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Ribollita
The name means reboiled, and that is the whole trick: a Tuscan pot of cannellini beans, cavolo nero and vegetables is cooked, layered with stale bread and heated again the next day until the bread melts into something nearly thick enough to cut. Beans and bread together make it far more filling than a vegetable soup has any right to be.
It is also the most forgiving soup here for a weekly cook, because it is meant to be made ahead. A slick of good olive oil on top is the only garnish it needs.
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Minestrone
Minestrone has no single recipe, which is exactly why it works as a weeknight dinner: whatever vegetables are in season go in, along with beans and a handful of small pasta or rice to give it weight. The version worth making is the thick one, where the beans break down a little and the spoon stands up in the bowl.
A rind of Parmesan simmered in the pot adds depth for nothing. Cook the pasta separately if the soup has to last several days, or it will drink up the broth by Wednesday.
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Pasta e fagioli
Pasta and beans, nothing more complicated than that, and it is one of the cheapest full meals on this list. Mashing part of the beans into the broth turns it creamy without any cream, and short pasta cooked in the pot finishes it off as something closer to a loose pasta dish than a soup.
Pick it over minestrone when the fridge is bare: a tin of borlotti, an onion, garlic, rosemary and a box of ditalini are enough. It thickens hard overnight, so loosen leftovers with a splash of water.
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Pea soup
Split pea soup with a ham hock
Dried split peas need no soaking and collapse on their own into a thick, smooth soup, so this is the easiest pot here to leave on a low heat while doing something else. A smoked ham hock gives the meat and the flavour at once: pull the meat off the bone and stir it back in.
It sets nearly solid in the fridge, which tells you how filling it is. Thin each reheated bowl with a little water, and serve it with rye or crusty bread.
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Lentil soup
Brown or green lentil soup with sausage and greens
Brown or green lentils hold their shape, so this version eats like a meal rather than a purée: lentils, onion, carrot and celery, a few slices of smoked sausage, and a big handful of spinach or chard stirred in at the end. Lentils need no soaking, which makes this one of the quickest pots here from a standing start.
A splash of red wine vinegar just before serving wakes it up. Leave out the sausage and it is still filling enough to be dinner.
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Scotch broth
Pearl barley is the reason Scotch broth belongs here. Simmered with lamb or mutton, dried peas, carrot, swede and leek, the barley swells and turns the broth silky and substantial, so a bowl eats like a full plate of meat and two veg.
Neck or shoulder on the bone is cheap and gives the best flavour. It is mild and gentle rather than bold, which makes it a good choice for fussy eaters, and like most barley soups it is thicker and better on the second night.
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Clam chowder
New England clam chowder
The creamy, milk-based chowder, built on salt pork or bacon, potatoes and plenty of clams, is the version that counts as dinner. Potatoes give it bulk and the pork gives it a smoky backbone, so a big bowl with oyster crackers needs nothing after it.
Tinned clams and their juice make it a cupboard meal any time of year. It does not keep as well as the bean soups, because the cream can split when boiled again, so warm leftovers gently and eat them within a couple of days.
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Wild rice soup
Chicken and wild rice soup
Minnesota adopted wild rice as its official state grain in 1977, and this creamy soup is one of the best ways to eat it. The grains stay chewy and nutty rather than going soft, which gives every spoonful some bite, and shredded chicken makes it a full meal.
Wild rice takes a long time to cook, so simmer it ahead or cook a big batch at the start of the week. A spoonful of flour in the butter and onions keeps the cream from thinning out when it is reheated.
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Tortilla soup
Chicken tortilla soup
A tomato and chile broth is only the start; the meal is in the toppings. Shredded chicken, fried tortilla strips, avocado, cheese and a squeeze of lime turn a fairly light base into a full dinner, and each person builds their own bowl.
That makes it a good pick for a household that cannot agree on spice. Keep the tortilla strips separate until serving so they stay crisp, and the broth and chicken will reheat happily for days.
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Pozole
Big, chewy kernels of hominy are what set pozole apart: they swell in the broth and fill you up in a way plain sweetcorn never could. Pork is the traditional meat, and the soup comes in three colours, red with dried chiles, green with tomatillos and pepitas, or white with neither.
