6 warm soups and stews
November is for pots that sit on the hob while the windows steam up. These stews and soups are the slow, warm ones, and most of them make enough for tomorrow too.
CThe Cookpath kitchen9 min read · 6 recipes
Turkey Chili
- 35 mintotal
- 35 gprotein
- 470kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: The most protein on this list. Packs well for work.
19 ingredients · 5 steps · 15 min hands-on
A quick chili for a cold evening: turkey mince, kidney and borlotti beans and peppers in a tomato base with chilli powder, paprika, cumin and curry powder. It makes four bowls at 470 kcal and 35 g of protein.
Stir the tomato paste and spices in for about a minute and keep the heat at medium, so they toast without burning. Then it simmers for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with coriander and sour cream. At 35 minutes, it is the cosy dinner for a weeknight.
Hungarian Goulash
- 2 h 55 mintotal
- 32 gprotein
- 360kcal
- Intermediatelevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: Only 30 minutes of that is you; the rest it cooks on its own. Packs well for work.
13 ingredients · 6 steps · 30 min hands-on
The slow one. Beef simmers for 2 hours in a thick paprika and onion base with caraway, and potato, carrot, peppers and tomato go in near the end. It is 360 kcal and 32 g of protein a serving, and only 30 of the 175 minutes need you.
Take the pot off the heat before you stir in the tomato paste and paprika, so the paprika toasts without burning. A splash of stock helps if it starts to catch. Make it on a Sunday, when you want the house to smell like dinner all afternoon.
Chicken Fricassee
- 30 mintotal
- 32 gprotein
- 420kcal
- Intermediatelevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: The fastest one here. Packs well for work.
12 ingredients · 6 steps · 15 min hands-on
A creamy German chicken stew with carrots, mushrooms and peas, finished with a squeeze of lemon and usually served with rice. At 420 kcal and 32 g of protein it is rich without being a heavy dish.
After the flour goes in, pour the stock and cream in slowly while you stir, so the sauce comes out smooth. The chicken breasts cook whole in the sauce and are cut up at the end. It takes 30 minutes, so it suits a dark Tuesday.
Stuffed Pepper Soup
- 30 mintotal
- 25 gprotein
- 480kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 6servings
Why it's here: The fastest one here. Makes 6 servings, so it covers several days.
16 ingredients · 6 steps · 20 min hands-on
All the flavour of stuffed peppers in one pot: Italian sausage and beef mince, peppers and rice in a tomato broth, with cheddar stirred in at the end to make it creamy. It makes six bowls at 480 kcal and 25 g of protein.
Stir the pot every 5 minutes while the rice cooks, because rice likes to stick. Take it off the heat before the cheddar goes in, then stir until it melts. Top with spring onions and sour cream. Thirty minutes, for a hungry table on a cold night.
Minestrone
- 1 htotal
- 24 gprotein
- 530kcal
- Intermediatelevel
- 8servings
Why it's here: Only 25 minutes of that is you; the rest it cooks on its own. Makes 8 servings, so it covers several days.
22 ingredients · 8 steps · 25 min hands-on
Italian vegetable soup with sausage and a can of mixed beans, with a spoonful of small pasta in each bowl. It is 530 kcal and 24 g of protein a serving, and the recipe makes 8, which is a lot of lunches.
Cook the pasta separately and toss it with olive oil, so it never goes soft in the pot. The beans go in for the last 10 minutes. About an hour in all, with 25 of it hands-on. Make it on a day when you want the windows steamed up.
Lentil Potato Soup
- 40 mintotal
- 17 gprotein
- 400kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: Packs well for work.
15 ingredients · 6 steps · 15 min hands-on
A filling vegan soup of brown lentils and potatoes in a tomato broth warmed with curry powder, paprika and cumin. It has the least protein on the page at 17 g, but at 400 kcal it is hearty, and 15 minutes of work gives you four bowls.
Simmer it for 25 to 30 minutes until the potatoes and lentils are tender. Blend part of it with a stick blender if you like it thicker, and stir in the spinach at the end. Make it on a night when you want something warm that asks little of you.
A good stew is mostly waiting. The work is twenty minutes of chopping and browning at the start; after that the pot does it. That makes them the best thing to cook on a dark evening when you want something good without standing over it.
Most of these keep three to four days in the fridge and freeze well, so the second bowl is lunch and the third is a night off.
Three things that help
Meat that goes in grey stays grey. Give it room in the pan and let it colour before you stir.
Stews thicken and the flavour settles overnight. Cook one the day before you need it.
One-person boxes thaw in a day in the fridge. A whole pot takes three.
Every dish here is in the app with timers inside the steps, servings you can change and a shopping list that builds itself.
