As winter sets in, we look for warmth in hearty, gut-sticking comfort foods and piping hot soups and stews.
Many of our favorite winter soups are loaded with beans, which pair excellently with proteins and provide the heft necessary to thicken a basic stock. Our white bean and ham hock soup is topped with lacinato kale, while our Portuguese chickpea stew adds carrots, potatoes, and butternut squash to a meaty base of sausage, lamb, pork, and veal.
Adding pasta is another way to bulk up a winter soup—think Karfiolleves, a paprika-spiced cauliflower soup from Hungary. Then there are the stews: boeuf bourguignonne is a classic French recipe that cooks beef down in wine and nestles it in a pot packed with onions, mushrooms, and carrots.
Ready to get started? From Thai boat noodle soup to Dominican cream of pumpkin soup, these are our favorite winter soup and stew recipes.
The recipe for this garlicky bread soup comes from Rosa Filipe of O Barro restaurant in Redondo, Portugal, who claims it is nicknamed “beggar’s soup” because it contains no meat or fish. Get the recipe for Bread and Garlic Soup with Cilantro »
“Spices have always fascinated me. I collect them from all over the world,” says Giorgia Goggi, who accents this soup with Middle Eastern sumac and Indian garam masala. If you can’t find fresh yellow tomatoes, red will work just as well. Yellow Tomato Soup with Lamb Meatballs, Yogurt, and Mint »
Adapted from Trattoria Sostanza, a Florentine institution, this prosciutto-and-cheese-stuffed pasta is served in a simple chicken broth. Get the recipe for Tortellini in Broth »
Hungarian chef Andrea Németh mixes sour cream with flour before adding it to this paprika-spiced lamb and vegetable soup. It thickens the soup and prevents the cream from curdling. Get the recipe for Lamb Soup With Sour Cream (Palócleves) »
Get the recipe for Sri Lankan Fish Curry »
This recipe for paprika-spiced cauliflower soup comes from chef Andrea Németh at the restaurant Bagolyvár in Budapest. To form the tiny dumplings, called galuska, she simply drops bits of dough into the simmering broth. Get the recipe for Paprika-Spiced Cauliflower Soup (Karfiolleves) »
Eaten hot or cold, vegetarian or with shreds of beef, enriched with a dollop of sour cream and wisps of dill, this beet-based soup is the quintessence of good Eastern European cooking. Get the recipe for Classic Borscht»