The garnish is half the meal. Shredded cabbage, sliced radish, onion, lime and dried oregano go on at the table, so the bowl stays bright and crunchy. Tinned hominy makes it a realistic Sunday project rather than a two-day one.
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Sancocho
Sancocho is the soup for feeding a crowd. Versions run across Latin America, and the Dominican one is especially generous: several meats simmered for hours with green plantain, yuca, yautía, sweet potato and corn until the root vegetables start to thicken the broth. For holidays and big family gatherings it becomes sancocho de siete carnes, made with seven meats, though which seven depends on the family.
A weeknight pot with chicken and two or three roots is still plenty. A bowl with a little white rice and avocado on the side leaves nobody hungry.
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Ajiaco
Ajiaco santafereño, the Bogotá version
Three kinds of potato go into this Colombian chicken soup, and the small yellow papa criolla partly dissolves to thicken the broth while the firmer potatoes keep some bite. Chicken, corn on the cob and guascas, an Andean herb with an earthy aroma, finish the pot.
Capers, heavy cream and avocado are served on the side for everyone to add, which turns a simple soup into a rich dinner. Guascas is worth tracking down at a Latin grocer or online; small yellow potatoes stand in for papa criolla if needed.
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Borscht
Ukrainian borscht with beef and beans
This is not a thin beetroot consommé. The everyday Ukrainian pot is deep red with beetroot, cabbage, potato, carrot and beef, often with beans as well, and it eats as a full dinner with rye bread and a spoonful of soured cream. In 2022 UNESCO added the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking to its list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.
A splash of vinegar at the end keeps the colour bright. Like most soups here, it is noticeably better the day after.
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Sour cereal soup
Żurek, the Polish sour rye soup
Soured rye flour, fermented like a thin sourdough starter, gives żurek a tangy, almost creamy body unlike anything else on this list. White sausage and halved hard-boiled eggs make it a meal, and in Poland it is a traditional Easter breakfast dish, often served in a hollowed rye bread bowl.
Ready-made żurek starter sold in bottles at Polish grocers saves the days of fermenting. Add diced potato if you want it more filling still.
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Kharcho
This Georgian beef and rice soup gets its character from tkemali, a sour plum sauce, which gives the broth a tart edge that cuts through the richness of the meat. Rice thickens it and chopped walnuts add body, while khmeli suneli, the Georgian spice blend with coriander and fenugreek, plus plenty of garlic and fresh herbs, make it smell wonderful long before it is ready.
Beef on the bone gives the best broth. A bottle of tkemali keeps for a long time, so this is easy to repeat once it is in the cupboard.
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Harira
Harira, the Moroccan Ramadan soup
Across Morocco this is the bowl that breaks the fast at sundown through Ramadan, and it is built to restore a hungry person: a tomato broth loaded with lentils and chickpeas, a little lamb or beef, and handfuls of fresh coriander and parsley. Cooks vary the pulses and meat, so there is room to use what you have.
Cinnamon, ginger and a squeeze of lemon keep it lively. Dates on the side are traditional and make a surprisingly good match.
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Samgye-tang
Each bowl holds a whole small chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and garlic, simmered in a broth flavoured with ginseng and jujubes, so dinner and its starch arrive in one piece. The rice soaks up the juices and turns soft and porridge-like inside the bird.
Koreans traditionally eat it on the hottest days of summer, but it is just as good in a cold week. Poussins are the right size, one per person; season at the table with salt, pepper and spring onion, as the broth is left plain on purpose.
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Bak kut teh
The name means meat bone tea, though there is no tea in the pot: it is pork ribs simmered for hours in a peppery, garlicky broth of Chinese herbs and spices until the meat slides off the bone. In Malaysia and Singapore it is eaten as a full meal with steamed rice and youtiao, strips of fried dough for dipping, with a pot of Chinese tea alongside.
Pre-mixed spice sachets from Asian supermarkets make it close to effortless at home. Spare ribs and a whole head of garlic are all the shopping it needs.
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