11 Low-Calorie Soup Recipes We Tested (103 to 364 Calories)

Every soup on this list was cooked and measured in our kitchens, and none goes over 364 calories a bowl. The lightest is a 103-calorie Turkish sea bass soup; the most filling is a chicken soup that carries 43g of protein. Five of the eleven come from the Turkish table we grew up with, one comes from Ecuador’s coast, and four have step-by-step videos on their recipe pages. The comparison table sorts them by tested calories so you can pick a bowl that fits the day.

Every Soup Compared (Tested Values)

Calories and protein are per serving from the tested recipe card on each linked page.

How We Tested

Each soup was developed and measured in our kitchens, and the numbers above come from the tested nutrition card on each recipe page, per serving as printed. Five of these soups are from the Turkish home cooking we grew up with in Hatay, and the encebollado comes from Andrea, who grew up eating it on Ecuador’s coast. Where a soup has a video, it is embedded on the linked recipe page.

Under 150 Calories: Soups You Can Eat Freely

1. Low-Carb Fish Soup (103 cal)

Sea bass in a clean broth at 103 calories, the lightest bowl on this list. Fish soup is the trick most diet plans miss: real dinner satisfaction at almost no calorie cost.

Get the fish soup recipe

2. Red Lentil Soup, Mercimek (138 cal, 25 minutes)

The soup every Turkish household makes weekly: red lentils, turmeric, and a paprika butter finish. The fastest recipe here at 25 minutes, and the one we recommend cooking first.

Get the mercimek recipe

3. Carrot Ginger Soup (144 cal, with video)

Carrots and fresh ginger blended silky with a little milk. Bright, warming, and one of the four soups here with a full video on the page.

Get the carrot ginger recipe

4. Yayla Yogurt Rice Soup (146 cal)

Rice in a yogurt and egg yolk broth with dried mint, the soup Turkish families serve when someone needs looking after. Tangy where most soups are heavy.

Get the yayla recipe

5. Ecuadorian Encebollado (149 cal)

Ecuador’s national fish soup: albacore tuna, yuca, and pickled onion in tomato broth. Andrea grew up with it on the coast, where it doubles as the country’s favorite morning-after cure. Built from canned tuna, so it is also the cheapest bowl here.

Get the encebollado recipe

150 to 250 Calories: Lunch Bowls

6. Tomato Gazpacho (186 cal, no cooking)

The cold Spanish classic: tomatoes, cucumber, and green pepper blended with olive oil. Twenty-five minutes and zero stove time, which makes it the only soup here you can make in August without regret.

Get the gazpacho recipe

7. Four-Legume Soup (194 cal, 8g carbs, with video)

Green lentils, red lentils, bulgur, and rice in one pot, finished with Greek yogurt. Four legumes and grains, yet only 8g of net carbs per bowl. Video on the page.

Get the legume soup recipe

8. Turkish Mediterranean Soup (240 cal)

Wheat, green lentils, and chickpeas soured with pomegranate syrup, the signature of Hatay cooking. The most filling bowl in the middle tier.

Get the soup recipe

250 to 365 Calories: Soups That Are Dinner

9. Almond Broccoli Soup (285 cal, with video)

Broccoli blended with sliced almonds and a touch of cream. The almonds do something unusual: they give a cream-soup texture with less cream, which is how it stays under 300. Video on the page.

Get the broccoli soup recipe

10. White Bean Stew, Kuru Fasulye (340 cal)

Turkiye’s unofficial national dish: white beans simmered with soujouk and marrow bones in hot pepper paste broth. Technically a stew, practically the most beloved bowl in this collection.

Get the kuru fasulye recipe

11. Low-Fat Chicken Soup (364 cal, 43g protein, with video)

Chicken legs, vegetables, and an egg yolk and lemon finish, rated 5 stars and carrying more protein than any other bowl here: 43g. We originally developed it gentle enough for diverticulitis diets, which is why it skips the heavy fat. Video on the page.

Get the chicken soup recipe

How to Use Soups for Weight Loss

Soup works for weight management for a simple reason: water-heavy food fills the stomach before it fills the calorie budget. A practical pattern is a bowl from the under-150 tier before your main meal, or a bowl from the dinner tier as the meal itself. Every soup here freezes well except the gazpacho and the yayla (yogurt splits when frozen), so batch the lentil and legume soups for the week. If you are cooking for a digestive condition, our guide to soups you can eat with diverticulitis covers which of these fit and when.

FAQ

What is the lowest-calorie soup that still fills you up?

On this list, the sea bass fish soup at 103 calories. Protein and hot broth together produce fullness out of proportion to the calories, which no snack at 103 calories can match.

Are soups actually good for weight loss?

Broth-based soups are among the most filling foods per calorie because of their water content. The pattern that works: broth-based bowls before or as meals. Cream-based restaurant soups are a different story; even our almond broccoli, the creamiest here, stays at 285 because the cream is measured.

Which of these soups are vegetarian or vegan?

Vegetarian: red lentil, carrot ginger, yayla, gazpacho, four-legume, Turkish Mediterranean, and almond broccoli. The gazpacho is vegan as written, and the red lentil soup is vegan if you swap the butter finish for olive oil.

Can I meal prep these soups?

All the legume and lentil soups freeze and reheat well, as do the chicken and fish soups. Skip freezing the gazpacho (texture) and the yayla (yogurt separates). Refrigerated, most keep 3 to 4 days.