. I’ve never had a homemade tomato soup and I think I would like to try it. I think that would also make it taste less bland.
- chicken and wild rice
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This soup is just gross. It is thick and dense. I will be the first to day it, chicken and rice together is gross. I’m not talking about like arroz con pollo or chicken stir fry. I just mean like two separate things. So to put that in soup form is a disgrace to soup-kind. I really dislike chicken and rice soup. It usually ends up being really gross and sludge like.
- clam chowder
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I know the picture is oysters. The point is seafood should not be in soup. Lobster bisque and Maryland crab soup are the only exceptions. Clams are slimy and gross and clam broth or juice is horrible. It smells, it doesn’t last long and the taste lingers. It is so gross. New England people, I am sorry but your hold on clam chowder is too much.
I could go on for days about soups honestly. Soups can be a food that brings people comfort or feelings of home or their childhood. It can be healthy and can be something that the family is brought together over. Whether it’s quick and easy canned soup or crock pot meals that cook overnight, soup is without a doubt, the best food group.
HCXO,
Cecilia
