Spinach Soup Recipes

This soup, adapted from The Nordic Cookbook, has the rich flavor of creamed spinach but a much lighter texture.

Horseradish, originally consumed for medicinal purposes, became the condiment of choice for English roast beef in the 17th century. Chef Tristan Welch creates an ingenious granite by freezing horseradish with milk, scraping it into icy flakes and scooping it onto toasts to garnish a creamy nettle soup (spinach is excellent here too).

"In our house, stracciatella was a catch-all," Tom Valenti says about this simple, rustic soup. "We started with good homemade stock and added whatever was around: beans, leftover sausage, shredded chicken." With a few truffle shavings, this soup can be dressed up for a holiday dinner party.

"My grandmother felt that cooking was her life. She used to come over and whip up a batch of stracciatella," says Linda Meyers of this classic Italian chicken soup with spinach and delicate bits of egg. "Tasting it brings back all these memories of her."

This soup, adapted from The Nordic Cookbook, has the rich flavor of creamed spinach but a much lighter texture.

Chef Justin Cogley of Aubergine in Carmel, CA adds barley to this lovely, delicate, spring-like soup, which makes it hearty but not heavy.

Don't be tempted to cook the tortellini in the soup; they will soak up too much of that irresistibly garlicky broth. Cook them separately, as the soup simmers, and stir them in at the last moment.

You can easily swap out baby arugula for the spinach if that's what you've got on hand.

"A few years ago," Sang Yoon recalls, "I caught a cold and my friend Sal Marino of Il Grano invited me for a bowl of stracciatella alla romana, the Italian soup with egg strands and semolina. I went home and made my own ghetto version with broth from a box, and realized it would taste even better with ginger and spinach."

Spinach and pureed poblano chiles (sauteed with garlic and cumin) give this chili a swamp-like look that's fun on Halloween. Before serving, Grace Parisi stirs in hominy and little chicken-and-pork meatballs.

This stew, like all those in Catalonia, starts with a sofrito, a thick sauce made with sauteed onions and tomatoes. Once you get all the ingredients in the pot, there's not much to do besides enjoy the aroma wafting from this hearty, spicy, soupy stew as it slowly cooks.

Cook the broccoli rabe in a separate pan, not in the soup pot. That way, any excess bitterness from the vegetable goes down the drain with the cooking water rather than into the soup. You'll find, though, that a bit of bite enlivens the lentils.

ibbons of bright green spinach float in a rich-tasting broth that's chock-full of turkey, black beans, and bacon. The soup may remind you of chili, and in fact it's flavored with chili powder, along with cocoa, oregano, and Tabasco sauce.

Trina Hahnemann calls the root vegetables in this simple vegetarian soup the "gold of Nordic soil" because they're high in nutrients and grow well in cold climates.

Chef Jenn Louis amps up her tasty version of this Roman-style egg drop soup by adding peas, carrots and spinach.

Seafood is an opulent start to dinner, especially in this briny bisque studded with big, plump mussels and spinach.