Foods

Give your Immunity a boost with these Comforting Soup Recipes

Can’t afford to get sick? We’re not alone. When flu and cold season hits, there’s more we can do than just get a flu shot and wash the hands more regularly. Adding more immunity-boosting foods to our diet is a healthy and natural way to strengthen our immune system.

We can keep ourselves healthy all cold and flu season long by adding these immunity-boosting soups to our recipe repertoire.

The Best Soup Recipes for Immune System

1. Chicken Zoodle Soup

Recent research suggests the keto diet may actually have some immune-boosting benefit itself, and this comforting throwback is like an updated version of your go-to flu and cold remedy, chicken noodle. This simple recipe is easy on digestion, as well as soothing and warming [1].

Ingredients

  • 1½ pounds (680 g) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 1½ ounces (42 g) diced carrot
  • 3½ ounces (100 g) chopped onion
  • 3 cups (720 ml) chicken broth
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1½ teaspoons poultry seasoning
  • 10½ ounces (294 g) zucchini noodles
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Method

  1. Add the chicken, carrot, onion, celery, salt, chicken broth, pepper, and poultry seasoning to the Instant Pot.
  2. Close the lid and seal the vent. Cook on HIGH pressure for half an hour. Fast-release the steam. Press CANCEL.
  3. Take out the chicken from the soup and shred with 2 forks. Return the chicken to the soup.
  4. Incorporate the zucchini noodles into the hot soup and let sit until the noodles are soft, five to ten minutes. If you’d like a softer noodle, you can cook the soup an additional one to two minutes on LOW pressure.

[Read: Nutrition and Immunity]

2. Roasted Cauliflower & Fennel Soup Recipe

Roasted veggies in this soup give it a savory, rich flavor, and the blended cauliflower provides a smooth texture without needing any dairy. Not to mention it uses a whole head of garlic and boasts fiber, vitamin C, and potassium, thanks to the fennel [2].

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Ingredients

  • 1 small- to the medium-size head of cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 medium-size fennel bulb, sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds, fronds set aside, and stalks discarded
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 medium-size head of garlic, with the woody base cut off (exposing the cloves while keeping everything in place)
  • 2 cups raw baby spinach
  • 4 cups vegetable broth or water
  • olive oil
  • ½ cup cooked grains per serving (optional, for serving)
  • fennel fronds, as desired (optional, for serving)

Method

  1. Heat oven to 415°F. Toss sliced fennel with a sprinkle of salt and olive oil, and spread out on a baking sheet. Do the same to the cauliflower florets and spread them out on a separate baking sheet.
  2. Take a piece of foil and drizzle it with olive oil. Place the head of garlic (exposed-clove-side down) on the olive oil. Wrap the foil securely around the head of garlic.
  3. Roast the fennel for about 25 to 30 minutes. Roast the cauliflower for 25 minutes to half an hour. Roast the head of garlic for 35 minutes in its little foil pouch.
  4. While the veggies are roasting, heat a glug of olive oil (or oil of your preference) in a Dutch oven or an extensive pot over medium-high heat. Add a pinch of salt and chopped onion and cook, stirring, for about five minutes until translucent. Incorporate water or veggie broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat if veggies aren’t done roasting yet.
  5. Once vegetables are roasted, add to the onion mixture and simmering vegetable stock. Wait for garlic to cool a bit, then squeeze the cloves out of the skins (they should be caramel in color and soft) directly into the soup.
  6. Simmer for five minutes and remove from heat. Stir in spinach and allow to cool for five to ten minutes. Puree with a stick blender or in a regular blender in batches. Serve with fennel fronds and cooked grains.

[Also Read: Home Made Drinks for Immune System]

3. Ginger, Coconut & Turmeric Soup Recipe

The turmeric-ginger combo offers a mildly spicy but refreshing flavor, perfect for all things upper-respiratory. Furthermore, it’s immune-boosting with its bone-broth base and spices [3].

Ingredients

  • 1-quart store-bought chicken or homemade bone broth or vegetable broth
  • 1¾ cups full-fat coconut milk
  • A knob of fresh ginger, peeled and very finely sliced
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric or a knob of fresh turmeric, finely sliced
  • Juice of ½ to 1 lemon (add the desired amount)
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chili flakes
  • A small handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons raw virgin coconut oil
  • freshly ground black pepper and Sea salt

Method

  1. Pool all the ingredients, except for the coconut oil and cilantro, into a medium saucepan, and bring to a gentle simmer.
  2. Simmer for five to ten minutes, take away from the heat, and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  3. Top it with sea salt and black pepper, sprinkle over the cilantro, and spoon in the coconut oil. Taste and include more lemon juice if you wish, and serve.

4. Green Detox Soup Recipe

For a soup that packs a green punch with more immune-boosting power, try this. It’s packed with superfoods like garlic and spinach, plus herbs like parsley and cilantro are rich in vitamin A (a crucial one for the immune system) [4].

Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 2 cups shelled sweet peas
  • 3 handfuls fresh spinach and kale
  • 1 chopped leek
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup packed cilantro leaves
  • Freshly ground black pepper and Sea salt 

Method

  1. Wash and roughly chop zucchini, broccoli, kale, spinach, and sweet pea. Set aside.
  2. Dice and slice the leek and garlic.
  3. Heat olive oil over medium-high until warm in a large saucepan.
  4. Add leeks; stir and soften for about 5 minutes until fragrant.
  5. Add garlic, and stir for a minute.
  6. Next, add sweet peas, broccoli, zucchini, and kale; stir and cook for an additional five minutes.
  7. Pour in veggie broth and bring soup to boil; minimize heat and simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally.
  8. Add the sweet peas and spinach; simmer for another 2 minutes.
  9. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool.
  10. Pour into a blender with cilantro, parsley, and lemon juice, and purée until smooth.
  11. Serve in a bowl, add a swirl of fragrant olive oil, and garnish with a few kale chips, cilantro leaves, or shaved almonds.

Bottom Line

With immune system-supporting power from ingredients like bone broth, garlic, mushrooms, and turmeric, these recipes offer our bodies a helping hand—and a delicious meal.