Jessica Block
Whether you’re in moderately chilly Southern California like us or you’re in a part of the country where frosty temps have already settled into negative territory for the season, we can all agree that, baby, it is some version of cold outside (or it will be soon). Winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21, but there’s nothing stopping you from preparing for the frozen doldrums by stocking the pantry so that when you require a piping-hot, put-you-in-a-food-coma bowl of soup (as us humans so often do), you’re covered all winter long.
We’ve eaten a lot of soup here at Sporked HQ and while, yes, all soup satisfies when the weather is cold, the best winter soups are extra warm and cozy, complete with that je ne sais hug-in-a-bowl factor that is hard to put into words, but gosh darn it, we intend to try. So grab your fuzziest sweater and your scoopiest ladle, because here are the best winter soups from our rankings that you can pull straight oot the pantry when a craving strikes.
The following article contains affiliate links that may generate a small commission to us when you make a purchase through the link. Learn more about how we work with affiliates here.
- Rao’s Chicken Noodle Soup
-
Say what you will about Rao’s, they know how to make things taste homemade. This chicken noodle soup tastes like it was made by somebody’s grandma, then put in a tupperware, then carried down the street to your house in the dead of winter, where your mom reheated it for you and brought it to you in bed, where you are recovering from the world’s mildest cold. We love how the noodles hold up well to the herb-laced broth, and that the whole thing feels very homey. If you want nostalgia and warmth in a bowl this winter, this is your soup.
Read the full ranking of chicken noodle soup
- Panera Bread Autumn Squash Soup
-
I know what you are going to say. “Jessica, it literally says autumn in the name of this soup, so why are you putting it on the winter soups list, you sweet simple dorkus mcgee?!” To which I would say, you can’t just go around calling people dorkus mcgee, and have you ever considered that maybe it is Panera who is in the wrong here? Who died and put them in charge of what soups belong to which seasons? I happen to think a lovely, creamy, medium-thick soup like this one, made of butternut and pumpkin, complete with a rich savoriness and some sweetness from the squash, would absolutely hit on a frigid winter day. This soup is an absolute, unmitigated delight, so I say to hell with labels; this autumn squash soup is one of our favorite winter soups.
Read the full ranking of butternut squash soup
- Signature Cafe Broccoli Cheddar Soup
-
Sometimes, you just want an ungodly amount of cheese straight to the dome, and (and this could just be my experience) I find these times where I am in need of a vast influx of hot molten dairy most often fall in the dead of winter. A socially acceptable solution to this sudden craving for a river of molten cheese? Broccoli cheddar soup. The soup that took the social contract that says you can’t drink cheese and ripped it to shreds. And if you are looking for the best broccoli soup that supermarket money can buy, look no further than Signature Cafe’s, which comes in a microwavable plastic tub in a cooler near the deli at Albertsons-owned grocery stores. Once heated, it becomes rich and creamy, has the perfect blend of seasonings, AND is gluten free. If you, like me, are craving a delicious dairy-based deluge, give this stuff a shot.
Read the full ranking of broccoli cheddar soup
- Progresso Beef Pot Roast with Country Vegetables Soup
-
The American people cannot agree on many things, but they can agree on one thing: Pot roast takes forever to cook. It can take up to ten hours in a slow cooker, four hours in the oven — even in a pressure cooker, it takes almost two hours, and hey, who’s got the time? We had all but written off pot roast as a possible wintertime weeknight option until we tried this canned pot roast soup from Progresso, which takes all of a few minutes to heat up in the microwave, and yet it literally tastes like a hearty, homemade winter soup. It’s got chunks of beef that are melt-in-your-mouth tender, the broth has a very balanced beef-and-veggie flavor, and it even has baby pearl onions in it—yes, those tiny onions that smoosh out in layers like a Russian nesting doll and sit atop the classiest old-timey martinis. They are adorable and tasty as heck, and so is this soup.
Read the full ranking of vegetable beef soup
- Split Pea Andersen’s Split Pea Soup
-
I think peas are wintertime fruit. This is stupid of me, given that peas are actually springtime legumes, but hey, a girl can dream. Why do I think peas are wintertime fruit? Mainly because I think one of the best things you can do with peas in the winter is make this exact soup. Or, if you want a delicious pea soup you don’t have to dirty a single blender for, you could seek out this bastion of the pea soup world: Split Pea Andersen’s Split Pea Soup, sprinkle it with some sausage, leftover holiday ham, or bacon, and call it a McFrickin day. This is Shrek-green, velvety goodness, and tastes creamy, rich, and decadent (yes, even though it is made of peas). Sporked’s own Justine noted that his soup “elevates the humble pea with just the right amount of salt and seasoning so that the flavors of the pea are enhanced, not overshadowed,” and if that isn’t the most poetic sentence about peas you have ever heard, I want to meet you and hear more about the pea-loving pea-ple in your pod (friend group).
Read the full ranking of split pea soup
Hebba Gouda
Justine Sterling
Danny Palumbo
