Want to Eat More Protein in 2025? Don’t Forget About Soup!

There’s not much that sounds better in the winter season than a cup of warm, homemade soup. I believe that soup is highly underestimated and often looked at as simply a side dish. In reality, soup can be a great meal that helps you meet your protein goals!

I lean on soup heavily throughout the winter months as a quick and easy way to round out my weekly meal plan. Here are a few reasons you should consider adding soup into your routine:

Soup is incredibly versatile. Once you know how to formulate a nutrient dense soup that will keep you satiated you can easily change the ingredients and flavors to your liking. There are truly endless possibilities with this simple dish!

I also find that soup provides an easy way to incorporate more seasonal foods into your diet. Curious which foods are currently in season? I did a deep dive on this in my Winter Wellness article a few weeks ago. You can catch up on that here!

Lastly, soup tends to be a budget-friendly, time-saving meal that can help you stretch your grocery budget and save you time in the kitchen. You can put all of the ingredients together in just a few minutes and let simmer until you’re ready to eat. To reduce food waste, I almost always double my soup recipes and freeze extras for later when I need a quick lunch or don’t feel like cooking dinner.

While there are many positives, I often see soup recipes that aren’t macronutrient balanced. If not formulated properly, soup can quickly turn into a high-calorie, low-nutrition side dish (we’re looking at you, broccoli cheddar soup). Unfortunately, if you scroll Pinterest or Google you’ll typically find soup recipes that are high in fats and low in protein.

During my time as a dietician, I’ve perfected my soup by following a formula to make any soup a macro balanced, nutrient dense main course.

My Formula for a Macro Balanced Soup

1. Use high-quality bone broth as a base to your soup. You can add a significant amount of protein to each serving of your soup simply by using chicken or beef bone broth as the base.
2. Protein, protein, protein! Make sure you are actively including sources of protein like meat, beans or lentils.
3. Don’t skip the healthy fats! Bone broth as the base to your soup may also serve this purpose. High-quality sour cream or cheese as toppings works well with some variations.
4. Add lots of vegetables! Almost any vegetable works well in soup. 
5. Customize with herbs to your liking. Using fresh or dried herbs is an easy way to change the flavor of your soup as well as sneak in additional micronutrients.

Meal Prep Member Favorites

To give you an idea of how nutrient dense soups can really be, here are a few favorites from inside my meal prep membership!

Beef Cabbage Soup (per serving, approx 2 cups)

• 390 calories
• 23g fat
• 18g carbs
• 26g protein
• 5g fiber

A favorite among my meal plan members, it can be easily customized to your taste while still working towards your protein goals.

Beef & Bean Minestrone (per serving, approx 1.5 cups)

• 416 calories
• 14g fat
• 35g carbs
• 35g protein
• 10g fiber

With 35 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber in every serving, my minestrone soup keeps you full, satiated and on track with your macronutrients.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Black Bean Taco Soup

I’m finishing this by sharing a full recipe that was just recently featured on one of my winter menus for my meal prep membership! I can’t wait to hear what you think. Interested in more delicious recipes like these every week? Join the waitlist to be the first to know when registration opens in March!