How to Turn a Bowl of Soup into a Complete Meal

A few small additions turn your favorite soup recipe into something that keeps you full long after you leave the table.

A warm bowl of soup is one of the best things about cooler weather. It's easy to make, stretches whatever is left in the fridge, and fills the kitchen with a smell that makes people wander in to ask what's cooking.

The one issue is that as delicious as soup is, not every bowl is filling enough to count as a meal. Plenty of soups are mostly broth and vegetables, which may taste great at lunchtime only to send you hunting through the pantry an hour later. But a few additions can turn your favorite soup into a bowl with enough protein, fiber, and staying power to carry you through to your next meal.

These seven tips can turn soup into the main event rather than a starter or side dish, whether you're simmering a pot from scratch or doctoring up a can from the pantry.

Cream-based soups are delicious, but many are high in saturated fat and calories. Starting with broth keeps the bowl lighter and leaves more room for the ingredients that fill you up. Chicken, vegetable, and tomato bases all work well. Bone broth is worth a look, too. It adds a little protein and supplies collagen-derived amino acids, which your body uses as building blocks for connective tissue like skin and bone.

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Still want something creamy? Skip the heavy cream and use low-fat milk, blended beans, or pureed vegetables instead. Our Creamy Cauliflower Soup gets its velvety texture from two heads of blended cauliflower and 1% milk, and it comes in at just 79 calories a serving.

Vegetables add vitamins, minerals, fiber, and flavor to soup without adding many calories, and they give the bowl some bulk so it eats like a meal.

Toss in whatever you have on hand:

• Carrots
• Celery
• Spinach or kale
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Zucchini
• Butternut squash

Mixing colors is a simple way to get a wider range of nutrients into one pot.

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Protein is what makes soup stick with you. Without it, you'll be looking for something else to eat before the bowl is even in the dishwasher.

Good options include:

• Chicken or turkey
• Beans or lentils
• Tofu
• Edamame

Rotisserie chicken, canned beans, and cubed tofu all go in at the end, so this takes about a minute.

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Beans, lentils, and chickpeas deserve their own mention because they provide protein and fiber in the same scoop. Fiber slows digestion, which is a big part of why a bean-based soup keeps you full so much longer than a brothy one. They also thicken a soup as they cook, so you get a heartier texture without any cream.

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Whole grains add chew, fiber, and lasting energy. A half cup stirred into the pot is often the difference between a starter and a supper. Try:

• Barley
• Farro
• Brown rice
• Quinoa
• Whole wheat pasta

Cook grains separately and add them at serving time if you plan to freeze leftovers, since they soften as they sit.

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Canned and packaged soups are one of the biggest sources of sodium in the American diet, and too much sodium can raise blood pressure. Look for cans labeled "low sodium" or "no salt added."

When you cook at home, you have more control over how much salt is in your soup. Use low-sodium broth and build flavor with garlic, onions, black pepper, citrus, and fresh herbs instead of reaching for the salt shaker. If you want more ideas or need to know how to figure out what foods are actually low in sodium, our low sodium diet guidelines explain what the label terms actually mean.

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Sometimes a bowl of soup, although filling, is not quite enough to make into a meal on its own. A small side, like one of these, finishes the job so you leave the table feeling satisfied:

• A small green salad
• A whole grain roll or a few whole grain crackers
• Fresh fruit
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Half a sandwich made with turkey breast or tuna salad

Our healthy salad recipes and low sodium side dishes offer plenty of options that pair well with a bowl of soup.