Best Soups for Christmas Dinner: Ideas to Inspire

Traditionally, the meal of choice on Christmas Day is a roast turkey dinner. Unless you are a vegetarian, then the main meal usually consists of roast turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy, and a selection of your favourite vegetables. Regardless of whether you follow tradition or you choose a different main course option, you also need to think about the other courses, including the starter. Soup is a fantastic option as it is something that most people enjoy. Here are our suggestions for the best soups for Christmas dinner.

Why Is Soup a Good Option for a Christmas Dinner Starter?

There are many reasons to make soup as an appetizer for Christmas dinner. Some of the reasons are:

• Budget-friendly: If you are struggling with the cost of Christmas, the soups are a cheap option for Christmas dinner, especially if you choose vegetable-based soups.
• Make in advance: Time is often a significant constraint in preparing your Christmas feast. You can save time on the day by preparing some of the food in advance. Soup is a dish you can make the day before, either in a pan or a soup maker. You can then refrigerate, or up to a month in advance and store in the freezer.
• Lots of options: There are almost endless options of soups you can serve, so you will find a soup that suits your tastes and budget.
• Suit various dietary needs: If you have friends and family around for Christmas dinner, then you may need to meet different dietary needs. There are soups to suit all diets. For example, a vegetable-based dish may meet the needs of vegans and those who are following dairy-free or gluten-free diets.
• Light: A small bowl of soup is a lighter option than many other starters you may consider for your Christmas dinner. Choosing soup as a light appetizer leaves plenty of room for a turkey dinner.
• Full of flavour: Soup is a flavoursome option, and there are many ways you can add flavour to the soup. Therefore, you can introduce different flavours in your starter than you will find in a
• Creativity: There are many creative ways that you can serve soup to get your festive dinner started with a bang. Soups are also a way to introduce colour to the table.

Choosing the Best Soups for Christmas Dinner

With so many options available, you may find it tricky to decide which are the best Christmas Day soup recipes. Some factors to consider include:

• Seasonality: Soups have a better flavour if you use seasonal ingredients. Seasonality also impacts the price and the availability of the ingredients, says Mount Nittany Health.
• Overlap of ingredients: Choose soups that do not include the same ingredients as you are serving in your main course.
• Dietary needs: Find out about the dietary needs of your guests to make sure you choose a suitable soup.
• Presentation: Think about how you want your soup to look on the table, and choose a soup that will meet your expectations visually.

Seasonal Soups for Christmas Dinner: A-C Alphabetically

One factor that may influence your choice of soup for Christmas dinner is the ingredients’ seasonality. Whether the ingredients are in season can affect availability, cost, and flavour. Therefore, it is better to opt for soups made using ingredients that are in season. Some of the best soups for Christmas dinner that use seasonal vegetables include:

• Beetroot soups: Beetroot is a fantastic seasonal ingredient, and we have some delicious soup recipes that use beetroot. Two of our favourite options are Borscht and beetroot and apple soup.
• Broccoli and stilton soup: Broccoli and blue cheese are two ingredients that work well together. Not only is broccoli a seasonal vegetable for the winter months, but stilton is a food many people associate with Christmas. Therefore, broccoli and stilton soup is a good option.
• Butternut squash soups: Butternut squash is a fantastic ingredient for soup making, as not only is it full of flavour, but it also has the ideal consistency. Furthermore, the colors looks great as part of a Christmas feast. Some of our favourite soups include butternut squash and chilli soup, butternut squash and ginger soup, and butternut squash and apple soup.
• Cauliflower cheese soup: Cauliflower cheese is a classic side dish, and the ingredients are perfect for making a delicious, creamy cauliflower cheese soup to get your tastebuds flowing at the beginning of your celebratory meal.
• Carrot soups: One of the cheapest seasonal vegetables is carrots, and you can use these in multiple soups. Some of our favourites at Super Souper Ed include carrot and orange soup, and carrot and coriander soup.
• Chestnut soup: Nothing says Christmas more than chestnuts, and our roasted chestnut soup with crispy bacon will undoubtedly get you into the Christmas spirit.

More Seasonal Soups: M-W Alphabetically

• Mushroom soup: Mushrooms are an ingredient that is available all your round, and it is a soup that suits most tastes. Try our easy soup recipe for a creamy mushroom soup.
• Parsnip soups: Parsnips are another fantastic seasonal ingredient that many people associate with Christmas. Therefore, it can make some of the best soups for Christmas dinner. We have several recipe suggestions, including parsnip and pear soup, spiced parsnip soup, and parsnip and apple soup.
• Pea soups: Soups that include pea as the main ingredient are crowd-pleasers, and pea is also a cheap ingredient to use. Two of our favourite soups are 15-minute pea and ham soup and pea and mint soup.
• Potato soups: Seasonal, cheap, warming, and delicious, potato is a versatile ingredient that is an ingredient in many of our soup recipes. Two excellent options are leek and potato soup or potato and spinach soup. A different take on a potato soup is the German dish Kartoffelsuppe. For a colourful soup with a little spice, try our sweet potato and chilli soup.
• Winter vegetable soup: To combine several seasonal vegetables, make our winter vegetable soup recipe.

