7 surprising reasons to eat more soup [+ green curry of broccoli soup]

green curry of broccoli soup-2

You’d think that a blog with ‘soup’ in the title would be a treasure trove of fabulous soup recipes.

Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case here at Stonesoup. As one reader kindly pointed out on my soup recipe index page, there’s a big hole in the soup recipe collection.

So this year, I’ve made a mental note to eat more soup and share more soup recipes. To keep me excited about my soup domination plans, I thought I’d share with you 7 surprising reasons to eat more soup.

1. soup can be quick
While soup tends to conjure up the image of vast pots simmering away for hours, not all soup takes forever. When I was writing 5 ingredients 10 minutes, I found the soup chapter practically just wrote itself.

The secret to super quick soup is to use ingredients that are pre-cooked or will cook in the time it takes to boil the water or stock.

2. Soup fills you up with less calories
Because soup contains more water than solid foods, it fills us up with less calories. A study at Penn State confirmed that people who ate a chicken and rice soup as opposed to a solid chicken and rice meal ate 26% less.

3. Soup doesn’t necessarily need home made stock to taste amazing
One thing that used to keep me away from soup was the misconception that you needed wonderful home made stock to make full flavoured soup. Once I realised that great soup just requires great tasting ingredients, a whole new world of soup opportunities opened up. For 7 tips on making full flavoured soup without stock check out this post from last year.

4. Soup is pretty independent
Unlike other quick cooking methods such as stir frying or grilling, soup can be made with only minimal supervision. Just pop everything in the pot and let it simmer (or boil if you’re in a hurry) until you’re ready to eat. Too easy.

5. Soup is very forgiving
There tends to be a large window where soup tastes delicious. Unlike a steak which requires clock work precision, it’s actually pretty difficult to under or over cook a soup.

And even forgetful cooks who end up with a scorched bottom can usually rectify the situation by transferring the unburned parts to a clean pot and and adding the word ‘smoked’ to the soup title.

6. Soup doesn’t require much cleaning up
Most soups can be made with just one pot. What’s not to love about that?

7. Soup can keep you cool
It can be easy to forget about soup during the Summer months. But if you do, you’re missing out on the cooling properties of soup.

From my travels I have two vivid memories of soothing Summer soup. You probably won’t be surprised that a trio of Spanish gazpacho or cold soups is on the list. But the second is not so obvious.

I still remember a steaming bowl of noodle soup in a back alley in Bangkok on a typical super sweaty day. I was determined to find and try this soup I’d read so much about even though I thought the conditions weren’t great. I couldn’t believe it when I left the little street stall feeling refreshed from my steaming bowl. I went back every day for the rest of my stay.

green curry of broccoli soup

addictive green curry of broccoli soup
serves 2

While I tend to prefer fresh broccoli, this soup is also great made with frozen broccoli florettes. Just pop the frozen broccoli straight in the pan – it shouldn’t take much longer to cook and will save you the chopping step.

To make this soup in under 10 minutes, boil water in the kettle to speed things along.

When chopping the broccoli, I like to finely slice most of the stems and add them to the pot so I minimise the wastage.

3 – 4 tablespoons green curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
2 heads broccoli, chopped into bight sized trees
2 – 3 tablespoons peanut butter

1. Heat a large saucepan on a high heat. Add a few tablespoons of cream from the top of the coconut milk or some oil. Stir fry the curry paste for 15-30 seconds or until you notice the aroma. Be careful not to burn.

2. Quickly add 2 cups water and the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer.

3. Add broccoli. Bring back to a simmer and cook uncovered for 8-9 minutes or until the broccoli is tender.

4. Remove from the heat. Stir in the peanut butter. Taste and season with a little salt or sugar.

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VARIATIONS
smooth – purée the soup with a stick blender until you have the texture you’re after.

fragrant – serve with a handful or Thai or regular basil leaves scattered over the top.

nut-free – replace the peanut butter with a little sugar and some fish sauce to season.

almond butter – the first times made this soup I used some home made almond butter which was just delicious.

carnivore – simmer some finely sliced chicken breast or thigh fillets along with the broccoli.

other curry paste – while I think green curry works best with broccoli, feel free to use yellow, red or massaman curry pastes.

