The 30 Essential Soup Recipes for Fall

Here are 30 amazing fall soup recipes to deliver cozy warmth with all the fall vibes.

By
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara is a chef, culinary educator, and author of three cookbooks, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Tasting Ohio and The Fruit Forager's Companion. The latter won a 2019 IACP Cookbook Award.
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Updated November 09, 2024
Sara Bir
Bowl of buffalo chicken chili with toppings
Aaron Hutcherson

Soup is a fixture in my house all year long, but in the fall, soup feels especially right. The daylight is less abundant and time indoors increases. A big pot simmering on the stove not only adds a sense of hominess and comfort—it also often yields enough for leftovers, or to share with friends.

We have soups with pumpkin, sweet potato, and winter squash. We have steamy takes on chicken noodle. We have brothy soups and ones that flirt with stew status. Some need hours. And we also have ones that are ready from soup to nuts in fewer than 30 minutes. Bookmark what catches your eye and circle back soon to make it a reality. We promise you'll be glad you did.

  • French Onion Soup

    French Onion Soup

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    This is the most popular soup recipe on our site for a reason: it's better than anything you'd order at a restaurant, and pulling it off at home is empowering, like a magic trick. Just follow the directions and you'll be golden. The onions need plenty of time to caramelize, so plan accordingly.

  • White Bean and Bacon Soup

    A bowl of white Bean and Bacon Soup with a Dutch oven next to it
    Elise Bauer

    Start with dry beans to make this lazy weekend soup and it'll simmer away while you fold the laundry or relax with your favorite feed. Don't feel like messing with dried beans? We offer alternate directions for using canned ones.

  • Shrimp and Chorizo Chowder

    Bowl of Shrimp and Chorizo Chowder Topped with Parsley and Slices of Toasted Baguette

    Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

    The broth alone in this flavor-packed chowder will have you licking the bowl. It doesn't have a ton of ingredients, but they include some major power players: smoked paprika, Spanish chorizo, and succulent little shrimp. Be sure to have crusty bread for dipping.

  • Taco Soup

    Bowl of Stovetop Taco Soup Topped with Avocado Slices, Cotija Cheese, and Cilantro and Surrounded by Bowls of Toppings

    Simply Recipes / Marta Rivera Diaz

    Faces perk up when they discover taco soup is on the night's menu. The biggest win may be for the cook, since it's so easy to throw together. Double it for freeze-worthy leftovers.

    Continue to 5 of 30 below

  • Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)

    Yasmin Khan’s Lemon Chicken Soup in a bowl with a white linen underneath it.
    Alison Bickel

    How is this timeless Greek soup creamy without any dairy? Just before serving, you add tempered egg yolks. This version is a one-bowl dinner and especially packed with goodness, including chicken and kale.

  • Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup

    A bowl of roasted kabocha squash soup garnished with cilantro
    Elise Bauer

    Funky, knobby kabocha squash have the densest, richest flesh ever. Roasting one makes that flavor even deeper.

  • Butternut Squash Soup

    Spooning butternut squash soup out of a bowl.
    Cambrea Bakes

    The addition of an apple adds another subtle layer of sweetness to this simple soup. Sub vegetable stock to make it vegetarian. Readers love this soup and offer plenty of their own noteworthy spins in the comments.

  • Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup

    Two Bowls of Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup Garnished with Cilantro, Crema, and Jalapenos at a Table Setting with Two Spoons on a Table Napkin, Bowls of Toppings (Jalapenos, Lime Wedges, Cotija, and Crema), and Tortillas

    Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

    Get your enchilada action going on a weeknight when you make this easy, hearty soup.

    Continue to 9 of 30 below

  • Lasagna Soup

    Lasagna Soup in a Bowl With Noodles, Sausage, Ricotta, and Fresh Basil, and in the Surroundings, Another Bowl With All the Toppings, a Saucer With Basil Leaves, and a Blue and White Checkered Kitchen Towel

    Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

    Pish-posh, why labor over assembling and baking lasagna when that winning combo of flavors and textures is within reach just by making soup?

  • Pozole Rojo

    Pozole Rojo (Pork and Hominy Stew)
    Elise Bauer

    It's cheating to call this a soup, perhaps. This pozole is a delightful pork stew with a broth of earthy pureed dried chiles. You set out many little bowls of garnishes like chopped cilantro and sliced radishes, they way you would at taco night. But I'll go for pozole over tacos any day.

  • Creamy Tortellini Soup With Sausage and Spinach

    Bowl of easy homemade creamy tortellini soup with sausage, carrots, and spinach
    Alison Bickel

    Every time we share this recipe in one of our email newsletters, readers take note, make it at home, and leave glowing reviews. There's something eye-catching about it. More importantly, it's easy and sure to please the troops.

  • Instant Pot Chicken Soup

    Instant pot chicken noodle soup in a bowl with the instant pot in partial view behind it.
    Coco Morante

    Once you've made chicken soup from scratch, all other chicken soups pale in comparison. This recipe is my go-to. It's unfussy, with a thoroughly chicken-y broth that the boxed stuff can never approximate.

    Continue to 13 of 30 below

  • Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

    Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup in Three Bowls with Spoons, and Next to It, a Large Pot with More Soup and a Kitchen Linen

    Simply Recipes / Micah Siva

    Contributor Micah Silva took her Ukrainian grandmother's sweet and sour cabbage soup, a family favorite, and made it vegetarian. It's imminently appealing and adaptable: make it in a slow cooker, add beans, or simmer a beef shank in the pot. It's a refreshing change of pace from the standard cabbage soup.

