All About Soups, Stews, and Chili

Many food historians state that soup may be just as old as cooking itself. And as human lifestyles have evolved, soup has evolved with us. 

From plain broths and hearty stews to chilled gazpachos and purees, there’s a soup for every season.

And while soups can be a great way to incorporate more vegetables and healthy proteins, they can also be surprisingly high in calories, fat, and sodium.

Let’s talk about the different types of soups out there and how to choose a healthier soup option when dining out or making it from scratch.

Different Types of Soup 

Technically, there are 2 categories of soup — clear soups and thick soups — plus 6 subcategories.

Clear Soups

Clear soups are easily digestible, and require less gastric stimulation, and may reduce nausea. This is why they’re often recommended when you’re recovering in the hospital or not feeling well.

There are three types of clear soups: bouillons, broths, and consommé.

Bouillons and broths are generally interchangeable as they’re both made from water that’s been simmered with bones, meat, fish and/or vegetables.

Consommé is a bit fancier as it’s made by simmering together bouillon, broth, or stock, ground meats, mirepoix (chopped celery, onion and carrots), tomatoes, and egg whites. 

Thick Soups

As for thick soups, many of us are familiar with bisques and creams.

Bisques are thick, creamy soups that typically include shellfish. For example, lobster bisque or seafood bisque.

Cream soups are also thick, but are made from a variety of ingredients like broccoli, mushroom, or chicken.

These soups are made by simmering broth with ingredients like the ones just mentioned. Then, to help the mixture thicken, a roux that’s been thinned with milk or cream is added in.

Potage is a dish from Northern France that includes a variety of vegetables that are boiled together. The mixture is then blended into a thick consistency using a regular or immersion blender.

Stews and Chili 

Technically, stews and chili are not classified as soups.

Soups are primarily liquid with some solid ingredients. They’re also typically served as a starter or side dish to a meal, rather than the main entree.

In contrast, stews tend to be thicker with bigger pieces of ingredients (such as stew meat or chopped vegetables) and less liquid. Unlike soups, stews are often served as an entree.

Chili is considered to be part of the stew family, but is often served as either an appetizer or main entree.

Nutritional concerns about soup 

The main nutritional concerns when it comes to soups is that they can be high in sodium and saturated fat. However, there are ways to make healthier options.

Ordering soup at a restaurant

As restaurants typically make their soups ahead of time, it’s unlikely that you’re able to ask for a soup to be made with less salt.

While you can’t control the sodium, you can make lower-fat choices by opting for a broth-based soup rather than a thick and creamy soup.

However, you can try asking the server if there are any lower-sodium soups available, or see if any soups on the menu have a salt shaker logo next to them, which indicates that it’s lower in sodium.

Canned soups

For canned soup, the key is reading the nutrition label closely. In particular, you want to look at the sodium and saturated fat content of the item.

To choose a low-sodium, or low saturated fat option, look at the Percent Daily Values (%DV) on the right hand side of the label.

If a nutrient is 5% or less, that is considered a low value. In contrast, if a nutrient is 20% or more of the DV, that is considered a high value.

So for example, Campbell’s Well Yes Chicken Noodle Soup per 1 cup serving has 28% of the DV for sodium, 3% of the DV for total fat, 3% of the DV saturated fat, and 7% of the DV cholesterol.

This means that this soup is high in sodium, low in total and saturated fat, and moderate in cholesterol.

Homemade soups

For homemade soups, it’s a bit easier to make them healthy as you can reduce the sodium by using a low-sodium broth and limit how much salt you add into the soup.

To help reduce the saturated fat, try swapping out the heavy cream for a lower-fat option, such as evaporated milk, 2% milk, or a non-dairy alternative.

5 Tricks for Making a Healthier Pot of Soup 

1. Use bone broth instead of regular broth

Bone broth is an amazing alternative to regular meat broth. 

Both regular and bone broth involve simmering water with vegetables and herbs for several hours, and then straining the broth at the end.

Bone broth differs in that it always includes bones (sometimes with the meat still attached) in the simmering broth. It’s also simmered for longer, usually more than 24 hours compared to 45 min to 2 hours for regular broths.

When making bone broth, many recipes recommended adding very little salt – or no salt at all. This makes it a more versatile base for various soup and stew recipes that you might use it in.

Due to the combination of boiling bones for a long period of time and using less salt when cooking, bone broth tends to have more protein and less sodium than regular broth.

However, sodium-wise bone broths often have about the same amount as a regular low-sodium broth.

When buying bone broth at the store, be sure to double check the nutrition label as some brands will add additional sodium as a preservative.

Scared by the sticker price of store-bought bone broth? Make your own at home! Homemade bone broth is a budget-friendly way to put any leftover chicken bones from dinner to good use!

2. Refrigerate and skim

This is one of my favorite cooking tricks for making soup lower in fat.

When you make a homemade stock and then place it in the fridge to cool, the fat will clump together and rise to the top. This makes it really easy to skim this excess fat out of your broth!

