Soups of the world
Hot and cold soups, from clear broths to ones thick enough for a fork.
Soups divide not into courses but by what gives them body: bone, grain, an egg-yolk liaison, soured milk or a slaked flour. That decides both the technique and whether the soup can be reheated at all.
There are cold summer soups on cultured milk here and pots that simmer for three hours. Several of them do not survive a second heating, and where that is the case the recipe says so plainly.
69 dishes
- Ajiaco bogotanoColombia
A chicken soup on three kinds of potato with guascas herb, capers and cream.
100 min · Easy
- AvgolemonoGreece
Chicken soup with rice, thickened with egg beaten into lemon juice.
80 min · Medium
- Begova čorbaBosnia and Herzegovina
A thick chicken soup with okra, bound with yolks and soured cream, a Bosnian classic.
105 min · Medium
- BorschtRussia
A beetroot soup on beef stock where acid holds both the colour and the flavour. The beetroot is braised separately, never boiled in the pot.
150 min · Medium
- BouillabaisseFrance
The Marseille fish soup of several species, with saffron and a rouille sauce.
120 min · Takes practice
- BusecaUruguay
A thick tripe soup with white beans, chorizo and vegetables, Uruguayan winter food.
240 min · Medium
- Caldo verdePortugal
A potato purée soup with finely shredded kale and slices of smoked chouriço.
55 min · Easy
- CallalooTrinidad and Tobago
A thick purée of taro leaves with okra and coconut milk. The Trinidadian Sunday table.
80 min · Easy
- Chorba frikAlgeria
A soup of freekeh, the smoked green wheat, with lamb and mint. The first thing on the table in Ramadan.
90 min · Easy
- ChuchvaraUzbekistan
Tiny mutton dumplings boiled in broth, with suzma and herbs.
130 min · Takes practice
- Ciorbă de burtăRomania
A sour tripe soup in a creamy garlic broth, thickened with egg yolks.
270 min · Medium
- Colombian sancochoColombia
A chicken soup with cassava, plantain and corn, cooked over an open fire.
140 min · Easy
- Conch soupHonduras
Conch soup in coconut milk with cassava and plantain. The Garifuna cooking of the Caribbean coast.
95 min · Medium
- DogramaTurkmenistan
Crumbled flatbread with mutton and onion under hot broth. The Turkmen dish of Eid al-Adha.
150 min · Easy
- Dominican sancochoDominican Republic
A thick soup of several meats and root vegetables. Celebration food, cooked for a crowd.
165 min · Medium
- Egusi soupNigeria
A thick soup of ground egusi melon seeds with greens, meat and palm oil.
110 min · Medium
- EncebolladoEcuador
A tuna soup with cassava and pickled onion. Ecuadorians eat it for breakfast and treat it as a hangover cure.
60 min · Easy
- ErwtensoepNetherlands
A thick split pea soup with smoked sausage, dense enough for a spoon to stand in it.
175 min · Easy
- FanescaEcuador
The Holy Week soup of twelve grains and pulses with salt cod.
210 min · Takes practice
- French onion soupFrance
Soup from onions, stock and cheese-topped bread. All of the flavour comes from caramelisation, which takes forty minutes rather than twenty.
75 min · Easy
- GarudhiyaMaldives
A clear broth of fresh tuna, cooked in water with salt and almost nothing else.
45 min · Easy
- GazpachoSpain
A cold tomato soup blended with bread and oil into an emulsion — that is what makes it thick rather than watery.
20 min · Easy
- GoulashHungary
Beef stewed with onion and paprika. There is as much onion by weight as meat, and it dissolves into the sauce.
170 min · Easy
- Gundruk soupNepal
A sour soup of fermented dried greens with potato, soybeans and chilli.
55 min · Easy
- HalászléHungary
A fiery red fisherman's soup on paprika, made from river fish in a cauldron.
110 min · Medium
- HariraMorocco
A thick soup of lentils, chickpeas and tomato, bound with a flour slurry and finished with lemon.
115 min · Medium
- JotaSlovenia
A thick soup of soured turnip or sauerkraut with beans, potato and smoked meat.
110 min · Easy
- Kak'ikGuatemala
A red turkey soup with charred chillies and spices, a dish of the Q'eqchi' Maya.
160 min · Medium
- KapustnicaSlovakia
A soup of sauerkraut with smoked meat, sausage and dried mushrooms. The Slovak Christmas table.
110 min · Easy
- Katong laksaSingapore
Rice noodles in a coconut broth with prawns, cut short and eaten with a spoon only.
105 min · Takes practice
- Khao soiThailand
Northern Thai noodles in coconut curry, boiled noodles in the broth and fried ones on top.
70 min · Medium
- KholodnikBelarus
A cold beetroot soup on kefir with sorrel, cucumber and egg, pink and sharply sour.
70 min · Easy
- Kimchi jjigaeKorea
A stew of over-fermented kimchi with pork and tofu. The older the kimchi, the better it works.
