Tasty & Healthy Winter Soups Kids (Actually) Love to Eat

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 500g carrots
• 500g parsnips (or replace these two with 1kg winter squash or sweet potato)
• 1 leek
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs mild curry powder (or pinch of chili flakes if you prefer)
• 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes *
• 100g red lentils
• 1L hot water
• 1-2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp crème fraiche (optional)

How to:

Peel and roughly chop the onion, carrots, parsnips, and leek.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the onion for 2 minutes until starting to soften. Add the chopped carrots, parsnips and leek to the pan.

Sprinkle over the curry powder and red lentils and stir to mix in. Crumble the stock cubes into the saucepan and add 1 litre of hot water, then stir well until the stock cubes have completely dissolved.

Put a lid on the saucepan and cook for 20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through and soft.

Once cooked, take the lid off, let the soup cool a little, then whizz until smooth with a stick blender.

Serve with a sprinkling of coriander leaves and cheese on toast, or your favourite oven-warmed bread, if wanted.

This is a soup that both kids and adults adore.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 100g carrots, diced
• 150g waxy potatoes, diced
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1½ tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)splash red or white vinegar
• 1½ x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 175g passata1 vegetable stock cube
• 1L boiling water
• S&P to taste
• 125ml whole milk (optional)
  

How to:

Peel and roughly chop the onion, carrots, parsnips, and leek.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the onion for 2 minutes until starting to soften. Add the chopped carrots, parsnips and leek to the pan.

Sprinkle over the curry powder and red lentils and stir to mix in. Crumble the stock cubes into the saucepan and add 1 litre of hot water, then stir well until the stock cubes have completely dissolved.

Put a lid on the saucepan and cook for 20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through and soft.

Once cooked, take the lid off, let the soup cool a little, then whizz until smooth with a stick blender.

Serve with a sprinkling of coriander leaves and cheese on toast, or your favourite oven-warmed bread, if wanted.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 500g ground beef
• 3 carrots, diced
• ½ cup peas
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup fresh green beans, chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp thyme
• S&P to taste

How to:

Heat olive oil. Add diced onion and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent. Add ground beef and cook until browned.

Add green beans, carrots, potatoes, and chicken stock.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until potatoes are fork-tender.

Add peas, corn, thyme, S&P. Cook until vegetables are to your liking.

This is a super easy family meal to make in the slow cooker, and kids love the heartiness of the chicken balls and gnocchi.

Ingredients

• 12 uncooked chicken (or beef or veggie) meatballs
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 2½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
• 500g gnocchi or tortellini
• grated parmesan and fresh basil for on top

How to:

Place all ingredients except the gnocchi, parmesan, and basil in a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Add gnocchi and cook on low for another hour, or on High for 30 minutes. If the soup seems too thick, add a little extra water.

Serve immediately garnished with grated parmesan and fresh basil leaves.

This is a simple but super healthy, vibrantly green coloured soup that goes down a treat with kids. Especially when you say it’s the favourite meal in Santa’s workshop…

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 200g potato, diced
• 1L vegetable stock
• 260g fresh baby spinach
• 50g crème fraiche
• optional: extra cream and dried chili flakes to serve

How to:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onions and fry gently for 2-3 minutes until softened.

Add the crushed garlic and diced potatoes and cook for another 2 minutes.

Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the spinach and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until it has all wilted. Stir in the creme fraiche.

Blend the soup, either with a hand blender or in a stand blender.

Serve immediately with the optional drizzle of cream and sprinkling of dried chili flakes.

While soup may not have been your first go-to meal for kids, we hope this article has shown you a few great reasons why soup can make a delicious and nutritious meal for the whole family.