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video version of the recipe

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49 Comments

  • Reason number eight is that soups are flippin’ delicious.
    I made the white bean and tomato soup from your “5 ingredient recipes” for my family a while back; although their first reaction was “what is this thing you are trying to feed me”, everyone asked for seconds afterwards.
    I for one definitely feel that there is not enough broccoli soup in my life.

  • And just as I was wondering what to do with my broccoli glut in the garden! I’m a big advocate for lunch when working at home. So easy to make a batch and freeze taking my pick of the batches the night before.

  • Over Christmas I had to care for my mother who was just out of hospital, including cooking for her. What intimidation! Here I had to cook for the best cook I know. Everything she makes tastes gourmet and she can make something scrumptious out of 3 left-over ingredients in the fridge. I went armed with a stack of your recipes. My mother had a lot of fun picking out recipes that made her mouth water, and I’d go and buy the ingredients and whip them up. My mother was so impressed with how tasty and delicious every single recipe was and yet how simple each one was, that she declared that she would never cook the same again! She is now hooked on Stonesoup recipes and neither of us bother anymore with recipes with long, overwhelming lists of ingredients. You’ve opened up a world of tasty eating to me and turned me into somebody who cooks well for myself, and for my mother, you’ve made it easier to do what she loves which is to create in the kitchen. Thank you!

  • I made this for the whole family tonight (including my 5 and 3yo sons) and it was great! I used red curry paste because that is all I had on hand, and I used almond butter instead of peanut butter because of a peanut allergy. I also added some kosher salt to taste, and blended it all with a hand blender. Delish! Thank you :)

  • Iffy.
    Yay for the white bean and tomato soup.. glad your family enjoyed :)

    Jen
    Thanks for sharing your lovely story… I love to hear that I’ve gotten people addicted to simple cooking! You’ve made my day.

    Mia
    Glad to hear the red curry is good too :)

  • How do you add the chicken? I am making this soup this evening, and I’m stoked!

    Do I need to slice, then cook the chicken separately? Then add to the simmering broccoli?

    Or do I slice the raw chicken, and dump this in with the simmering broccoli?

    Thanks for all the information you provide us!

  • Arron
    For the chicken version, you could do either. I’d probably go for the second option to save washing up… the chicken will take less time than the broccoli so let the broccoli simmer first for a few minutes before adding the chicken

  • Yum Jul, looks like a great idea for when I am eating more spicy food to help this baby out. Only 5 weeks to go til your newest niece or nephew arrives! Xoxo

  • Jules,

    I did it like you recommended, sliced it raw. I was worried about cook time since I’ve never cooked chicken this way, and it went in with the broccoli, giving it about 8 minutes to simmer.

    You were right, it changed color and looked to be fully cooked within a couple minutes! This is likely also because I sliced it pretty darn thin.

    The soup was amazing, and very filling. We used the almond butter, which made this a 100% Paleo meal- for those interested.

    Thank you for the great recipe, and for next time I’ll wait a few minutes to add the chicken.

  • this sounds delicious im having some friends over tonight and originally was going to roast some brocolli and season with lime juice and chilli flakes but this sounds so much more nicer (and quicker to make!)

  • I love soup – and often freeze it in tubs so that I have a quick lunch to take to work when time is short – so I would add number 8 to your list – soup freezes and reheats really easily

  • I love the solution for scorched soup – especially the part about adding “smoked” to the recipe title. Like Johanna, I like to freeze soup. Then on the days when all is lost at dinner time, I can pull out a tub of roasted squash and white bean soup, add a garnish and a salad, and we’re done.
    Great piece, thank you!

  • This looks great! Perfect since I just bought some fresh broccoli. Do you think this would go well with some tofu in it? I’m trying to get more protein in my meals. However, I’m not a tofu expert by any stretch of the imagination.

