20 Low Sodium Soup Recipes

68mg sodium · 385 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Most boxed broth gets its savory depth from salt. This one gets it from a roasted chicken carcass, apple cider vinegar, ginger and a bay leaf, simmered slowly until the bones give up their flavor on their own.

The long simmer is the whole method, so there's very little to do beyond waiting. Drink it on its own or use it as the base for anything further down this page, and you begin with 68mg.

79mg sodium · 45 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Canned chicken noodle soup routinely runs past 800mg a cup, and almost none of that is doing anything for the taste. This version starts from plain water rather than stock, then layers in onion, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, sage and bay leaves until the pot has the savory base that salt would normally supply.

Shredded cooked chicken breast and whole grain no-yolk noodles go in near the end, which keeps the noodles firm instead of letting them swell into the broth. Ready in three quarters of an hour, and each bowl has only 79mg.

89mg sodium · 35 minutes start to finish · serves 10

Green lentils are what make this one work. They thicken the pot on their own and add an earthy background flavor, so there's no need for a salty stock or a roux to give it body.

Chicken, zucchini, carrot and celery cook down on the stovetop with no-salt-added tomato paste and thyme. It's the fastest big-batch recipe here, feeding ten in a little over half an hour at 89mg a serving.

130mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 6

A jarred Mediterranean sauce leans on olives, capers and brine for its punch. This one takes a slower route, roasting eggplant, zucchini, fennel and red onion first so their sugars concentrate, then adding chicken breast on the stovetop.

Roasting is what buys the flavor here, and it also pushes the fiber up to a level most stews don't reach. An hour of work, and the sodium lands at 130mg.

240mg sodium · 30 minutes start to finish · serves 8

If you want soup that works as a hearty meal rather than a starter, this is the one to reach for, with shredded roasted chicken and cooked quinoa going into reduced-sodium broth alongside diced tomatoes, cumin, celery and carrot. Starting from already-cooked chicken and quinoa is what makes it quick, and it means the protein arrives without any brining or seasoning packet. Half an hour on the stovetop, with 240mg a bowl.

260mg sodium · 40 minutes start to finish · serves 6

Here's a second take on the classic, built for people watching more than one number. Unsalted chicken broth, chicken breast, egg noodles, carrot, celery and a heavy hand with black pepper do the work, and simmering the chicken directly in the broth means the meat seasons the liquid rather than the other way round.

It's on the table in forty minutes at 260mg. Anyone managing kidney disease should check the potassium and phosphorus figures against their own lab values before adding it to a regular rotation.

90mg sodium · 30 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Condensed tomato soup from a can is one of the saltiest things in the aisle. This version roasts fresh Roma tomatoes with fennel, carrot, celery and garlic, then blends them with no-salt-added tomato juice and unsalted vegetable stock.

Maple syrup and balsamic vinegar go in at the end, which is what balances the acidity that salt would normally soften. Half an hour from start to finish, at 90mg.

100mg sodium · 35 minutes start to finish · serves 6

Where the tomato soup leans sweet and bright, this one goes warm and spiced. Ginger, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, curry powder and cayenne do the seasoning, with golden raisins and honey rounding off the heat.

Chickpeas and carrots simmer in that spice base on the stovetop, and a spoonful of Greek yogurt finishes each bowl. Fiber is high for this vegetarian dish, and the sodium sits at 100mg.

244mg sodium · 105 minutes start to finish · serves 6

Anyone cooking for a vegan household will love this one. Cubed eggplant, green pepper, carrot and two cans of chickpeas cook down with smoked paprika, coriander, oregano and cinnamon.

Roasting the eggplant first is what stops it turning watery, and it deepens the whole pot. It asks for the longest hands-off stretch in this section and delivers more fiber per serving than anything else on the page, with 244mg sodium.

248mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 6

Dried black beans rather than canned are the reason this one comes in where it does. Canned beans arrive already salted, and rinsing only takes off so much.

