Ah, there’s nothing like piping hot soup on a frigid day. The signature comfort food of winter, “soups run the nutritional gamut,” say Lauren Slayton, MS RD and Caren Tishfield, authors of Mindful Menus ™. So what makes for a good pick? Here are the qualities that bowl them over:
Gimme a high fiber: Look for soup with 5 or more grams per serving, especially if you’re eating it as a whole meal. With 7-9 grams per cup, “the undisputed king of high fiber soups is lentil,” but you can also get your fill with black bean, chili and split pea.
Low-cal pals: When eating soup as a snack or starter (research shows that this lowers total calories consumed), try to stay under 100 calories per cup. Opt for miso (see our easy recipe), tomato or butternut squash, but avoid anything “creamed.”
Put a halt on the salt: Most canned soups contain 25-30% of your daily sodium, but if you want to lower your intake, look for labels with less than 500mg per serving. Slayton and Tishfield like Amy’s and Health Valley for their low-salt varieties.
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