Best Soup Recipes for Treating Common Cold and Flu

Looking for soup recipes featuring some of the best immune-boosting and cold-treating ingredients? From traditional chicken soup to spicy lentil and chili soup, the array of cold and flu fighting soups is impressive. Here's our pick of the best DIY soup recipes for treating the common cold and flu. Enjoy!

Apple and Onion Soup

This flu-fighting soup recipe features apples and onions, two of the best natural sources of quercetin. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that has shown promising potential for suppressing rhinoviruses which are the underlying cause of the common cold.
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Wholesome Winter Pea and Watercress Soup

Watercress is a superhero food packed with nutrients, and it has traditionally been used to treat cold symptoms such as runny nose and coughs. Also the green peas and onion in this soup are beneficial as they help strengthen the immune system.
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Hot Tomato Soup

Tomatoes are chock-full of antioxidants which give a real boost to your immune system, but also the garlic, shallots, and basil used to add flavor to this scrumptious soup possess immune-boosting and flu-fighting properties. Garlic provides an excellent source of allicin, a compound that has strong anti-bacterial and anti-viral activity against infections, while basil and shallots offer copious amounts of flavonoids that provide antioxidant protection.
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Curried Carrot Soup

This hearty carrot soup, rich in antioxidants, is seasoned with famous flu-treating spices, including ginger, curry, garlic, and onion.
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Sweet Potato Soup with Thyme

This delicious soup is a treasure trove of nutrients that help ward off colds. Sweet potatoes provide an excellent source of vitamin C and other antioxidant compounds while onions and ginger help clear mucus and fight bacteria.
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Lentil and Chili Soup

Anecdotal evidence suggests that spicy foods, like this soup, can beat colds. The beneficial effects are thought to result from the ability of spicy foods to clear congestion by stimulating the mucus membranes. The allicin provided by the crushed garlic in this soup provides addition protection against colds and flu.
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Jewish Chicken Soup

Jews have long been touting the benefits of chicken soup on upper respiratory tract conditions, such as the common cold, which is why chicken soup is often referred as 'Jewish Penicillin.'
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Beet and Carrot Soup

This recipe pairs beets with carrots to create a beautiful crimson soup that also helps prevent colds and flu. Several studies have found betacyanin—a phytochemical responsible for the deep red color of beets—to possess powerful antioxidant properties. Also carrots are rich in antioxidant and immune-boosting nutrients, including beta-carotene and vitamin C.
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Nourishing Nettle Soup

Nettle—the star of this delicious soup—is packed with antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium, and flavonoids. The various antioxidants found in nettle are known to have a synergistic effect and to protect each other from oxidation, thereby enhancing the overall antioxidant prowess and of this delicious immune system boosting dish. Also yoghurt—which is used to garnish this intriguing jade green soup—is helpful as it contains probiotic bacteria which have been shown to reduce the duration and the severity of common cold symptoms.
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Grandma's Chicken Soup

A laboratory test has now confirmed what grandmas have known for years: chicken soup can ease the misery of colds and flu. The researchers found that chicken soup helps inhibit the migration of neutrophils—white blood cells that swallow up bacteria and viruses like those that are responsible for colds and flu. All of the vegetables present in the tested soup and the chicken individually exerted this effect.
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Broccoli and Barley Soup

Broccoli is loaded with antioxidants which boost the immune system. Thyme and marjoram, which are used to add flavor to this soup, may also have flu fighting properties as they contain ursolic acid, a strong antioxidant compound.
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Scandinavian Spinach Soup with Boiled Eggs

Listen to Popeye and eat your spinach! Spinach is loaded with nutrients that boost the immune system and help fight colds and flu. Also the eggs featured in this delicious soup are thought to protect against colds and flu due to their high concentration of vitamin D.
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For more recipes that help fight the common cold and flu, go to the main recipe directory of HealWithFood.org's Guide to Fighting the Common Cold and Flu.

You may also be interested in checking out the diet section of this guide which provides a round-up of the best diet tips for preventing the common cold and flu. Be also sure to check out the list of the 10 best foods for fighting a cold or flu.