  • Also, what green curry paste do you use? I’m in Brisbane, so I should be able to get the same brand.

  • I’ve just made this tonight and it is truly wonderful. The curry hides any potential cabbage scent. I mixed part of it and it came out a wonderful green colour.
    I could SO get addicted to this…

  • I made this for lunch today & it was wonderful :) I added in some kale and cannellini beans too, for some extra protein! yum, thanks for sharing…I’m definitely making the soup again!

  • Cathy
    I can’t remember the brand but it’s just the one from Woolies that comes in a jar.

    Hannah
    love the idea of extra kale.. yum

  • My husband is a very very fussy eater. He absolutely loved this soup and went back for 2nds

    This also would be great with cauliflower.

  • Tammy, I have to agree with you. My S/O is pretty picky too, and she went shopping last week and picked up 3 more jars of the Green Curry so we could make this soup again!

  • I’ve had this bookmarked for a while and just got around to making it yesterday. It is flippin’ delicious, especially with a squeeze of lemon juice on top! I used red curry and almond butter, and blended it up as I don’t like chunky soups. Tasted so good, and so simple to make! Thanks for sharing this recipe :)

  • Thanks so much for all of your very yummy-looking recipes. I have been lurking around Stone Soup for awhile now and have tried a few so far. I have loved everything and my kids LOVE the Mashy Peas – I had no idea frozen peas could be so addicting! :) Can’t wait to try this soup!!

  • i just made the soup, i added a bit of cauliflower and sliced red peppers. DELICIOUS!! When I need protein, going to throw in some tofu. Thanks for a great recipe!

  • I love this soup. Yesterday was the second time I made it for friends and they all loved it. Very easy and delicious. It made me look like a great cook! Next time I will try it with some shrimp instead of chicken.

  • I just made this and ENJOYED it! I couldn’t find green curry paste so I used about 1/3 of a bottle of Kikkoman Yellow Curry Sauce and simmered that with the coconut milk. While everything was simmering I also added a few drops of chili oil to give it some kick. It turned out wonderful. Thanks Jules!

  • I love broccoli. This soup makes my fave veggie really fabulous. I especially like the fragrant version. It was simple gourmet!

  • Jules, this Thai curry broccoli soup is pure genius. So easy to make so delicious. It warmed our bodies and hearts on this Easter Sunday, the coldest in England since records began. I love your recipes.

  • This was delicious! Perfect recipe for rainy days when I don’t have the energy for much chopping and preparing.

    I used frozen broccoli so the effort was as near to zero as you can get. Blended it. Can’t stop eating it! Thank you so much.

    And thanks to those who suggested tofu, I’ll remember that when I need some extra protein!

  • Lol! These look delicious! Just discovered your blog and I love it! yummy food on a budget…what not to love?!? :)

  • I find my mandolin a great asset when chopping broccoli stems into julienne strips. Then it cooks in time with the florettes. Same for cauliflower.

  • This is an awesome recipe. I love curried anything and I would have never thought to make a soup like this. The only thing I would change is to make it spicer. I find the curry recipes to be very tasty in general but I need more heat :).

  • It would be nice if you could pin or print these recipes instead of having to manually write them down.

    • Hi Margaret,
      Most posts have a print friendly button after the recipe. You may find it missing in some of the older posts but I have now added it to this one.
      There is also a PIN IT button at the bottom of each post if you want to save it for later on Pinterest.

  • “2 heads broccoli, chopped into bight sized trees”
    Love the New Zealand spelling of bite.
    Also love your recipes because they offer so many great variations. I can make the same recipe every month for 6 months and it will be different each time.
    I am also a diabetic and am trying to maintain a high fat, low carb diet but it is not easy to avoid wheat.

  • A bit chilly here in Brissy today, can’t wait to try this recipe tonight for a quick dinner. I’m already drooling over the idea of it!!

  • So it was a toss up between fish n chips or curried broccoli soup. My healthy conscience won and soup it was. So easy and yummy

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