Holidays & Occasions Thanksgiving Delicious Soup Recipes to Kick Off Thanksgiving Dinner By Kaitlyn Yarborough Kaitlyn Yarborough Part of the Southern Living team since 2017, Kaitlyn Yarborough is a Georgia native living in Austin, Texas, who covers a wide variety of topics for both the magazine and website, focusing on culture and lifestyle content, as well as travel in the South.She earned a B.A. in Journalism at the University of Georgia. She hopes to inspire your travel bucket list with her features on road trips through Texas Hill Country, bourbon tours in Kentucky, and the best beach getaways on the Gulf Coast. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on July 8, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Melissa Gray; Prop Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller When November rolls around, it's time to start the countdown to the day of thanks and feasting. When it comes to the feasting, Thanksgiving Day is a marathon, not a sprint—and we relish every second of every course. Our mountainous menu must cover all of the bases, from our favorite family dishes to the bountiful fall flavors. We like to give every course our full attention, and we know it's just as important to pick the perfect starter to kick off the Thanksgiving feast on the right note as it is to bake those pumpkin pies. These soups are sure to impress your guests and get the ball rolling on a Thanksgiving dinner that won't disappoint. You can pick a soup that highlights the tastes of fall from the get-go, or you can select a palette-pleasing soup that saves those fall flavors for the main event. We love serving our starter soups in festive shooters for a pretty presentation and perfectly sized portions, while garnishing with toasted pumpkin seeds and fall-hued creams always gives that Thanksgiving pizazz. We can't wait to let these delicious soups don our Thanksgiving table this year! 01 of 15 Creamy Potato-and-Ham Hock Slow-Cooker Soup Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Stelling; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Creamy Potato-and-Ham Hock Slow-Cooker Soup We can't get enough of this favorite fall soup, so we're thinking it's a great bet to impress our guests at Thanksgiving. It's big on flavor, low on effort. Because all the ingredients sit in the slow cooker together, the potatoes soak up each element, especially the ham, so every bite is a full-flavored one. 02 of 15 Sweet Potato Soup Greg DuPree Recipes: Sweet Potato Soup The oven-browned onions are the secret weapons in this fall favorite soup. With only six ingredients, you're definitely going to want to whip this up for an easy, delicious Thanksgiving starter. 03 of 15 Creamy White Bean-and-Chard Soup Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Creamy White Bean-and-Chard Soup Add a pop of green to the Thanksgiving table with this soup. Full of Swiss-chard, this soup is the easiest way to sneak some veggies into the kids before pie. 04 of 15 Classic Oyster Stew Hector Sanchez Recipe: Classic Oyster Stew Maybe your family usually does Oyster Dressing, but wants to try a new recipe this year without oysters—well, you can get your holiday oyster fix with this decadent seafood stew! To achieve the perfect texture of just-cooked oysters, poach them in the milk until their edges begin to curl, set aside, and return them to the stew just before serving. 05 of 15 Pecan Soup Iain Bagwell Recipe: Pecan Soup This velvety soup is like chestnut soup, but with a Southern flair. With the delicious (and crunchy) addition of toasted pecans, this starter soup gives the quintessential "fall in the South" taste we love. 06 of 15 Coconut-Curry Butternut Squash Soup Southern Living Recipe: Coconut-Curry Butternut Squash Soup All the rich flavors of a coconut curry melded with a velvety butternut squash soup. The secret to this comforting soup is a dash of apple cider vinegar at the end to balance the sweetness of the squash. 07 of 15 Spicy Blue Hubbard Squash Soup Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Melissa Gray; Prop Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller Recipe: Spicy Blue Hubbard Squash Soup You might not be familiar with the Blue Hubbard Squash, but this very pretty blue heirloom gourd should become a part of your winter rotation. Semisweet and smooth in texture, it's the perfect gourd for soup. 08 of 15 Carrot Soup with Pea Pesto Johnny Autry; Food and Prop Styling: Charlotte L. Autry Recipe:Carrot Soup with Pea Pesto Brighten up a classic winter soup like carrot with a touch of spring in the form of a pea pesto. While fresh peas may not available around Thanksgiving, frozen ones will do the trick. 09 of 15 Bryant Terry's Turnip Green Soup Ed Anderson Recipe: Bryant Terry's Turnip Green Soup This vegan soup may lack cream, but is filled with satisfying flavor. Use young (or baby) turnips for this soup as they are tender, mild, and slightly sweet for a balanced dish that isn't bitter. 10 of 15 Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup Greg DuPree; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee Montiel Recipe:Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup Get creative with the garnishes on this versatile soup. Everything from a sprinkle of toasted pepitas to a swirl of Greek yogurt will take this soup from plain to stunning. 11 of 15 Instant Pot Creamy Root Vegetable Soup Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Recipe: Instant Pot Creamy Root Vegetable Soup This hearty winter soup comes together entirely in an Instant Pot, freeing up precious stove-top space for Thanksgiving sides and making cleanup a breeze. 12 of 15 Acorn Squash Soup Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Victor Protasio, Prop Stylist Claire Spollen Recipe: Acorn Squash Soup Butternut squash may be a classic, but the beautiful golden-hue of this soup is bound to wow Thanksgiving guests. You can also take this soup up notch with playful garnishes like fried scallions or a sprinkle of cinnamon. 13 of 15 Creamy Collard Green Soup with Bacony Croutons Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Recipe: Creamy Collard Green Soup with Bacony Croutons Bacon makes everything better, including soups. This soup starts with bacon fat, which is used to cook the onions and garlic, later the soup is finished with bacon-fat roasted croutons and bacon crumbles. You couldn't squeeze more bacon in this soup if you tried. 14 of 15 Creamy Turnip Soup Hector Manuel Sanchez Recipe: Creamy Turnip Soup From top to tip, this soup uses every part of the turnip. The root is blended with potatoes for a creamy base, while the tops are sautéed for a pretty green garnish. 15 of 15 Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling; Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon Would you believe this creamy soup contains no cream? Instead, it uses a potato to create a full-bodied cauliflower soup with a velvety texture but less fat. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit