When most people think of Thanksgiving, they picture turkey, dressing, pumpkin pies, sweet potatoes, and other rich, sweet, and savory dishes. They’re absolutely delicious and perfect as starters, light lunches, or warm dinners. Plus, with all the cooking most people do on Thanksgiving, simple soups are usually a nice change of pace. Of course, you’re not strictly limited to making these soups at Thanksgiving, either. These hearty, flavorful bowls are tasty any time of year, particularly in the cooler months.
20+ Thanksgiving Soup Recipes for the Festive Season
1. Pumpkin Soup
For most people, Thanksgiving (and fall in general) means pumpkins – lots and lots of pumpkins, for decorative purposes, in recipes, to make things smell good, and more. That’s why this creamy pumpkin soup is the ideal Thanksgiving soup. It’s warm, comforting, a lovely orange color, and full of pumpkin and herb yumminess.
2. Clam Chowder
Over the years, I’ve had clam chowder that was out of this world delicious. Clam chowder is a tricky soup to make, and you’ll have to get it just right, or it won’t come out as you planned. If you use this recipe, it’ll be perfect. It’s one of the best clam chowder recipes you’ll ever try and combines bacon, onions, potatoes, whole baby clams, and more. It’s creamy, buttery, and packed with umami flavor.
3. Potato Soup
If you’re looking for a thick, stick-to-your-ribs soup to warm up your belly on the coldest of winter nights, you’ll have to try this six-ingredient potato soup. It takes only 10 minutes to prepare. After that, you’ll leave it in the slow cooker for several hours until it’s just about perfect. Once you’re ready to eat it, top it off with cheese, bacon, and green onions for extra flavor.
4. Autumn Wild Rice Soup
This wild rice soup is perfect for those of us who like to cook for the season. You’ll fill it with seasonal veggies, tender mushrooms, and a generous portion of Old Bay seasoning. It’s an herby, earthy delight that tastes fantastic, especially when served with a thick chunk of crusty bread.
5. Turnip Soup
What do turnips, Granny Smith apples, potatoes, curry powder, and light cream have in common? They’re all ingredients in this delectable turnip soup! You’ll also use olive oil, onions, chicken (or veggie) broth, and salt, but that’s all it takes to make this creamy, 30-minute soup. It has a mild but delicious taste, and you can jazz it up by adding well-seasoned croutons and a handful of your favorite herbs.
6. French Onion Soup
French onion soup is pretty delicious no matter how you prepare it, but this French onion soup is no ordinary dish. This is Julia Child’s French onion soup, and that woman gets everything right. The caramelized onions are on point, and the beef broth is hearty and filling and not nearly as thin as most French onion soups. Plus, you’ll top the whole thing off with yummy, gooey cheese, toasted bread, and a handful of onions to garnish it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now.
7. Raspberry Cranberry Soup
If you prefer colorful and chilled soups, this raspberry cranberry soup is probably more your speed. I fix it more often in the summer, but my family enjoys it in the fall because of its light cranberry flavor and tangy kick. That’s fine with me, too, because it only takes 35 minutes to make, and I’m all about Thanksgiving dishes I can cook in a flash. All you’ll need to make it are frozen cranberries, apple juice, frozen (or fresh) raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cornstarch, half-and-half, and whipped cream. It’s cool, creamy, and perfectly tart.
8. Butternut Squash Soup
If you’re looking for a soup that feels like a hug from the person you love most, you can’t beat butternut squash soup. It takes a little prep work (about 25 minutes) but is relatively simple to make. Plus, you’ll make it with feel-good ingredients like butter, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, butternut squash, chicken stock, salt, and pepper. There’s nothing more comforting when the nights are long.
9. Homemade Corn Chowder
Corn chowder is the perfect mixture of sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy, and fresh and herby. It features corn, garlic, bacon, onions, potatoes, and more. If you’re looking for a down-home chowder that’ll put you in touch with your southern roots, this is the one you want.
10. Cream of Celery Soup
If the only cream of celery soup you’ve ever had came from a Campbell’s can, then you’re missing out on something great. This homemade version has all the creamy flavor of Campbell’s recipe, but it tastes even better. It takes a little longer to make, of course, but you can’t rush perfection. And anyway, it only takes half an hour from start to finish, so it’s not all that bad, anyway.
