21 High-Protein Soup Recipes That Are Satisfyingly Cozy

• Time Commitment: 6 hours and 15 minutes
• Protein Content: 30g
• Serves: 6 to 8

It can take hours at the stove to make a satisfying bowl of chili, unless you call on your slow cooker to do the hard work. "It requires just 15 minutes of active prep (thank you, canned green chiles) and can be frozen for up to 3 months, if make-ahead dinners are your thing," former PureWow senior food editor Katherine Gillen writes.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Protein Content: 22g
• Serves: 4

If you have about 30 minutes and a tub of miso, you can make a soup that tastes like a million bucks but takes almost no effort on your part. The miso adds umami richness to the broth, and cheese tortellini deliver even more flavor. "If you want to make this soup ahead or anticipate having leftovers, I recommend chilling the broth separately from the vegetables, chicken and noodles, so when you reheat it, nothing gets mushy," Gillen notes.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Protein Content: 22g
• Serves: 6

Chili on a cold night is a must, but I find it can be hard to balance all those delicious toppings (cheese! sour cream!) with a certain #health factor. Problem solved: "I added sweet potato to my chili recipe for a hearty meal that you can still feel good about when you go back for seconds," Gillen writes.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Protein Content: 26g
• Serves: 4

There are a few tricks for making a creamy, vegan soup without any actual cream. My favorite method involves soaked cashews, which can transform a brothy pot into a silky, luscious purée like nobody’s business. This vegan soup can be made in an Instant Pot, too, if you want to save time.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Protein Content: 31g
• Serves: 4 to 6

This feel-good, high-protein soup recipe was inspired by the flavors of spiced lamb shawarma and the components of Italian wedding soup (but with beans instead of pasta to make it more satisfying). If you prefer another green like Swiss chard, collards or beet greens, you can use those instead.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Protein Content: 34g
• Serves: 4

Too often, “easy” soup recipes take shortcuts that are convenient but leave you wanting more in the flavor department. This one uses smoky kielbasa (a Polish type of sausage) to bypass that problem, for a high-protein soup that tastes complex but requires just ten ingredients, plus salt and pepper. It's also free of gluten and dairy, BTW.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Protein Content: 29g
• Serves: 6

Pork sausage and heavy cream are the usual suspects in this Italian restaurant favorite, but you can achieve a similarly rich dish at home using turkey sausage and half-and-half. The results? Tons of flavor and protein, but fewer calories and less fat. That's a win-win in my book.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Protein Content: 22g
• Serves: 6 to 8

This soup requires only an hour to make (with just 15 minutes of active prep). The trick to streamlining it is to use spicy Italian sausage to make the meatballs. It brings all the flavor without as much effort as combining ground beef and spices, and the addition of breadcrumbs keeps the meatballs light and tender.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Protein Content: 74g
• Serves: 6

How do you shave 90 minutes of time off a classic (and kind of complicated) French soup? Easy: Use a smaller selection of seafood. You won’t lose out on any of the flavor, but it will only take you 30 minutes to make.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Protein Content: 26g
• Serves: 6

"This recipe for kale minestrone has all the good stuff: vegetables, beans, pasta and cheese," recipe developer Erin McDowell explains. "For a bit of freshness, I add a spoonful of pesto (and more cheese) to each bowl." It’ll brighten the dish without any extra effort on your part.

• Time Commitment: 7 hours and 35 minutes
• Protein Content: 34g
• Serves: 8

A slow cooker, store-bought biscuit dough and creamy, cozy chicken soup? Yep, this has “family friendly” written all over it. The recipe makes enough to feed a crowd, so feel free to store half in the freezer for another day if you want.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Protein Content: 44g
• Serves: 4 to 6

Recipe developer and Smitten Kitchen author Deb Perelman has miraculously crafted a high-protein soup that comes together in 45 minutes. Simmering boneless, skinless chicken thighs with aromatics can create a flavorful soup base without much effort (and adding vinegar and soy sauce at the end really seals the deal).

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Protein Content: 22g
• Serves: 4

Another vegetarian soup with a ton of protein, you’ll hardly believe this Mediterranean bowl comes together with pantry staples, like canned chickpeas and a few dried spices. If you want to make it vegan, use vegetable stock and skip the Pecorino cheese at the end.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Protein Content: 22g
• Serves: 4 to 6

I’ll admit that split pea soup is not a looker…but wow, does it taste good when done right. This version by cookbook author Abra Berens is topped with homemade chili oil, lemon-parsley mojo and balsamic vinegar, plus there’s wine and anchovies in the base. (Skip the fishies if you want to make it vegetarian.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Protein Content: 23g
• Serves: 8

When you think of a simple, high-protein soup, your mind probably doesn’t jump to “homemade stock.” But this recipe, which combines a whole chicken with some aromatics, is proof that it’s not that complicated to do. Customize the final dish with your choice of greens and grains, if you want.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Protein Content: 28g
• Serves: 4

High-protein soup recipes don’t have to weigh you down with tons of meat or cream. This surprisingly low-carb chowder uses salmon and alt milk to keep it light but still filling, while rice vinegar and soy sauce add depth. "For those who avoid soy, use whole milk, heavy whipping cream, almond milk or any other milk that you prefer with the exception of skim or fat-free," cookbook author Urvashi Pitre writes.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Protein Content: 25g
• Serves: 8

Behold, a mashup of two beloved comfort foods that's a) easier to make than assembling layers upon layers of lasagna and b) takes an hour to cook from start to finish. Oh, and there's 25 grams of protein in each serving—that's a triple-threat, no?

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Protein Content: 27g
• Serves: 6

Chicken noodle soup…yawwwn. Chicken *gnocchi* soup? I know what I’m making for dinner every night this week. The best part is that the gnocchi is store-bought, so this high-protein soup recipe requires no more effort than using regular noodles.

• Time Commitment: 7 hours and 35 minutes
• Protein Content: 21g
• Serves: 6

A Parmesan rind and a kitchen sink’s worth of vegetables (including tomatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, kale and celery) give this bean-based vegetarian soup a ton of flavor. The half-cup of white wine helps, too. Assemble it in your slow cooker in the morning and you’ll have a cozy, high-protein soup waiting for you at the end of the day.

• Time Commitment: 7 hours and 5 minutes
• Protein Content: 26g
• Serves: 6

You could open a can of soup…or you could get out your slow cooker, toss in the ingredients and make your house smell amazing while dinner cooks itself. The 26 grams of protein just gild the lily, really.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Protein Content: 26g
• Serves: 4

Another 30-minute, Instant Pot number, this high-protein soup is ideal for those nights when you just can’t even with dinner. It’s healthy (Mediterranean diet-friendly!), hearty and kid-pleasing, so everyone will leave the table satisfied. "Add some toasted bread and a few slices of cheese, and dinner is served," Pitre writes.