Our Most Refreshing Spring Soup Recipes

By Grace Haynes
June 01, 2017
Credit: Jennifer Davick
Don’t let rising temperatures deter you from a suppertime standby: soup. These easy, one-pot recipes come together quickly on busy weeknights, and leftovers can be frozen and thawed out later to enjoy. Recipes like Lemon Chicken Vegetable Soup will warm you up on chilly, early-spring evenings, and chilled options like Green Goddess Soup with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat are perfect for serving on hotter nights. These recipes make great additions to an Easter lunch or bridal shower menu. Pair them with a fresh spring salad, and you’re menu is complete.
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Spring Lettuce and Leek Soup

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipe: Spring Lettuce and Leek Soup

This vibrant green soup is packed with bright spring color and flavor. Top it off with a dollop of sour cream and a fresh dill sprig for a pretty presentation.

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Ham-and-Bean Soup

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipe: Ham-and-Bean Soup

Don’t let leftover ham bones from Easter lunch go to waste. Add beans, vegetables, and fresh herbs to make a hearty slow-cooker soup.

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White Gazpacho

Credit: Oxmoor House

Recipe: White Gazpacho

This chilled soup gets its creamy texture from Spanish Marcona almonds. Serve this quick-fix dish as an appetizer.

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Lemon Chicken Vegetable Soup

Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Lemon Chicken Vegetable Soup

Chilly spring evenings call for a comforting bowl of soup. Lemon slices give this healthy chicken and vegetable soup a zesty kick.

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Chilled Cucumber, Cantaloup, and Strawberry Soups

Credit: Charles Walton

Recipe: Chilled Cucumber Soup
Recipe: Cantaloupe Soup
Recipe: Chilled Strawberry Soup

A trio of colorful fruity soups makes for an elegant appetizer at a bridal shower or ladies luncheon.

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Chilled Carrot Soup

Credit: Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Chilled Carrot Soup

A vibrant and refreshing soup like this one is is cold in temperature, but it's also a colorful way to start off your Easter menu or spring party.

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Lemon, Orzo, and Meatball Soup

Credit: Melina Hammer

Recipe: Lemon, Orzo, and Meatball Soup

Chicken noodle soup gets an upgrade with new swaps like orzo pasta, chicken meatballs, and lemon slices.

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White Bean and Chorizo Soup

Credit: Greg Dupree

Recipe: White Bean and Chroizo Soup

Our Test Kitchen recommends spicing up this one-pot soup with Mexican chorizo, which also gives the bright red color. Serve it with slices of crusty bread for dipping.

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Chilled Blueberry Soup

Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Chilled Blueberry Soup

Start a springtime meal off on a sweet note with a refreshing blueberry soup.

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Peach-and-Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber Yogurt

Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Peach-and-Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber Yogurt

Gazpacho—a classic chilled soup—is the perfect dish to beat the summer heat, and this Peach-and-Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber Yogurt captures summer in a bowl. It is light and refreshing, and it has the perfect balance of sweet peaches and ripe tomatoes, as well as a little spice from ground white pepper, some chopped fresh chives, and minced garlic. You can chill this as little as an hour, or as much as a day. Depending on how far in advance you prepare this, you may need to check the seasonings. Regardless of how this dish comes to the table, guests will love its refreshing combination of flavors, and enjoy the idea of a cold, refreshing soup on a hot summer day, or as they ease into the relaxing feelings of a cool summer evening.

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Chunky Tomato-Fruit Gazpacho

Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Chunky Tomato-Fruit Gazpacho

Chopped tomatoes, honeydew, cantaloupe, mango, nectarines, and cucumber come together in this crowd-pleasing, effortless appetizer.

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Green Goddess Soup with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat

Credit: Paul Costello

Recipe: Green Goddess Soup with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat

At her popular Los Angeles dinner parties, entertaining columnist Julia Reed's good friend Suzanne Rheinstein, an interior designer and New Orleans native, often serves a first course consisting of a generous scoop of jumbo lump blue crab napped with green goddess dressing. Reed now serves what she thinks of as "Suzanne's Green Goddess Crabmeat" a lot, but sometimes an entire serving of crab is too much. Instead, she inverted the dish by making a soup out of green goddess ingredients and using a few lumps of crab as garnish only. Even without the crab, the soup (inspired by a recipe from another pal, Nora Etheridge) is pretty great.

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Chilled Zucchini Soup

Credit: Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Chilled Zucchini Soup

This refreshing soup is full of fresh flavors. Make ahead and store up to 2 days.

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Saffron Veal Stew

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Recipe: Saffron Veal Stew

Contributing editor Julia Reed says this stew is perfect for springtime outdoor entertaining. Additional saffron gives the dish a richer color.

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