Our Top 10 Favorite Ina Garten Soup Recipes (2024)

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Lauren Masur

Lauren Masur

Lauren was the Groceries Editor for Kitchn.

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published Feb 13, 2019

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Our Top 10 Favorite Ina Garten Soup Recipes (1)

Name something better than a one-pot meal, that feeds a crowd, warms your soul, requires minimal dish washing, and just so happens to have been prepared by Ina Garten. I’ll wait. You can’t think of anything? Me neither! This is why we put our heads together with Ina’s biggest fan (Trent Pheifer from @StoreBoughtIsFine) and whipped up a list of our favorite soup recipes from the master herself.

Here’s what Trent has to say about Ina’s soups:

“Ina has nearly 50 soup recipes, I’ve made all but six, and there are few if any misses. She’s known for her perfect roast chicken, but she also makes a pretty mean and soul-satisfying soup. Her varied options are perfect for any season or occasion, whether it’s her refreshing summertime gazpacho or her hearty minestrone to keep you warm in the depths of winter.”

And now, without further ado, the top-ten best cozy, soul-warming, tastebud-delighting soups from the Ina archives.

1. Wild Mushroom and Farro Soup

Ina loves to serve a soup as a first course, (bonus points if you make it ahead). She loads this creamy mushroom soup with lots of vegetables, diced pancetta, a scoop of créme fraîche, and a glug of Marsala wine to finish it off. It’s best served with a slice of crusty bread.

Keep this recipe from Barefoot Contessa At Home in your back pocket at all times. Topped with avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, and crispy tortilla strips, this soup brings the heat.

I know we say that a lot of Ina recipes are ingenious around here (and they are!), but this tomato and eggplant soup recipe is actually ingenious. Ina makes a big batch of this soup to enjoy one day, and then uses the leftovers as the sauce for her Baked Pasta with Tomatoes and Eggplant. She calls it a two-fer!

As Ina would say, this is classic French onion soup “with the volume turned up!” Please sign us up for a bowl of this topped with bubbly Gruyère (obvi) and toasted sourdough. According to Trent, “this soup is even better the second day!”

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Somehow only Ina can make something as simple as grilled cheese with tomato soup look and taste utterly gourmet. Not only will your kids love it, but so will you.

Punxsutawney Phil might have predicted an early spring this year, but we’re okay with a long winter if it means we can eat Ina’s winter minestrone on repeat. “It warms my entire body. This soup is my happy place,” Trent says.

When we’re craving the flavors of fall (and have a giant butternut squash we don’t know what to do with), a go-to is a big bowl of this hearty, puréed soup. Trent has opinions about this one: “Trust Ina and get a food mill when it comes to purée. It provides the perfect texture so you don’t feel like you’re eating watery baby food.”

Scoff as you may at Ina’s use of the word “easy,” but she’s not wrong, especially when it comes to gazpacho. This chilled soup with tomatoes, scallions, cucumber, onion and garlic comes together in the food processor. Toasty croutons spread with goat cheese (or in @StoreBoughtIsFine‘s case, Parmesan) are highly recommended. This was one of the first Ina soups that Trent ever made. “It’s still a summer favorite especially when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. It also satisfies my life-long desire to drink salsa straight from the bowl,” he says.

Mark our words, this is all you’re ever going to want to eat on sick days from now on (and also all other days). If you’ve never made matzo balls from scratch before, Ina will walk you through the process and have you feeling like a pro. According to Trent, don’t skip out on making homemade stock. “For most of Ina’s recipes, you can swap in store-bought chicken stock, but the exceptions are her soups where broth is the star. If you don’t want to use three whole chickens (or don’t have a cauldron to accommodate said chickens, the recipe can easily be cut by two thirds.”

To make this cheddar corn chowder even more decadent, garnish it with crispy bacon bits. You will thank Ina later.

What’s your favorite Ina Garten soup recipe?

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Our Top 10 Favorite Ina Garten Soup Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What was Julia Child's favorite soup? ›

Let's test her vichyssoise recipe to find out! Soup was one of Julia Child's favorite things to eat, and reportedly, her absolute favorite was vichyssoise.

What is Ina Garten's favorite meal? ›

The one meal Ina simply couldn't live without is roast chicken. She even cites it as one of the reasons her husband, Jeffrey, proposed marriage in 1968.

What was the meal that changed Julia Child's life? ›

For their first meal in France, Paul ordered oysters, sole meunière and a green salad. Child devoured the meal, calling it “perfection.” Alex Prud'homme, Child's grandnephew and cowriter of her memoir, “My Life in France,” opened the book with this now famous scene.

What did Julia Child eat for breakfast? ›

Child -- put me and them at ease with her genuine friendliness and zest for living. She ordered a hearty breakfast -- grapefruit half, plain yogurt, fried egg, 2 strips bacon, toast with butter and preserves, orange juice, and coffee with milk -- and ate most of it despite constant interruptions.

What was Julia Child's favorite meal? ›

Vichyssoise. Well-known as one of Julia Child's favorite dishes, this chilled leek and potato soup is startling in its simplicity. Aside from the leek, potato, and water, Child's version of the soup calls for barely any additional ingredients.

What is the simplest dish in the world to cook according to Ina Garten? ›

After testing recipes for various projects all day, Ina Garten prefers to make something simple, quick, and ready straight out of the oven. Her favored dish is roast chicken.

What color lipstick does Ina Garten wear? ›

Rosy Lipstick

Ina uses Clinique Dramatically Different Lipstick in A Different Grape.

What's the secret to a good soup? ›

To make sure that every spoonful of soup is richly flavored, with juicy meat and/or tender vegetables, follow these kitchen-tested tips.
  • Use a Sturdy Pot. ...
  • Sauté the Aromatics. ...
  • Start with Good Broth. ...
  • Cut Vegetables to the Right Size. ...
  • Stagger the Addition of Vegetables. ...
  • Keep Liquid at a Simmer. ...
  • Season Just Before Serving.
Oct 9, 2022

What is the secret ingredient in soup? ›

It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.

What gives soup the best flavor? ›

Foods that have a great deal of acidity, like lemon juice, vinegar, white wine, and tomato puree, can help liven up the flavor of bland-tasting bone and other broths. "The acidity of these ingredients works to complement and enhance the broth's flavors, not mask it.

Why do you put vinegar in vegetable soup? ›

Think of vinegar as the conductor of an orchestra. It can take a cacophony of flavors and sync them into perfect harmony. It both balances and awakens them. Plus, if you accidentally add too much salt to your soup, a little vinegar will tame the saltiness.

What is the best thickener for vegetable soup? ›

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

What gives vegetable soup that depth of flavor? ›

Celery, carrot, and onion are the base vegetables for most preparations of this kind. That's because when you gently fry them in extra virgin olive oil, they become a tasty flavor base for your soup, adding depth of flavor.

What was Julia Child's best dish? ›

Boeuf Bourguignon

Child's Boeuf Bourguignon recipe was featured in one of the earliest episodes of The French Chef and has become a classic among the many Child enthusiasts at GBH. In fact, GBH News host Henry Santoro concludes there's no better recipe for the dish.

What is Julia Child's favorite food? ›

Vichyssoise. Well-known as one of Julia Child's favorite dishes, this chilled leek and potato soup is startling in its simplicity. Aside from the leek, potato, and water, Child's version of the soup calls for barely any additional ingredients.

What dish is Julia Child most famous for? ›

Boeuf Bourguignon

This hearty beef stew from the pages of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is, hands down, Child's most infamous dish.

What was Julia Child's first dish? ›

I have always been intrigued with the idea of cooking Sole Meunière, the classic French dish first tasted by Julia Child on her arrival in France in 1948.

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