
50 Soups and Stews From Around the World
It’s time to keep warm and fed with these 50 soup recipes from around the world! We’ve collected delicious recipes for international favorites like pho, minestrone, and miso as well as a handful you may not have heard of.
The World’s Best Soups
Simply combining water or broth with different vegetables and meats, soups around the world can be cold, hot, sweet, salty, vegetarian, full of meat, fattening, or healthy. What is the best soup in the world? A lot of travelers favor pho, but you’ll have to try some of these 50 different soups and make your own judgment. You never know; you might favor the sweet, pumpkin-based ghapama from Armenia or the hearty, meaty Irish stew. Experiment with our list of continental soups, and you might come across a life-changing flavor combination that will make the kitchen table feel like a vacation!

50 Soups and Stews From Around the World
Soup and Country | Basic ingredients |
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Groundnut stew Africa |
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Ghapama Armenia (Sweet) (Vegetarian) |
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Carbonnade Flamande Belgium |
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Waterzooi Belgium |
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Bosnian Pot Bosnia |
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Canja de Galinha Brazil |
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Sopa de Fubà Brazil |
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Tarator Bulgaria (Cold) |
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Mohinga Burma |
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Ndolé Cameroon |
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Fricot Canada |
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Callaloo Caribbean and West Africa (Vegetarian) |
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Caldillo de congrio Chile |
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Buddha Jumps Over the Wall China |
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Hot and sour soup China |
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Istrian stew Croatia |
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Chapea Dominican Republic |
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Borscht Eastern Europe |
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Fanesca Ecuador |
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Lohikeitto Finland |
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Rössypottu Finland |
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Crème Ninon France |
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French onion soup France |
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Hirshon Kharcho Georgia |
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Avgolemono Greece |
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Guyana Pepperpot Guyana |
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Joumou Haiti |
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Fisherman’s soup Hungary |
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Sour cherry soup Hungary (Sweet)(Cold) |
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Sambar India (Vegetarian) |
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Bakso Indonesia |
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Soto ayam Indonesia |
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Fesenjān Indonesia |
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Tharid Iraq |
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Irish stew Ireland |
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Matzah ball soup Israel |
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Minestrone Italy |
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Miso soup Japan |
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Ramen Japan |
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Tortilla soup Mexico |
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Binignit Philippines (Sweet)(Vegetarian) |
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Tinola Philippines |
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Okróshka Russia (Cold) |
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Cullen skink Scotland |
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Yukgaejang South Korea |
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Khao soi Thailand |
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Ribollita Tuscany |
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New England Chowder United States |
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Saimin United States (Hawaii) |
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Phở Vietnam |
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There’s almost nothing as diverse in the culinary world as soup. Not only is it found pretty much everywhere, but this type of food dates back about 20,000 years, to ancient China. Other historians say soup became more common about 9,000 years ago with the invention of heatproof containers. Either way, that’s nearly 10,000 years of soup recipes, with an explosion of soup consumption once bronze was commonplace. There have been a lot of soups around the world since then, including several lost recipes, like those that included hippo meat. Our ancient ancestors drank and slurped up different kinds of soup almost as often as we do!
The Heritage of Soups Around the World
Ever since there’s been water, foodstuffs, and a safe way to heat them, there’s been soup. And there’s a reason why cultures that blend other cultures are called melting pots; cultural traditions, flavors, and culinary knowledge all get cooked down together, like soup. What we have now is a wide range of different soups from around the world that each has a rich cultural history. Some are delicacies for the rich, like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, which has led to environmental concerns for including shark fin. Usually, however, cheap stews and soups were made and consumed by the poor to help stave off hunger when food was in short supply, like French onion soup, which has its roots in Roman times. Matzoh ball soup is entangled with religious history and heritage for Jewish people, and borshch got many families to sit down in the Soviet Union. Each international soup has a story behind it worth learning while you’re cooking!
The Flavors of Diversity
Whether you’re trying your hand at a fairly local meal like New England clam chowder or trying out treats with difficult-to-pronounce soup names, list each success as an affordable culinary treat for your family. Consider each dinner an adventure when sampling the most interesting of our 50 different soups: List any that you haven’t tried and get cooking, knowing that there are plenty more out there to discover, from tom yum to chili! Whether you’re looking for the best pho soup recipe or completely new-to-you continental soup names, our list of global soups will bring flavor to your at-home meals.
Click any of the international soups listed below to go directly to a recipe:
- Groundnut Stew (Africa)
- Ghapama (Armenia)
- Carbonnade Flamande (Belgium)
- Waterzooi (Belgium)
- Bosnian Pot (Bosnia)
- Canja de Galinha (Brazil)
- Sopa de Fubà (Brazil)
- Tarator (Bulgaria)
- Mohinga (Burma)
- Ndolé (Cameroon)
- Fricot (Canada)
- Callaloo (the Caribbean and West Africa)
- Caldillo de Congrio (Chile)
- Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (China)
- Hot and Sour Soup (China)
- Istrian Stew (Croatia)
- Chapea (Dominican Republic)
- Borscht (Eastern Europe)
- Fanesca (Ecuador)
- Lohikeitto (Finland)
- Rössypottu (Finland)
- Crème Ninon (France)
- French Onion Soup (France)
- Hirshon Kharcho (Georgia)
- Avgolemono (Greece)
- Guyana Pepperpot (Guyana)
- Joumou (Haiti)
- Fisherman’s Soup (Hungary)
- Sour Cherry Soup (Hungary)
- Sambar (India)
- Bakso (Indonesia)
- Soto Ayam (Indonesia)
- Fesenjān (Iranian)
- Tharid (Iraq)
- Irish Stew (Ireland)
- Matzah Ball Soup (Israel)
- Minestrone (Italy)
- Miso Soup (Japan)
- Ramen (Japan)
- Tortilla Soup (Mexico)
- Binignit (Philippines)
- Tinola (Philippines)
- Okróshka (Russia)
- Cullen Skink (Scotland)
- Yukgaejang (South Korea)
- Khao Soi (Thailand)
- Ribollita (Tuscany)
- New England Chowder (United States)
- Saimin (United States)
- Phở (Vietnam)