11. Lentil Soup
Lentil soup is a fall and winter favorite because of how chunky and hearty it is. Packed with filling lentils, onions, carrots, tomatoes, plenty of herbs and spices, and more, it’s a tough soup to beat. It has a spectacular flavor that combines herbs, tomatoes, and all your favorite veggies. It’s a bit like vegetable soup, but it’s much more filling, and there’s a more intricate depth of flavor, as well.
12. Spinach Artichoke Soup
This scrumptious soup is creamy and delicious; it’s like spinach and artichoke dip, but it’s not quite as thick and is a bit more buttery. Even so, if you’re a fan of the dip, you’ll love this soup just as much.
13. Autumn Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
Your Thanksgiving dessert might make you choose between carrots and sweet potatoes, but your Thanksgiving soup says, why not have both? This ten-ingredient soup features onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, chicken broth, honey, apples, butter, curry powder, salt, and pepper for a sweet and savory dish that’s unbelievably good.
14. Chestnut Soup with Bacon and Chives
This nutty, earthy, bacon-packed soup isn’t something you knew you needed in your life, but once you try it, you’ll want to make it again and again. With chestnuts, chives, leeks, shallots, nutmeg, and more, you’ll manage to pack a lot of flavor into a single bowl. It also has a tan, almost pink color that’s really lovely.
15. Fall Vegetable Quinoa Soup
Fall vegetable quinoa soup is precisely what it sounds like – vegetable soup made with fall veggies and quinoa. It tastes a lot like traditional vegetable soup. It has a vegetable broth and tomato base, but instead of summer veggies – corn, peppers, greens, etc. – you’ll use squash, carrots, celery, sweet potato, and lots of fresh herbs.
16. Easy Tomato Soup
If you’re somewhat addicted to tomato soup like I am, then you’ll appreciate this simple, four-ingredient (plus salt) recipe that’ll allow you to make it any time. All you’ll need is butter, an onion, water, and a large can of tomatoes (and salt to suit your tastes). It takes less than an hour to whip up two hearty servings.
17. Roasted Cauliflower Soup
If you’re looking for a relatively low-carb Thanksgiving soup option, consider making roasted cauliflower soup. It’s tasty and garlicky and has just a hint of zestiness. Best of all, you can make it with fewer than ten ingredients with only 15 minutes of prep work.
18. Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of mushroom soup is another of those delectable soup options that taste so much better when you make them from scratch. Not only do you get the rich, creamy, mushroom-flavored broth, but you’ll also get actual chunks of mushrooms, some diced onions, and fresh parsley and thyme. It knocks the canned stuff right out of the water!
19. Thanksgiving Leftover Soup
Thanksgiving leftover soup is more of a day after Thanksgiving kind of soup, but it gives you one more way to enjoy all that incredible holiday food, so it deserves a spot on the list. To make it, you’ll use all the best of your Thanksgiving leftovers – shredded turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken broth, and frozen mixed veggies. It’s almost like a turkey pot pie, only in soup form instead of inside a flaky, golden crust.
20. Acorn Squash Soup
If you’re looking for a vegetarian option that’ll wow your Thanksgiving crowd, this acorn squash soup is just the thing. It’s thick and creamy, and the caramelized acorn squash gives it the most fantastic, almost sweet taste. Even your most staunch meat-loving friends won’t be able to get enough of it.
21. Borscht
I’m not sure I’ve ever known a soup more polarizing than borscht. People either love it or really, really hate it. Then again, most people feel the same way about the beets you use to make it. If you’re a fan of beets and cabbage, borscht is probably something you’ll enjoy. If not, you might want to give it a pass.
22. Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Although there’s nothing particularly Thanksgiving-like about broccoli cheddar soup, it’s one of my all-time favorites, so I made an executive decision and added it, anyway. And when it comes to restaurant-bought broccoli cheddar soup, Panera and Chile’s have the best, which is why I love this recipe for copycat Panera soup so much. If you really want to go all out, serve it in a copycat Panera bread bowl, as well.
23. Curried Cauliflower Apple Soup
The author of this recipe refers to this soup as “seductive” and claims that the cauliflower-apple-curry combo is “a magical flavor combination.” Well, with praise like that, I certainly had to give this recipe a try. I have to say, she wasn’t far off the mark. It’s spicy, nutty, and tartly sweet, and there’s no other soup like it that I’ve tried. Just be sure to let it simmer long enough, otherwise, it’ll be a little too thin. Click on a star to rate it!
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