Here are more details on how to do this:

1. Fill a large pot with water, then add vegetables (onions, carrots, celery), chicken, beef or fish bones, pepper and herbs.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil and then let simmer for at least 45 min and up to 2 hrs.
3. Skim off any foam that rises to the top of the pot and then strain the stock to remove any bones, vegetables or herbs.
4. Transfer the stock to a large storage bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, place the stock in the fridge to cool even more.
5. As it cools, solid fat will rise to the top for you to skim off. What you have left is a delicious stock to make your soups.

For meal prepping, I recommend making a big pot of homemade soup stock on the weekend and freeze the extra for a later date!

3. Utilize Herbs and Spices Rather Than Salt

Instead of flavoring your soup with added salt, try using fresh and dried herbs and spices. 

Bay leaves, basil leaves, thyme, rosemary, and garlic all add a great depth of flavor to soups.

If you have leftover fresh herbs, you can chop them (by hand or in a food processor) and then pack them into an ice cube tray to freeze for future soups and stews.

4. Bulk up your soup with whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins

To make your soup or stew more filling, add fiber and protein.

Whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, farro, barley, along with any vegetable can add a nice boost of fiber to keep you satisfied for longer. 

If you’re concerned about your grains getting soggy or soaking up too much of the liquid, cook the grains separately and add them to individual servings rather than into the big pot of soup.

Protein is also importat for keeping you full. However, some proteins can also be high in saturated fat. Opt for lean proteins that are low in saturated fat, like chicken, turkey, venison, and 90% lean beef.

Beans, peas, and lentils are also great additions to soups as they provide both fiber and lean protein. Plus, they go well in stews, broth-based soups, and thick soups.

5. Add Evaporated Milk Instead of Heavy Cream

To reduce the fat content of your creamy soup, switch out cream for evaporated milk.

Two tablespoons of evaporated milk provides 40 calories, 2g of fat, 1.5g of saturated fat, 10mg of cholesterol, and 2g of protein.

In comparison, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream provides 100 calories, 10g of fat, 6g of saturated fat, and 40mg of cholesterol.

Three Healthy Soup Recipes 

Hungry? These three soup recipes are delicious additions to your fall and winter menus.

1. “Creamy” Butternut Squash Soup 

The reason why creamy is in quotations is because there’s actually no cream or dairy in this recipe!

Using an immersion blender or food processor, this butternut squash soup uses blended butternut squash and potatoes to mimic the creaminess of heavy cream.

One serving provides 136 calories, 3.5 g fat, 0.5 g sat fat, 0 mg cholesterol,  440 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, and 4 g protein. 

To make this soup a full meal, serve it alongside a salad or pair it with half a sandwich.

2. Turkey Chili 

To me, chili season is starts when the leaves start changing and football is on TV.

I’m always looking for different, protein-packed chili recipes to make on football Sundays. And let me tell you, this recipe is always a hit!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound extra lean ground turkey or chicken
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 28-ounce can low sodium crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/4 cups chicken or turkey bone broth
• 15-ounce can low sodium red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 
• 2 cups frozen sweet corn or a 15-ounce can of corn, rinsed and drained

1. Place the oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
2. Add in the onion, and garlic and saute for about 6 minutes. Make sure you’re stirring frequently so the onion and garlic don’t burn.
3. Next, add in the ground poultry. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. 
4. Next add in the chili powder, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Stir for about 30 seconds.
5. Then, add in the tomatoes, chicken or turkey bone broth, kidney beans, chickpeas, and corn. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
6. Lastly, garnish with your favorite toppings. Mine are low fat cheddar cheese, plain greek yogurt, and Trader Joe’s Corn Dippers (which are similar to Fritos other brand corn chips).

If you want to use a slow-cooker, brown the poultry with the onions and garlic before adding them into the slow cooker. You’ll also need to reduce the amount of chicken or turkey bone broth to about ½ cup.

I prefer to cook it on low for 6 to 8 hours, but you can also set your slow cooker on high and cook for 4 hours.

This recipe provides about 9 (1-cup) servings.

Each 1 cup serving provides 315 calories, 7g of fat, 304mg of sodium, 28g carbohydrates, 8g of fiber, 3g of sugar, and 22g of protein. 

3. Slow-Cooker Minestrone Soup 

As a big pasta fan, I love minestrone soup.  

This recipe from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is family friendly and packed with important nutrients.

I also love that it’s made in a slow-cooker, as all you have to do is throw in the ingredients, set the timer, and then continue on with the rest of your day. 

When you try this recipe, make sure to pair with your favorite whole grain dinner roll to dip in the soup! 

The Bottom Line 

When the weather gets cold, soups and stews tend to be lunch and dinner staples.

And while some options can be high in sodium and saturated fat, there are plenty of healthier ways to enjoy your favorite soups and stews.

We just need to be conscious of our ingredients, and our cooking techniques.

What is your favorite fall or winter soup or stew? Tell us in the comments below!

And don’t forget to use the bar code scanner on your Lose It App to help decide between canned soups at the grocery store!