Warming and Healthy Winter Soups (Paleo, Vegan)

Get back on track with healthy eating while staying cozy and warm with these 10 vegetable-filled, healthy winter soups.

As the holidays come to a close and winter begins, I find myself turning to soup. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a piping hot bowl of soup on a cold winter day to warm and comfort you from the inside out, and after weeks of feasting we can all use a bit of a nutritional reset don’t you think?

Besides being cozy and comforting, soup has some pretty terrific things going for it: it’s simple to make, can be stashed away in the freezer for later, is filled to the brim with both vegetables and water, (keeping us full and hydrated), and is easy to re-heat (in fact most soups taste even better the next day).

Swapping in a big bowl of soup in place of your usual lunch or dinner is a simple and sane way to get back on track with healthy eating after the holidays (smoothies and salads are great but soup is so much nicer when it’s cold out).  So I’ve put together a selection of healthy soups that are all gluten-free, paleo and vegan to get you through the season and warm you on the even the coldest winter night and beyond.

Whether you’re in the mood for a stew or broth, something velvety or chunky there’s a soup here for you.

1. Quick Spicy Tomato Vegetable Soup

Inspired by the flavors of the classic Italian Puttanesca sauce, this spicy tomato soup is robust, full flavored and filled with big chunks of vegetables.

2. Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Soup 

This roasted red pepper and carrot soup is easy to make and has a creamy texture that’s warming and filling without being heavy.

3. Ginger, Turmeric Spiced Carrot Soup

Carrots are simmered with warm spices like ginger, turmeric and cinnamon then blitzed into a silky puree for a spicy but comforting soup.

4. Winter Squash Soup

Simple yet nourishing, this is the kind of soup that’s satisfying without being heavy, and silky without the addition of dairy or cream.

5. Golden Winter Root Vegetable Soup

Cold days call for a silky and golden hued root vegetable soup filled with a medley of winter root vegetables.

6. Thai-Style Coconut, Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup

This sweet and spicy Thai-inspired sweet potato and spinach soup really brings the heat.  It’s  is the kind of soup that’s perfect for chasing away the cold or just adding a little zing to your mealtime.

7. Thai Green Curry Soup with Spinach

This gloriously green soup is just the thing to make your taste buds stand at attention.  It’s both silky and comforting but with a fresh and zippy heat that will wake up your palate.

8. Broccoli Spinach Soup

This broccoli spinach soup is the one I reach for when I’m feeling the need for some extra green in my diet.

9. Restorative Detox Vegetable Broth

I turn to this vegetable heavy broth when I’m feeling run down and want to sip on something warm and nourishing. Start your morning with a cup of broth or sip it throughout the day as an alternative to tea or coffee.

10. Spinach and Eggplant Noodle Miso Soup

This spinach and eggplant noodle soup is built on a kombu broth, enhanced with fresh shiitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic for maximum flavor.  Julienned eggplant stands in for long, soft, slurpy noodles in the broth.

Stay Warm!

(This post originally appeared in December 2017; post and photos have been updated.)

Sylvie

Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she’s been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.