Between the slush, gray skies, poorly heated office buildings, and inevitable prat-fall-style slips on patches of icy sidewalk that leave both our butts and our souls bruised, winter is tough, man. Whether you dread the months between December and March, or you’re the rare kind of person that looks forward to heavy snowfalls and big coats, you’re going to want hearty soups to warm you—and your kitchen—up throughout the coldest days of the year. Dig your Dutch ovens and stock pots out of the cabinet because it’s soup season, suckers.
Wonton Soup Recipe
Sure, pre-made wonton wrappers and chicken broth would work in this soup, but we might be a little disappointed in you. Just kidding, you do you. Whether you go fully homemade or just partially, these pork wontons with chicken stock will keep you cozy, and the chili oil helps, too.
Videos by VICE
Easy Saimin Recipe
What goes into this classic Hawaiian soup is pretty simple—noodles, fishcakes, a little beef if you’ve got it—but what really makes it special is the from-scratch broth of pork and chicken. Why buy bone broth when you can just sip this?
Vegan Squash and Coconut Soup Recipe
Coconut milk doesn’t just add creaminess to this vegan squash soup; it also perfectly balances the heat from Thai chiles, ginger, and cayenne pepper. The result is just warm enough for a winter night.
Pozole Rojo Recipe
Don’t let the cooking time scare you—the Mexican soup called pozole is easy to prepare, but it needs time to build flavor and make the pork pull-apart tender. It’s worth it, too, because there’s nothing better when you’re sick or woefully hungover.
Easy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
You could dump some soup out of a carton, nuke it, and call it a day, or you could take control of your culinary journey and learn some essential cooking steps, like making your own vegetable broth for this easy pumpkin soup.
Chickpea and Pork Soup Recipe
Ruth Rogers of London’s River Café is known for elevating simple ingredients to something out of this world, and this pork belly and chickpea soup is testament to that.
Garlic and Salt Cod Soup Recipe
Instead of using salted and dried cod, chef Alex Raij used a quick-cure method with fresh cod, by salting it and then pressing it to draw out the moisture. This Basque-inspired soup is finished by swirling an egg yolk into each bowl right before eating, because who doesn’t love a runny yolk?
Crispy Turkey Thighs with Chestnut Soup Recipe
Top Chef alum Michael Voltaggio showed us how to get chef-y with turkey. Serve crispy-skinned thighs with a pureed chestnut soup garnished with bacon bits, and it’s proof that turkey isn’t just for the holidays.
Matzo Ball Soup Recipe
This frozen hellscape is going to last longer than just a few days, so go ahead and make a big batch of this matzo ball soup for Friday’s Shabbat, then keep yourself warm all weekend and do it all over again next week.
Easy Okra Stew Recipe
Okra’s good for more than just frying. This easy okra soup is loaded with kale, carrots, rice, and chickpeas for a wholesome vegetable stew that’ll truly stick to your ribs.
Korean Beef Brisket Stew Recipe
Fermented soy bean paste and dried anchovies pack this Korean beef stew with flavor. All you really have to do is a little chopping, and then you can let the whole thing simmer while you’re catching up on an episode of The Bachelor.
Bison Short Rib Stew Recipe
Snow days are for cooking something on the stove low and slow all afternoon, and there really is no other way than that to make a good stew. This is Matty Matheson’s basic stew recipe, but you can swap any hearty, fatty protein for the bison if that’s not your meat of choice.
Classic Beef Stew Recipe
Everyone should have a good beef stew recipe in their back pocket. With red wine for flavor and bacon—because… well, who needs a reason to add bacon?—this one’s a no-nonsense classic to get you through the bleakest parts of the year.
Cockle Chowder Recipe
Cockles, which are little mollusks smaller than clams, are a bit of a pain to clean, but the flavor they add to the pumpkin and tomato broth in this seafood chowder makes it all worth it.
Cod Chowder Recipe
The secret to a great seafood chowder, as Matty Matheson tells us, is a slow-simmered homemade fish stock. You can watch Matty filet a whole cod and use the bones to make stock in this clip from IT’S SUPPERTIME!
Spicy Gargon Soup Recipe
According to Star Wars canon, Han Solo and Chewbacca once raided a highly guarded spice vault on the planet Gargon. The lemongrass and ginger in this brothy Star Wars-inspired soup is an ode to all that forbidden spice. Cue up Episode IV while it simmers away.
Sopa de Pollo (Nicaraguan Chicken Soup) Recipe
Didn’t get a flu shot? This Nicaraguan chicken soup fortified with yucca, corn, zucchini, and cabbage will slowly breathe life back into your sad, sick self.
Green Garlic and Egg Drop Soup Recipe
If you’re worried that these frigid temperatures are wreaking havoc on your immune system, look no further than this egg drop soup from San Francisco chef Brandon Jew. It’s like a hybrid of garlic soup and chicken noodle, with some extra greens and eggs in there for good measure.
Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup) Recipe
If you make an extra large batch of this richly flavored Vietnamese beef stock, you can sip on it all weekend like a bone broth, which is basically just a drinkable blanket. Add noodles and beef and it’s a whole meal.
