Some people think soup can’t possibly be served as a meal. However, soup can be a wonderfully versatile meal that can be served as a starter or a main course. Not to mention the fact that soups are a very high source of nutrition when packed with high-quality protein and vegetables.It's true that most soups are low in calories but high in nutrients.

The fact that soup’s low in calories doesn’t have to mean that it’s low in flavour or that it’ll leave you feeling dissatisfied after eating it. In fact, creating delicious soups using healthy soup ingredients should be the exact opposite! Calorie-dense foods like beans, lentils, brown rice, quinoa, and other whole grains can all be added to soup for extra fibre and protein. In this article, we give you some ideas on how to do more with soup, to create healthy, filling soups that the family will devour. We also give you some soup-spiration for recipes to try at home.

How To Make Soup More Filling and Healthier?

By adding good-quality, high-nutrition foods to soups, you can ensure that the soup you serve is both filling and nutritiously dense. You can get creative when it comes to soup recipes too, adding anything from meat and chicken to seafood and beans to take it from basic, to more wow! Packing soup with whole grains, leafy greens, and high-nutrition vegetables also works as healthy fillings for soup that also add flavour.

Two things to remember when creating healthy soups that are filling – don’t forget the stock and don’t forget the flavour. Adding nutritious and tasty stock pots from Knorr will help bring layers of dense, delicious flavours into your filling soups.

Healthy Ingredients to Make Your Soup More Filling:

Wondering what ingredients to add to a soup? Well, the sky is the limit. Soups can work perfectly with leftovers from a weekend braai, or even anything you’ve got in the vegetable rack mixed to perfection. There are three ingredients that add a punch to soups, making them more nutritious and more flavourful too. Gone are the days of boring vegetable soup, now is the time to get creative with ingredients and bold with flavour when it comes to healthy filling soup recipes.

Whole Grains

Adding whole grains to soups will make soups thicker, more filling and more nutritionally dense. Great whole grains to add to soups include barley, bulgur wheat, rice and even smaller grains like amaranth and quinoa.

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens pack a huge punch when it comes to nutrition, and they can also help to thicken a soup. Greens like spinach, kale and Swiss chard work wonderfully in soups and because you’re blending the ingredients down to a liquid, in the end, it’s also a great way to hide those veggies from the fussy eaters in the family.

Meats and Seafood

When it comes to soup, no matter what kind of meat you love, you can add it to soups. The trick to adding meats to soups to create the best flavour is to grill or cook the meat or fish first. Grilled lamb chops, cooked boerewors, spicy grilled chicken, and seafood like prawns and shrimp, are great protein options to add to soup bases to make them more filling.

The Most Filling Soup Recipes

We’ve chosen a few filling soup recipes to share with you, to give you some soup-spiration on how to create flavour-packed, high-nutrition soups that will fill bellies. The hero of all of these dishes is the Knorr stock pots and sauces, which bring fresh, full flavours to every meal.

• Warm Winter Bone Soup
• Butter Chicken Soup
• Creamy Chakalaka Soup with Biltong

With every soup meal, consider serving it with warm bread and salted butter to help the hungrier in the family feel fuller. Warmed ciabatta rolls or even garlic bread pair very well with most soups. For more recipes and other great mealtime ideas, visit What’s For Dinner today.