Onion, garlic, jalapeño, chili powder, cumin and oregano go in with the beans and water, and lime juice brightens it at the end. An hour on the stovetop gives you a thick, smoky pot at 248mg.

290mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 8

This recipe has less than half the sodium a restaurant bowl usually delivers. Thanks to Swiss chard, potato, carrot, celery, fresh tomatoes and cannellini beans, there's enough rich flavor going on that no one reaches for the salt. Everything simmers together in vegetable broth for an hour, which lets the chard soften into the liquid. Calories stay low for something this filling, and the sodium finishes at 290mg.

115mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Traditional chowder relies on bacon, butter and a salty stock base. Here the sweetness of whole kernel corn does the heavy lifting, with potato giving the body that cream would usually provide.

Celery, onion, garlic and green pepper are cooked down first, then paprika, cayenne and fresh thyme season the pot. An hour on the stovetop, and each bowl contains only 115mg.

141mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Leeks are the ingredient that makes this work, adding a mild sweetness that onions can't quite match and showing up without any help from salt. Cauliflower, leeks, shallots and a russet potato are roasted and then blended with reduced-sodium vegetable broth and a little coconut milk. It's the lightest bowl here, and it contains 141mg.

156mg sodium · 45 minutes start to finish · serves 4

Canned pumpkin purée sounds like a shortcut that would cost you, but the no-salt-added kind has almost nothing, which makes it one of the easier bases to build on. Cumin seeds, nutmeg and allspice are toasted in oil first to wake them up, then the purée, broth and a little honey and lime go in. Three quarters of an hour for a small batch, at 156mg.

257mg sodium · 60 minutes start to finish · serves 12

Low salt doesn't mean flat flavor! Turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and crushed red pepper drive this recipe, and coconut milk softens the heat rather than dulling it.

Cauliflower, sweet onion and bell peppers are roasted before blending, which is what gives the finished soup its body without any flour or cream. It makes the biggest batch on the page and comes in at 257mg.

271mg sodium · 90 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Three tablespoons of fresh ginger go into this pot, which tells you where the flavor is coming from, and sweet potatoes add their own sugars while cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice fill in around them. The sweet potatoes simmer in low-sodium chicken broth until they collapse, then everything is blended smooth with a little soy creamer. An hour and a half of mostly hands-off cooking, at 271mg.

297mg sodium · 75 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Two whole heads of cauliflower are roasted with garlic and shallots before anything else happens, and that roasting is what turns a bland vegetable into something with enough character to stand alone.

Vegetable broth, water and a little 1% milk blend it to a velvety texture with no cream at all, and a bay leaf, thyme and nutmeg finish it. Calories are the lowest of any bowl here, and the sodium sits at the top of our range at 297mg.

153mg sodium · 120 minutes start to finish · serves 8

Lean stew beef is dusted with flour, pepper and paprika rather than a salty seasoning mix, then browned to build the base. Mushrooms, celery and onion follow, along with low-sodium beef broth and a bay leaf.

Pearl barley, carrots, turnips and potato go in for the long simmer, thickening the pot as the barley releases its starch. Two hours of mostly waiting delivers 30g protein a serving at 153mg.

165mg sodium · 235 minutes start to finish · serves 6

If you'd rather set it going and walk away, the slow cooker is your best friend, with beef stew meat, Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic going in alongside unsalted beef broth. The long low heat is what tenderizes a cheap cut without any help from salt or a packet mix. Nearly four hours start to finish, and each serving has 165mg. (Note: if you don't have a slow cooker, the recipe includes how to make this stew on the stovetop, too!)

184mg sodium · 30 minutes start to finish · serves 10

Chicken sausage is normally a sodium problem, and this recipe handles it by using two links across ten servings rather than one per person, which is enough to season the whole pot.

Low sodium cannellini beans, no-salt-added tomatoes, unsalted chicken broth, cellentani pasta and fresh vegetables round it out on the stovetop. It feeds the largest group of any stew here in just half an hour, at 184mg.