Spicy Bone Broth Recipe
Moving slightly west across the Indian Ocean, here’s a tasty Sri Lankan-inspired lamb bone broththat comes together in only an hour and is fortified with turmeric and chiles.
Chicken Soup in Pumpkin Shells Recipe
Laurie Cabot is probably the most high-profile witch in America, and this is how she and her coven celebrate the pagan holiday Samhain, the precursor to the Christian Halloween. You don’t have to serve this chicken soup in a pumpkin, but why not treat yourself to some unseasonal festivity?
Quick Laksa Recipe
London-based Malaysian chef Mandy Yin’s signature laksa usually takes hours of labor to get right. Luckily, she shared her abbreviated version with us, using some time-savers like pre-made stock and packaged egg noodles.
Caldo de Brooklyn Recipe
Caldo gallego is a traditional Galician summer soup with a thin pork broth, sausage, greens, and white beans. Philly chef Jose Garces Brooklynized it using some produce from the MUNCHIES rooftop garden for a true caldo de Brooklyn.
Ghormeh Sabzi (Iranian Herb Stew) Recipe
The herby, tangy Iranian stew known as ghormeh sabzi will make your kitchen smell incredible while it simmers. Don’t forget to take some time to steam some rice to serve it with.
Easy Ribollita Recipe
Cook your bread into this ribollita soup, and then add some cheese and even more bread for dipping on the side. Pretty hard to argue with that.
Luck and Money Soup Recipe
Technically, you’re supposed to eat luck and money on New Year’s Day to reap the benefits, but make it throughout the winter and you might still get some lingering effects. You could use plain butter in this soup, but slow-roasting garlic to make your own garlic butter is absolutely worth it.
Cholent Recipe
Cholent is heavy and hearty like your favorite wool sweater or go-to cozy blanket. If you don’t keep kosher, you can use regular bouillon instead of Osem chicken soup seasoning in this classic Jewish comfort dish.
Chanko-Nabe Recipe
Chanko-nabe is a Japanese soup that’s loaded with meatballs and bok choy, and it’s a staple of the sumo wrestler’s diet. If it’s filling enough for a sumo wrestler, it’s good enough to get you through shoveling off your front stoop.
Egusi Stew
The seeds of the egusi melon have many uses in West African cooking, but they’re especially notable in egusi stew. This satisfying stew comes together in just 40 minutes, and bonus—it’s vegan.
Lobster and Crab Wonton Soup Recipe
Making your own curry paste for this spicy, sweet dumpling soup is totally worth it because it can be repurposed later for curries or to marinate meat, and it even keeps for a few weeks in the fridge.
Eggplant and Turnip Ramen Recipe
Chef Marcus Samuelsson recommends serving this earthy, smoky ramen with fried chicken, but we think it’d make a good snow day meal all on its own.
French Onion Soup Recipe
The cheesy toast at the top of a crock of French onion soup is what draws you in, but what keeps you around is the umami-packed beef broth hidden underneath.
Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
Follow along with our intrepid culinary director, Farideh Sadeghin, as she makes this delicious Italian wedding soup in this how-to video. Nobody has to be getting married to enjoy this weeknight-worthy soup.
Beef and Black Bean Soup Recipe
This hearty, flavorful beef and bean soup comes together in just 40 minutes, so you’ll be curled up on the couch ready for Netflix with a big bowl of Frito Pie-inspired flavors in no time.
Spicy Mussel and Lemongrass Noodle Soup Recipe
With so many aromatics in this broth—chiles, lemongrass, and ginger—this seafood noodle soup is the perfect restorative to a dull, gray winter day.
Mussel and Clam Chickpea Stew
If you’re a fan of seafood, you should know how to make a good seafood stew, the best way to eat shellfish when it doesn’t exactly feel like the season to slurp them up cold and raw. This version adds in some sausage and chickpeas for even more heft.
Easy Tomato Soup Recipe
It’s really not a proper tomato soup experience if you don’t have a grilled-cheese-type-thing to dip in it, so we made sure to include instructions on how to make the perfect cheesy toast, too.
Chicken and Greens Soup Recipe
Chicken noodle soup is great for when you have a cold, sure, but subbing in some baby spinach for extra nutritional benefit can’t hurt.
Leek, Potato, and Broccoli Cheese Soup
This cheesy soup is like a loaded baked potato, but one that you can serve in a bread bowl for extra cozy vibes.
Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe
This minestrone soup is hearty and simple, and with the pesto drizzled on top, the whole pot will disappear in minutes.
Chicken, Persian Lime, and Swiss Chard Soup Recipe
Nothing against your standard chicken noodle soup, but there are so many more directions that chicken soup can go. We’ve used white wine and Persian limes in this chicken soup for a bright, fresh complexity that sets it apart from your average sick day soup.
Matzo Ball Soup Recipe
Enjoy a nice bowl of this matzo ball soup from our friend Cara Nicoletti; then call your mother, she worries.
Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.
