Quick & Cozy: 18 Soup Recipes for Busy Weeknights

You don’t have to stand over a simmering pot for hours to make a delicious, comforting soup. Each of these 18 recipes comes together in around 20 minutes, proving that you can have a quick and satisfying meal without sacrificing comfort or flavor. They’re perfect for busy weeknights, work-from-home lunches or anytime you want a cozy bowl without the wait.

Fiery & Flavorful

Kimchi Ramen

Inspired by shin ramyun and kimchi soondubu jjigae, this single-serving recipe cooks ramen noodles in a fiery red broth of kimchi, gochujang, sesame oil, soy sauce and gochugaru. To mitigate some heat, soft or silken tofu and an egg are added. Leafy greens or broccoli can also be included for added vegetables.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

This velvety soup highlights the fudginess of black beans with cocoa powder, while salsa verde adds tartness. Leftover soup can be transformed into refried beans, topped with a chile-fried egg for a novel meal.

Thai-Inspired Coconut Curry Soup With Vegetables

This vegetarian red curry is spicy, creamy, and customizable. It’s recommended to use a hearty vegetable like sweet potato, carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, or winter squash, alongside a crisp one like snow peas, bok choy, edamame, or green beans for a mix of textures.

Classic Comforts, Simplified

Quick Pasta e Fagioli

This simplified version of the hearty Italian soup of pasta and beans relies on pantry staples: a can of tomatoes, two cans of white beans, chicken broth and short pasta. It skips tedious chopping and sautéing, building a savory base with bacon (or pancetta) and garlic.

Quick Chicken and Dumplings

Inspired by chicken and dumplings, this recipe uses store-bought gnocchi and rotisserie chicken for a no-fuss approach. The ingredients simmer in a comforting broth of chicken stock and heavy cream seasoned with rosemary and thyme, along with leeks, carrots and celery.

Easy Pea Soup

A “regular near-instant meal,” this recipe involves sautéing sliced scallions in garlic oil, then adding frozen peas and stock until tender. Once cooled slightly, it’s blended with grated Parmesan cheese until smooth.

Tom Yum Soup With Tofu and Vermicelli

This vegetarian take on the Thai hot and sour soup is described as “super comforting and delicious.” The addition of vermicelli and tofu makes it a substantial dish.

Elegant & Easy

Chicken and Mushroom Soup With Spinach

This recipe packs in protein with ground chicken and quinoa. The soup gets its flavor from garlic, ginger, cumin, crushed red pepper and ground dark-meat chicken. Frozen or fresh sliced mushrooms add umami and a meaty texture.

Somen Noodle Soup With Mushrooms

This mushroom soup feels elegant enough for a date-night dinner, but comes together in less than half an hour. The broth is umami-packed with soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions and shiitakes, and is topped with a poached egg.

West Lake Beef Soup

This fast-cooking Chinese soup features a harmony of textures: velvety, ginger-infused broth, delicate egg ribbons, chewy shiitake mushrooms, silky tofu and pillowy ground beef.

Unexpectedly Quick

Avgolemono Chicken Soup With Gnocchi

Inspired by the traditional Greek soup, this recipe is streamlined for busy weeknights. It replaces rice with store-bought gnocchi and uses rotisserie chicken. The soup gets its silky texture and bright flavor from whisking in egg yolks and lemon juice.

Wonton Soup

This speedy recipe for wonton soup uses bok choy in place of gai lan or choy sum to lend sweetness and color. One reader described it as “astronomically better than what you get at a restaurant.”

Pesto Chickpea Soup

Slicing two shallots is the most difficult part of this easy meal. It leans on pantry ingredients like store-bought pesto and canned chickpeas, with baby spinach added at the end for freshness.

Simple & Satisfying

Quick Fish Chowder With Hot Butter Crackers

Using a mandoline to speed up prep and cook time, this chowder uses half-and-half instead of heavy cream for a lighter broth. It’s topped with crushed saltines toasted in butter and hot paprika.

Easy Tomato and Stars Soup

This quick version of sopa de fideo calls for star-shaped stelline pasta, but any small pasta shape can be used. The miniature noodles are toasted in oil before cooking in a tomato-enriched chicken broth.

Perfect Instant Ramen

For Roy Choi, doctored instant ramen is a Korean American staple. Something magical happens when you add butter, an egg and two slices of American cheese to the noodles.

Tofu and Tomato Egg Drop Soup

This recipe takes the sweet, tangy and savory elements of stir-fried tomato and egg and turns them into a soup. It’s described as hitting the “salt-acid-heat scale perfectly.”

Spring Minestrone With Kale and Pasta

This gingery minestrone is super flexible. Green vegetables can be swapped depending on what’s on hand, and any short pasta can be used. It can be finished with pesto, Parmesan, tapenade, sour cream, ricotta or hot sauce.

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