The best thing about winter and the cooler months is cooking up healthy, hearty soups! Nothing beats the aroma of a soup simmering on the stove waiting to warm you up. Below, you'll find our favourite hearty soups to enjoy this season and 6 tips for making the perfect soup!
Tips for making a tasty soup
1. Soup is a great way to eat more vegetables. The Australian Dietary Guideline recommends 5 serves of vegetables a day. Did you know dried or canned legumes including beans and lentils count towards your 5 serves of vegetables a day? So add them to your soup!
2. If blending soup in a food processor or blender, allow it to cool slightly and process it in batches or the steam may build up and explode.
3. Soup will stay hotter for longer if you ladle it into warm bowls. Just fill the bowls with boiling water until you’re ready to serve.
4. Swap your lunchtime salads for soup. Simply add some chopped vegetables and canned legumes to a pot of stock to simmer until tender and you’ll have dish that will keep for several days in the fridge. Then just heat in the microwave, too easy!
5. Soups are an easy dish to make in large batches so double the recipes and freeze leftover soup in portions in the freezer for up to 3 months for those cooler nights when you don’t have time to cook.
6. Stock up on soup mixes and dried legumes in the pantry. Using legumes in your soups add protein helping keep you feeling fuller for longer. Soup mixes are generally made up of a combination of dried legumes and grains like peas, lentils, beans and barley.