January is National Soup Month, and with the cold weather finally approaching, there's no better way to celebrate and beat the winter blues than with a warm and comforting bowl of tasty soup.
With classics like chicken noodle, minestrone and tomato soup, the chefs over at Food Network have hundreds of recipes to warm your bones and keep you happy all winter long. They've even come up with a few of their own interesting takes on some classics like mac and cheese soup and pepperoni pizza soup to keep you trying new things.
From thick and hearty, to light and healthy and everything in between, we've picked some of our favorite Food Network recipes to celebrate National Soup Month and keep you cozy and satisfied on even the coldest of winter nights.
Tomato Soup With Grilled Cheese Croutons
Tomato soup and grilled cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly, but this soup combines the two in one brilliant way. Ina Garten came up with this recipe where you create croutons out of a grilled cheese sandwich to put on top of the thick, oniony base for a sophisticated take on a children's classic that kids and adults will love. Click here for recipe.
Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup
Giada De Laurentiis came up with this twist on a classic that will wake up your taste buds with every bite. Not only is it delicious, but it's easy to make as you can use your favorite store-bought marinara sauce and it can be ready in about 20 minutes! This tomato soup recipe is a little different than the classic because it has pasta, beans, carrots and onions in it, making it a little heartier than a typical plain tomato soup, but the red pepper flakes give it an awesome kick. Click here for recipe.
Healthified Broccoli Cheddar Soup
While broccoli cheddar soup is amazing no matter how it's prepared, it can be an extremely heavy soup and not exactly one that fits into most diets. This healthified version uses a secret ingredient of fat-free evaporated milk to keep it creamy but make it a much lighter and low-fat version. Click here for recipe.
Pesto Bean Soup
Cannellini beans, pesto and olives make this interesting and salty dish the perfect Italian soup. It's extremely easy to make and only requires less than 10 ingredients. Pesto is not something you often see in soup, but this recipe proves it should be used more often. Click here for recipe.
Mac and Cheese Soup
Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, so you can only imagine it in soup form because this recipe is no joke. It's a take on the classic dish, only much brothier to give it a soup-like texture. It still has all the cheesy goodness of regular mac and cheese, it's just somehow warmer, smoother and better. Plus, it's topped with a chunk of baguette and slice of tomato for the best garnish ever. Click here for recipe.
Minestrone With Parmigiano-Reggiano
Another soup classic, only this time Bobby Flay made this vegetable soup much healthier and heartier than it already was. He uses Swiss chard, carrots, cannellini beans, spinach and pancetta for extra flavor and then tops it off with some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for the ultimate finishing touch. Click here for recipe.
Leftover Baked Potato Soup
This soup is exactly what it sounds like. You take your leftover baked potatoes and put them to good use. Alton Brown obviously came up with this genius, creamy and cheesy idea. Click here for recipe.
Ravioli and Veggie Soup
This is easy, tasty, quick and even vegetarian! Store-bought ravioli make for a great addition in soups, and this veggie-packed soup can be made with either beef, chicken or vegetable broth depending on your preference. Serve with a side of bread for the perfect dipping opportunity. Click here for recipe.
Sausage, White Bean and Tortellini Soup
This soup also features pesto and suggests using a store-bought brand of not only the pesto, but the tortellini as well so you can serve this up quick. It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and a half hour to cook, so this delicious soup is a perfect weeknight dinner that the whole family will enjoy. Click here for recipe.
Chicken Nugget Soup
Chicken nuggets in soup? Yup, you heard that right. Basically, the nuggets are served within a satisfying cauliflower puree broth for a surprisingly delicious and interesting soup to bring you right back to your childhood. Click here for recipe.
Hearty Chicken and Dumplings
This is a lightened-up version of the usually heavy traditional soup and is considered a healthy meal makeover. Ground oats are the secret to making these dumplings much healthier yet still delicious and flavorful. Click here for recipe.
French Onion Soup
This is a restaurant favorite, and one that's much easier to make than people think. This version, which chef Melissa d'Arabian created, is a homemade version of the bistro classic and uses Swiss cheese instead of the classic gruyere. Click here for recipe.
Italian Wedding Soup
Yet another classic soup has gotten a twist, only this time it's a very simple twist because it's just made with orzo, which adds a nice texture to the soup which has delicious and tiny meatballs in it. Click here for recipe.
Pepperoni Pizza Soup
Just like the mac and cheese and chicken nugget soups, this one seems out of the ordinary but definitely has potential. This soup combines all your favorite elements of a slice of pepperoni pizza into a warm bowl of soup. The marinara base is topped with a thinly sliced pepperoni and bubbling cheese toast, and we promise you'll never look at a bowl of soup the same way again. Click here for recipe.
