Soup recipe collection

Cold soups make for excellent summer fare. The best vichyssoise I ever had in my life was at a French restaurant during a Montreal summer. Humor me. Try the soup in the traditional manner but then, if you must heat it up, (sigh), go ahead.

Chilled avocado soup blends ripe avocados with a lime-and-serrano-spiked stock into a silky, no-cream base, topped with cilantro cream and crisp julienned radishes. A cool, elegant Mexican-inspired starter.

Canadian-style cheese soup with diced carrots, celery, and onion in a creamy Velveeta and half-and-half base thickened with a roux. A pub-style cold-weather classic.

Chicken and wild rice soup with shiitake mushrooms, shallots, and fresh parsley in a clear chicken broth. A lighter, brothier version than cream-based diner soups. Uses leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey.

Cream of mushroom soup uses a pureed mushroom-onion base plus sliced mushrooms for double texture. Finished with cream, sherry, and thyme for a restaurant-style soup at home.

Cream of spinach soup pureed silky-smooth with butter-sauteed onion, celery, chicken broth, sherry, and a finishing splash of cream and nutmeg. The classic French-style starter soup.

Microwave creamy mushroom soup with fresh mushrooms, onions, sour cream, and Worcestershire. A quick single-serving soup ready in 15 minutes for two with no stovetop required.

Cuban black bean soup simmered slowly for seven hours with garlic, oregano, yellow onion, and red pepper flakes. Vegan, gluten-free, and meltingly tender. Slow-cook classic.

French onion soup builds slow-cooked golden onions on a thyme-and-bay-scented chicken broth, topped with toasted French bread and broiler-bubbled Gruyere. Bistro classic ready in under an hour.

Greek lemon soup (avgolemono) microwave shortcut version using canned chicken and rice soup, egg, and fresh lemon. A 35-minute cheat for a Mediterranean classic.

Authentic Chinese hot and sour soup with wood ear fungi, dried lily buds, shiitake mushrooms, pork shreds, and silken tofu. Tangy, peppery, and finished with egg ribbons and sesame oil.

Jerusalem artichoke soup: simple light soup made with boiled sunchokes, chicken broth, scallions, and fresh dill. Five-ingredient farm-to-table starter.

Favourite leek and potato soup is a classic British comfort bowl: sweet leeks, potatoes and onion gently sweated in butter, simmered in stock and pureed velvety smooth, finished with a swirl of yogurt or cream.

Mexican fresh corn soup blends corn off the cob with milk and butter into a silky base, then folds in green chilies and Monterey Jack. Topped with crisp deep-fried tortilla squares for crunch.

Oxtail soup simmered until the meat falls off the bone, then finished with potatoes, mixed vegetables, and tomato paste for a rich, hearty bowl. A classic stick-to-your-ribs soup served as is or ladled over white rice.

Creamy potato cheddar soup with sautéed mirepoix, cubed potatoes, and a Worcestershire kick. Hearty stovetop comfort soup ready in about 30 minutes.