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50 Soups and Stews From Around the World

50 Soups and Stews From Around the World

Written by Carly Hallman

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!

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50 Soups and Stews From Around the World

Soup and Country	Basic ingredients
Groundnut stew Africa	Peanut paste Fish Eggs Hot palm oil Fufu (mashed flour and cassava)
Ghapama Armenia (Sweet) (Vegetarian)	Pumpkin shell Boiled rice Dried fruits Chopped nuts Honey Cinnamon, sugar
Carbonnade Flamande Belgium	Sweet-sour beef Onion Beer (Oud bruin) Thyme, bay leaves, mustard
Waterzooi Belgium	Fish or chicken Egg yolk Cream Thickened veggie broth Carrots, onions, potatoes
Bosnian Pot Bosnia	Beef, lamb Cabbage Potatoes Tomatoes, carrots Garlic, parsley, peppercorns
Canja de Galinha Brazil	Chicken Rice Olive oil Mint Salt and pepper
Sopa de Fubà Brazil	Sausage Cornmeal Eggs Collard greens
Tarator Bulgaria (Cold)	Yogurt Cucumber Garlic Walnut Dill
Mohinga Burma	Chickpea flour Toasted rice Garlic, onion, lemongrass Banana tree stem Ginger Fish paste and sauce Catfish
Ndolé Cameroon	Stewed nuts Ndoleh (Bitter leaves) Fish or beef
Fricot Canada	Chicken Dumplings Carrots Potatoes
Callaloo Caribbean and West Africa (Vegetarian)	Amaranth, taro, and xanthosoma Onions, scallions Coconut milk
Caldillo de congrio Chile	Conger eel heads and meat Garlic, coriander Onion, carrots, pepper Tomatoes Cream Boiled potatoes
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall China	Shark fin Quail eggs Bamboo shoots Scallops, abalone Pork, chicken Mushrooms Sweet potatoes
Hot and sour soup China	Meats (pork or beef) Day lily buds Wood ear fungus Bamboo shoots Tofu Pork blood Red pepper Vinegar
Istrian stew Croatia	Beans Sauerkraut Potatoes Bacon Spare ribs Garlic
Chapea Dominican Republic	Red beans Dominican sausage Rice Mashed plantain and squash
Borscht Eastern Europe	Beetroot Cabbage, carrots, onions Potatoes Sour cream
Fanesca Ecuador	Figleaf gourd Pumpkin Beans Grains Salt cod Milk
Lohikeitto Finland	Salmon fillets Boiled potatoes Leeks Dill
Rössypottu Finland	Potatoes Pork Blood pudding (blood, beer, rye flour and spices)
Crème Ninon France	Green pea purée Dry champagne Lemon Dry sherry
French onion soup France	Meat stock (or vegetable) Onions Croutons Cheese
Hirshon Kharcho Georgia	Beef Rice Cherry tomato purée Chopped English walnuts Coriander
Avgolemono Greece	Eggs Lemon juice Broth Rice
Guyana Pepperpot Guyana	Stewed meat Cinnamon Hot chili peppers Cassareep (cassava root sauce)
Joumou Haiti	Winter squash Beef Potatoes Plantains Thin pasta
Fisherman’s soup Hungary	Fish Paprika Red onions, green peppers, tomatoes
Sour cherry soup Hungary (Sweet)(Cold)	Sour cherries Sour cream Sugar
Sambar India (Vegetarian)	Tamarind broth Lentils Okra, moringa, radish, pumpkin
Bakso Indonesia	Ground beef and tapioca meatballs Rice vermicelli Beef broth Celery, fried shallots
Soto ayam Indonesia	Shredded chicken Spicy turmeric broth Rice noodles
Fesenjān Indonesia	Pomegranate juice Walnuts Poultry
Tharid Iraq	Bread chunks Lamb Chickpeas Peppers
Irish stew Ireland	Lamb Potatoes Carrots Onions Parsley
Matzah ball soup Israel	Matzah dumplings Chicken
Minestrone Italy	Beans, onions, celery, carrots, tomatoes Pasta or rice
Miso soup Japan	Dashi stock (dried sardines, kelp, bonito, shiitake) Miso paste Tofu
Ramen Japan	Chinese wheat noodles Meat or fish broth Soy sauce Dried seaweed Green onions
Tortilla soup Mexico	Fried corn pieces Tomato broth Chili pepper Epazote (herb) Avocado Cheese
Binignit Philippines (Sweet)(Vegetarian)	Coconut milk Sabá bananas Taro Sweet potatoes Pearl sago (Palm starch)
Tinola Philippines	Chicken Green papaya Siling labuyo leaves Ginger Onion Fish sauce
Okróshka Russia (Cold)	Raw vegetables (cucumbers, spring onions) Radishes Boiled potatoes Eggs Kvass Sour cream
Cullen skink Scotland	Smoked haddock Potatoes Onions
Yukgaejang South Korea	Spicy shredded beef Scallions Bean sprouts Bracken fern Taro stems Sweet potato noodles Chili powder Sesame seeds
*Khao soi* Thailand	Hand-cut rice or egg noodles Coconut milk Curry spices Chopped meat Fermented soybeans
Ribollita Tuscany	Leftover bread Cannellini beans Kale, cabbage Vegetables
New England Chowder United States	Clams Broth Butter Potatoes Onions Celery
Saimin United States (Hawaii)	Wheat egg noodles Dashi broth Green onions Sliced spam Pork sausage Fisk cake
Phở Vietnam	Rice noodles Beef or chicken Bone broth Star anise, ginger, cardamom, coriander, fennel, clove

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:

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