Vibrant Soups for Christmas Dinner

To impress your guests, you should consider serving a colourful and vibrant soup that has visual impact, and you will find many Christmas Day soup recipes on our site that fit the bill. Some examples are:

• Beetroot soups: Beetroot soups are a vivid purple colour that looks dramatic on the table. See the seasonal soups section for links to some of our favourite beetroot recipes.
• Carrot soups: The bright orange colour of carrot soups looks impressive. You will find links to the best carrot soups in the seasonal soups section.
• Pepper soups: Although peppers are not a seasonal winter vegetable, using peppers can create colourful and delicious soups. Our suggestions include roasted red pepper soup and courgette, pepper, and tomato soup.
• Tomato soups: Red is a colour that people associate with Christmas, so red soups are an excellent option for a Christmas starter. Try our classic cream of tomato soup to make a traditional soup starter or our tomato and basil soup.

Cold Soups for Christmas Dinner

You can vary things up a bit by serving cold soups for Christmas dinner starters instead of a hot soup. These are often lighter and will also work well as an amuse-bouche. Some of our favourite options include:

• Bloody Mary tomato soup: The addition of vodka and tobacco make bloody Mary tomato soup differ from a traditional tomato soup. The flavours make it one of the best soups for Christmas dinner, and you can serve it either hot or cold.
• Gazpacho: Traditionally, the main ingredients of this Spanish soup are tomatoes and cucumbers. It is given a thicker consistency with the addition of stale bread. Our Gazpacho recipe is quick and easy to make, and it is a delicious cold soup starter or amuse-bouche.

Seafood Soups

You can combine a starter with a fish course if you do not want to have too many courses. There are some fantastic seafood options. Some of our best seafood soups for Christmas dinner include:

• Cullen skink: A traditional Scottish soup, Cullen Skink is a hearty, warming, and creamy soup for Christmas dinner.
• Malaysian prawn laksa: If you are a fan of spicy food and want to introduce some different flavours to your Christmas dinner table, then Malaysian prawn laksa is an interesting option to try.

Soups with Meat

Another option is to choose one of the best meat soups for Christmas dinner. You should probably avoid soups containing turkey or chicken so that the flavours of your starter and main differ. Our suggestions for Christmas Day soup recipes with meat include:

• French onion soup: Although French onion soup does not contain pieces of meat, it does have a meaty flavour due to the rich beef stock.
• Hot and sour soup: Those who enjoy spicy flavours in their food may enjoy starting their Christmas dinner with this hot and sour soup that contains pork.
• Three bean and chorizo soup: The smoky flavours from the paprika in the chorizo make our three bean and chorizo soup a flavoursome and hearty option.

Soup Accompaniments to Serve

Your choice of soup accompaniment will make a difference to your enjoyment of the starter. Check out our recipes for soup accompaniments to find the perfect accompaniment for your soup.

If you want only a light accompaniment so that your guests have plenty of room for dinner, then croutons or melba toast are good options. Bread is a traditional option, and there are lots of varieties available. If you want a heartier starter, then you might also consider dumplings.

How to Serve the Best Soups for Christmas Dinner

To make an impact on Christmas Day, think beyond simply serving the soup in individual bowls. You can make it an occasion serving from a soup tureen at the table, or you can use some of our ideas from our guide to creative ways to serve soup.

Soups for Christmas Dinner- The Final Verdict

There are almost endless options when it comes to choosing the best soup for Christmas dinner. Soup is a fantastic starter option at Christmas as it is something that most people enjoy, and it can save you time as it is a dish you can prepare in advance.

Using seasonal vegetables is advisable, although it is not necessary. You can also make Christmas Day soup recipes with seafood or soups with meat if you do not want to serve a vegetable-based soup for Christmas dinner. If you are serving a soup course in addition to a starter, you might like to read some of our Christmas starter ideas on our sister site, The Fruity Tart.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our ideas for the best soups for Christmas dinner, and that they give you some inspiration to create an enjoyable and memorable meal. If you have any of your own ideas for great soups to serve at Christmas, feel free to add your own ideas in the comments section.

Updated 25/11/2020