  • Easy Carrot Soup

    Best Carrot Soup Recipe
    Nick Evans

    On nights when the fridge and cupboards are seemingly bare, you can likely pull off this pleasing soup. Serve it with crusty bread, or bake a loaf of quick soda bread to go with it.

  • The Best Tomato Soup

    Best Tomato Soup Recipe - bowls of tomato soup on table with bread
    Alison Bickle

    Making your own tomato soup takes little time and reaps large rewards. You know you need to make a grilled cheese sandwich to serve with it.

  • Chipotle Pumpkin Soup

    A bowl of Chipotle Pumpkin Soup garnished with pumpkin seeds, cilantro, and sour cream
    Elise Bauer

    Every year I drag home a little cooking pumpkin or two from the farmers market, and this is the ideal recipe for such impulse buys. You roast the halved pumpkin, scoop out the flesh, and season it with oregano, lime juice, and canned chipotles. It lets you enjoy a whole other side of pumpkin.

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  • Tom Yum

    A bowl of shrimp tom yum with cilantro, halved lime, and ginger nearby
    Aaron Hutcherson

    Thai dishes come from a balmy climate yet really hit the spot in temperate zones once the weather gets chilly. This soup is surprisingly fast to pull together and has bright flavors from lemongrass, ginger, fresh chiles, and lime. It's a cheater version for those of us in towns that don't carry hard-to-find ingredients like lime leaves.

  • Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

    A bowl of pureed sweet potato soup with a garnish of sour cream
    Elise Bauer

    This nuanced soup offers a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon without tasting like a Thanksgiving casserole. You basically cook a bunch of chunked-up vegetables together and then blitz the heck out of them, to impressive results.

  • Cream of Mushroom Soup

    Easy Cream of Mushroom Soup in a bowl
    Elise Bauer

    Despite its name, this cream of mushroom soup isn't laden with heavy dairy. Its body comes from tons of mushrooms that you puree with only a touch of cream. It's quite easy and surprisingly elegant. I like to add a touch of miso to mine.

  • Buffalo Chicken Chili

    Bowl of buffalo chicken chili with toppings
    Aaron Hutcherson

    Why settle for regular chili when you can electrify it with Buffalo sauce? We offer directions for the slow cooker and Instant Pot as well.

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  • Black Bean Soup

    Black Bean Soup in a bowl garnished with avocado and cilantro
    Elise Bauer

    This rich and satisfying black bean soup has chunks of sweet potato to liven it up. You can totally skip those if you don't have any around.

  • Stuffed Pepper Soup

    Bowl of stuffed pepper soup topped with cheese and some of the soup in a spoon being taken from the bowl, and in the surroundings, a table setting with a table napkin, another bowl of soup, and a small bowl of herbs

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayliss

    Stuffed pepper soup is a fixture of taverns and casual restaurants where I live. It's the sort of thing you'd never spy on a chain restaurant's menu, and it's so craveable. It's also super-easy to make at home. Don't tell—I prefer it to actual stuffed peppers.

  • Chicken Pot Pie Soup

    Bowl of chicken pot pie soup topped with toasted oyster crackers on a plate with a spoon and next to it, a pot with more chicken pot pie soup, a small bowl with more toasted oyster crackers, and mustard colored table napkin

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayliss

    Fumbling with pastry is the blockade between many a chicken pot pie lover and the reality of it on the table. Here's a solution everyone will embrace: a creamy soup made from rotisserie chicken and veggies. Top with seasoned oyster crackers if you want to go all the way, though a quick bake of boxed biscuit mix would totally suffice, too.

  • Hamburger Soup

    Serving of Easy Hamburger Soup in a bowl
    Megan Keno

    Everyone here at Simply Recipes LOVES this quick and easy soup. It's so easy and crowd-pleasing. I grew up eating hamburger soup from Crock Pots at dozens of church potlucks. But this recipe is leagues better. A splash of red wine adds depth (we have an alcohol-free suggestion if you don't have wine on hand). And the big chunks of colorful vegetables aren't just an afterthought.

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  • Egg Drop Soup

    Bowl of egg drop soup with a spoon

    Elise Bauer

    You can bring this soup together in about 15 minutes. That's less time than it takes to jump in the car and pick up takeout.

  • Easy Tuscan Bean Soup

    Tuscan Bean Soup
    Sheryl Julian

    Canned beans make this soup a breeze to assemble. It's the sort of soup you'd spot as Soup of the Day at a restaurant and want to order, but why not make a whole pot at home? Mash half of the beans to add body.

  • Mandu Guk (Korean Dumpling Soup)

    Overhead view of a bowl of beef soup with dumplings.

    Simply Recipes / Uyen Luu

    Making dumplings is a fun social activity, but it's not very feasible on a weeknight. Keep a stash or frozen dumplings on hand and you can whip up this soulful Korean soup on the fly.

  • Borscht

    A bowl of beef Borscht with sour cream and dill on top as a garnish
    Elise Bauer

    Beets. You love 'em or hate 'em. Borscht is perhaps the ultimate expression of beets in a recipe (according to...me). Takes on borsch abound all over Eastern Europe; some Ukrainian versions lack beets, in fact. This version clearly has them, as well as chunks of tender-simmered beef chuck. Serve it with rye bread.

    Continue to 29 of 30 below

  • Cheeseburger Soup

    Cheesy bacon cheeseburger soup in soup bowl and with spoon.

    Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

    A creamy and cheesy way to get some comfort.

  • Lentil Soup

    lentil soup

    Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas 

    Quick-cooking lentils make a wholesome, from-scratch homemade soup accessible on a weeknight.

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