Taste the sweet potato sales this Easter
Flavor Trend

 

o longer kept in the shadows as just a restaurant appetizer, special, or last-ditch effort to get rid of the sniffles, soups are heading into a new reign as the center-plate go-to everyone wants to dip their spoons into. And, with so many soup recipes from all around the world—chunky soups, broth soups, creamy soups, vegetable soups, meat soups, soups with noodles, soups with rice, bone soups reviving Voldemort to physical form, the list goes on!—dull dinners are a thing of the past. Allowing consumers to toss all things healthy and delicious—anything under the sun that is nutritious—into a pot to boil, souping is heating up the produce aisle with fervor.

While soup has been on everyone’s radar for centuries—everyone’s grandma has that one family recipe that calls for taking everything on the verge of spoiling in your fridge, dumping it into a pot, adding a secret ingredient or two, and voila, your cold is instantly gone—the consumer trend to soup is the latest push to keep health at the forefront of culinary movements, with everything from anti-inflammatory concoctions to detox dishes.

With almost as many health benefits as there are recipes, soups are a great way to fill up our bodies with tasty goodness, as foods that are bound with water add weight and volume, helping to keep our stomachs full for longer without overeating.


Not to mention, you can throw almost anything into soup, and it’s delicious, which makes consuming protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich veggies easier than ever. Specifically, vegetable soups are a fun and different way to meet our daily fruit and vegetable quota while also retaining the fiber and antioxidants found in produce. Unlike juicing, souping cooks the vegetables, helping our bodies to digest and absorb the nutrients. Vegetable soups are also hydrating, which stabilizes blood sugar and sustains energy. 

Souping is also an affordable eating trend. Since the base is broth, an inexpensive ingredient to stock up on, soups won’t break the bank, and are a good excuse to clear out your pantry or fridge and prevent food waste. And, the fun doesn’t have to stop after a single serving, as soup is one of those freezer-friendly foods that keep for a while. 

I get it. It’s June—no one wants to come home from a day in the sun to shovel steaming broth down the hatch, but soups are versatile. And some are even more delicious cold—hello, gazpacho—making souping an all-year kitchen game-changer.

The perfect remedy for wild weekends, seasons of indulgent eating, or just to mix things up in the kitchen, souping is where it’s at to reboot, de-bloat, and get innovative with this age-old preparation that is finding its way into everyone’s kitchens and menus with more excitement than ever.


Sources: CNN & Chef’d