How to BOOST Your Soup game – My Top Tips!

Why Soup Needs a Makeover

Soup and bread is a lunch staple, but how do you feel a few hours later? Hungry? Sluggish? Reaching for a snack?

Here’s my number one soup-boosting tip: add more protein. Most soups are packed with veggies and fibre, and pairing them with wholegrain sourdough or wholegrain seeded bread gives you healthy carbs. But without enough protein, your meal might not keep you going for long—it digests quickly, spikes your blood sugar, and can leave you tired and snack-hungry soon after.

Why Protein is a Game-Changer

Adding protein brings balance to your meal, helping to:

• Keep you fuller for longer

• Stabilise your energy and mood

• Support your digestion and hormones

Protein also works with key appetite-regulating hormones like GLP-1, ghrelin, and Peptide YY. These help you feel full and reduce cravings and can mediate that blood sugar response —especially that constant “food chatter” between your brain and your belly.

And here’s the bonus: many protein-rich ingredients also come with extra fibre and micronutrients, boosting the overall nutrition of your soup.

Next time you make soup, try adding:

• Lentils or beans

• Tofu or tempeh

• Shredded chicken or salmon

• Greek yogurt stirred in

• Cheese or egg toppers

• Or paneer croutons I mentioned earlier!

Ensuring meals have adequate protein and fibre is the basis of my Vital Living Collective programmes.  It is here that less sugar cravings take place while following the programme!

A core principle of my Vital Living Collective is to add around 30g of protein per meal. Having this level, of what I call optimal protein, in your diet may have far reaching effects on appetite, mood and health, especially when combined with 10g fibre per meal.

Protein ideas - Add in the pulses

You can add beans, peas and lentils to your soup along with the vegetables. This immediately turns a soup into a ’meal’ soup which is so much more satisfying.

Legumes give you a slower release of energy, compared to other faster acting carbs such as rice or bread and are likely to keep you fuller for longer. Some beans can be added into the soup whilst it cooks, others can be roasted for a crunchy topping.

The portion sizes below can be used as a guide to try and reach your 30g protein per meal. You don’t need to focus on one protein—you can add lentils to the soup and crumble feta cheese on top for example.

Legumes to add into your soup

Adding a tin of beans to your soup can add in an extra 15-20g protein to the soup itself, whereas 100g dried lentils can contain as much as 25g protein.

 Dried lentils cook in as little as 20-25 minutes. We might need to add in a little extra stock as they cook. Did you know that adding different coloured lentils to your soup counts as extra plant points as red lentils and green lentils count as 2 different plants!

Choose from butter beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, flageolet beans, black beans or red, black, green or Puy lentils.

Here are some protein rich ideas that you can use to ‘top’ your soup to add more flavour, texture and colour whilst boosting the protein.

Simple protein toppings

75g pumpkin/ sunflower seeds = 16g protein

100g Greek yogurt = 10g protein

100g whipped cottage cheese = 10g protein

80g feta or goats cheese = 16g protein

2 poached/ boiled eggs = 12g protein

 75g paneer or halloumi cheese = 18g protein

100g mozzarella cheese = 17g protein

 50g parmesan cheese = 16g protein

140g cooked chickpeas = 8g protein

 125g cooked lentils = 11g protein

 140g butter beans = 11g protein

140g tofu = 23g protein

100g falafels = 10g protein

100g smoked tempeh = 22g protein

Extras on the side

 See the soup as your base that you add to, or why not put the protein onto your bread with the soup? It could be smoked mackerel, hot smoked trout, cheese, a sliced boiled egg, some sliced chicken, tempeh slices, or a falafel and hummus.

The great thing about soup is that it is one of the easiest foods to batch cook and freeze. Freeze two or three types of soup and keep some of these protein and fibre sources in your fridge and cupboards and you’ll always have a healthy lunch to hand!

If you are at work, take some goats cheese, tofu, feta, mozzarella or toasted seeds with you to add into your soups easily and give them a top-up.

These meal soups can also fit really well into a food flask, making them very transportable.

 If you want to make your soup even more substantial, and to add more fibre too; you could add some quinoa, bulgur wheat, freekeh, or pearl barley as an alternative to bread. These cook in as little as 20 minutes so can be added to your soup during cooking.

Free soup recipes –

Broccoli and Cauliflower soup with coconut milk & paneer Croutons

This soup is divine. I make it with a few red lentils and some cayenne pepper. If you are dairy free, replace paneer with tofu. I have topped it off with swirls of fresh wild garlic pesto.

Beet and Dill soup with chickpeas

Beetroot is a good source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. 

• Antioxidants:

  It contains antioxidants like betacyanin, which may help protect against cell damage. 

• Nitrates:

  Beetroot is high in nitrates, which are converted to nitric oxide in the body, promoting blood vessel dilation and improved blood flow. 

• Betaine:

  Beetroot contains betaine, which is an amino acid that plays a role in cell growth and function. 

Tuscan white bean soup

With Mediteranean flavours and white beans this is a really satifsying soup which can be enjoyed year round. 

Three Soup Top-Up Recipes

Crispy Chickpeas - In a pan with some coconut oil saute cooked chickpeas until crispy but still soft in the centre - add a little sea salt

Spicy Tofu - In a pan saute with coconut or olive oil, add some ground chilli a generous pinch, finish with soy sauce for the last five minutes of cooking

Toasted Seeds - In a dry pan saute the seeds until crisp and lightly coloured

My tips on boosting your soup are a great way to add more protein, fibre and unique plants to each meal, which is the aim of my Vital Living Collective programme with longevity at the core I create recipes that are delicious whilst making choices that support your long term health.

The Vital Living Collective focuses on 3 key areas of our diet which are often missed but easily achieved with some guidance. The plan will teach you a way of eating that will give you food confidence and food freedom, and will install a healthier and sustainable way of eating.

The principles follow the latest nutrition research and include:

 - 30g of protein per meal (approx!)

- 30g of fibre per day

- 30 unique plants (or more) per week

The Vital Living Collective was created to keep you full up for longer, support your gut health, reduce cravings and snacking, nourish your body and to help you manage your metabolism easily. Weight loss is not the focus on this plan but it is often achieved through the choices made!

And finally, there is my Instagram @joyoftaste page where you will find easy to follow recipes and nutrition tips to help you on your way! I'd love to see you there!