40 min · Easy
- KjötsúpaIceland
A clear lamb soup with root vegetables and barley. One pot, four ingredients, three hours.
170 min · Easy
- Kufta bozbashAzerbaijan
A clear broth with one large meatball per portion, a dried plum and apricot hidden inside it.
110 min · Medium
- KulajdaCzechia
A creamy mushroom soup with dill, potato and a poached egg, sharpened with vinegar.
55 min · Easy
- Laksa lemakMalaysia
Noodles in a coconut broth built on a rempah paste, with prawns and tofu. The paste is fried until the oil separates.
60 min · Medium
- LohikeittoFinland
Finnish salmon soup with potato and cream, a heap of dill and a knob of butter in the bowl.
60 min · Easy
- Meat solyankaRussia
A soup on strong stock with several meats, brined cucumbers, olives and lemon.
145 min · Medium
- Mercimek çorbasıTurkey
A red lentil soup blended smooth and finished with lemon and paprika butter.
45 min · Easy
- Miso soupJapan
A soup of dashi and miso that takes ten minutes. Miso must never boil: boiling takes out both the aroma and the point of it.
20 min · Easy
- MohingaMyanmar
Rice noodles in a thick fish broth built on banana stem. Breakfast, and Myanmar's unofficial national dish.
120 min · Medium
- MolokhiaEgypt
A soup of jute leaves, slippery in texture, with a garlic and coriander tempering.
90 min · Easy
- New England clam chowderUnited States
A thick clam soup with cream, potato and bacon. No tomato — that is a matter of principle.
55 min · Easy
- Ohn no khao sweMyanmar
Wheat noodles in a thick coconut broth with chicken and chickpea flour.
80 min · Medium
- Olla de carneCosta Rica
The Costa Rican meat pot with cassava, squash, corn and plantain.
215 min · Easy
- Panamanian sancochoPanama
Chicken soup with ñame root and culantro. Panama's cure for a hangover and for a cold.
115 min · Easy
- Phở bòVietnam
A clear beef broth with charred ginger and whole spices, rice noodles, and beef that finishes cooking in the bowl.
270 min · Takes practice
- Pozole rojoMexico
A soup of pork and hominy in a dried chilli broth, with a pile of fresh garnishes on the table.
210 min · Medium
- RomazavaMadagascar
Meat in broth with brèdes mafana, a bitter green that makes the mouth tingle.
100 min · Easy
- ŠaltibarščiaiLithuania
A cold beetroot soup on kefir, vivid pink, with cucumber, dill and boiled potatoes served alongside.
60 min · Easy
- SamgyetangKorea
A whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and ginseng, simmered in its own broth.
105 min · Easy
- Samlor korkoCambodia
A thick vegetable soup with toasted ground rice, pork and prahok, from a dozen vegetables.
90 min · Medium
- Shoyu ramenJapan
Broth, tare and oil — three separate things assembled in the bowl rather than cooked together.
210 min · Takes practice
- ShurpaUzbekistan
A clear mutton soup with coarsely cut vegetables and a mound of herbs in the bowl.
145 min · Easy
- SinigangPhilippines
A sour tamarind soup with pork and vegetables. Sourness is the main flavour here, not an accent.
95 min · Easy
- SkābputraLatvia
Cold barley porridge on soured milk, Latvian field-day food.
85 min · Easy
- Soto ayamIndonesia
A yellow chicken broth on turmeric and lemongrass, with noodles, egg and fried shallot.
95 min · Medium
- SpasArmenia
A soup of matsun and wheat groats. The whole difficulty is keeping the yoghurt base from splitting.
50 min · Medium
- Taiwanese beef noodle soupTaiwan
Wheat noodles in a dark broth of beef shank with fermented bean paste and spices.
175 min · Medium
- TaratorBulgaria
A cold yoghurt soup with cucumber, garlic, dill and walnuts.
20 min · Easy
- Tom yum goongThailand
A hot and sour prawn soup where the balance is set at the end: fish sauce, lime and sugar go in to taste rather than by the recipe.
35 min · Medium
- Tunisian lablabiTunisia
Chickpeas in a garlic broth poured over torn stale bread, with an egg, cumin and harissa.
105 min · Easy
- TushberaTajikistan
Tajik dumplings in broth with herbs, boiled in thin dough and served in a bowl.
140 min · Takes practice
- Ukrainian borscht with pampushkyUkraine
Borscht on pork ribs with aged salo crushed with garlic, and garlic pampushky alongside.
160 min · Medium
- Vori voriParaguay
Chicken soup with corn-and-cheese dumplings, Paraguayan winter food.
105 min · Medium
- WaterzooiBelgian cuisine
A Ghent stew of chicken or fish in a creamy broth with julienned root vegetables.
95 min · Medium
- ZeamăMoldova
Chicken soup with home-made noodles, soured with bran borș. The Moldovan remedy for everything.
105 min · Easy
- ŻurekPoland
A sour soup on a rye starter with white sausage and egg. The sourness comes from fermentation, not vinegar.
70 min · Medium