Soups and stews are the perfect comfort food and are one of my favorite recipes to make...especially low carb soups! In this post I give tips on thickening keto soups, vegetables that are best for a low carb or keto diet, plus my 31 soup recipes all in one place. It's really easy to make your favorite soup low carb diet friendly...let me show you how!
Low Carb and Keto Soup Recipes
You may think Low Carb Soup Recipes are hard to develop because we have to leave out all of the "good stuff" that most soups contain. This includes thickeners like flour and corn starch and bulking ingredients like pasta and potatoes.
With a few tweaks and easy to find simple ingredients, you can make almost any delicious soup recipe low carb or keto friendly. So if you see a soup recipe out there that you want to transform into a low carb soup, just hit up this post for all of my tips plus over 30 low carb soup recipes!
The cooking vessel
I try to provide multiple cooking methods in a lot of my soup and stew recipes (like my Keto White Chicken Chili) so you can make it any way you like. All 3 are great options.
- Dutch oven: This is a heavy pot, typically cast iron, with a lid. You could also use a large pot with a lid. You do not need a heavy dutch oven to make soup on the stove top.
- Crock Pot: Some of my best keto soups are slow cooked.
- Instant Pot: This cooking method is great for tough meats like stew meat or pot roast.
The liquid
The liquids in all of my easy keto soup recipes are chicken broth or beef broth (also chicken stock or bone broth). I usually start with at least 4 cups but I sometimes put up to 6 cups. I usually make the broth with a concentrate that you can find in the grocery store in the same section as the broths. This takes up way less pantry space and tastes just as good, if not better!
I always wait until my soup is finished cooking to season with salt because these store bought broths can be quite salty, unless you use low sodium.
Another liquid I frequently add to soups is heavy cream! It's my go-to when I want a creamy soup.
The vegetables
Vegetables are a must in any soup I make. It gives my low-carb soup recipes bulk and makes for a more hearty soup. I usually start off a soup with onion, celery, and carrots sautéed in avocado oil or olive oil. I try to keep the onion and carrots to a minimum because they do have a lot of carbs in large quantities.
Some other vegetables that are perfect in low carb soups are broccoli, cauliflower, shredded cabbage, mushrooms, green beans, any kind of squash, pumpkin puree (a great soup thickener), diced tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, kale, radishes (a great potato replacement), and spinach.
Here are some common starches and their much less starchy vegetable alternative:
- Rice: cauliflower rice or riced broccoli
- Pasta: spaghetti squash (like in my Keto Chicken Soup Recipe), zucchini noodles, shredded cabbage, or butternut squash noodles.
- Potatoes: chopped or pureed celery root, cauliflower florets, radishes, mushrooms.
The herbs and spices
Most of the time I use dried herbs and spices in my soup recipes. These usually include cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, dried thyme, dried basil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, bay leaves, and onion powder. And of course, salt and pepper!
Fresh herbs are great in soups as well. Chopped fresh parsley, fresh thyme, rosemary, fresh basil, or cilantro add such an amazing fresh flavor.
Let's not forget acids and aromatics to help kick our keto soups up a notch! Minced garlic and shallot add so much flavor as do lime juice and lemon juice (like in my Lemon Chicken Soup).
The protein
Of course there is always shredded or chopped chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken thighs which would be the most popular soup additions (Like in my Keto Taco Soup). Ground beef and slow cooked stew meat also make great sources of protein. I always cook the meat first before adding the broth. If you're short on time, the pulled meat from a rotisserie chicken is the perfect way to make a very flavorful and hearty chicken soup!
Crispy chopped bacon is a good addition to low carb soup recipes as well!
The thickeners
My favorite soup thickener is Xanthan gum. It is so easy to use and can be found in most grocery stores. I have found it in Walmart on the baking isle and in my local grocery store down the street. Since we usually only use less than a teaspoon at a time, the package lasts for a while. Typically you only need 1 teaspoon of it to thicken a large pot of soup.
You can also learn more about this ingredient here: what is Xanthan gum?
Some other low-carb thickeners are cream cheese, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese...though these are not as effective as Xanthan gum.
To thicken vegetable soups like a creamy cauliflower soup or broccoli soup, you can puree some of the vegetables with an immersion blender or add a canned puree such as pumpkin. This is the perfect way to thicken a vegetable soup. I do this is my Keto French Onion Soup and my Acorn Squash Soup.
Pro tip:
No more clumping Xanthan gum: To thicken using Xanthan gum without clumping, stir it into a little fat such as melted butter, coconut oil, or ½ tablespoon oil. The Xanthan gum dissolves right into the fat without clumping. Add the mixture to your soup, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until thickened. Add more to reach your desired thickness but the soup will also thicken as it cools.
Freezing low carb and keto soups
There are a lot of soup recipes that freeze really well, such as broth based soups with hearty vegetables. You can freeze creamy soups, you will just need to make sure you reheat them gently on the stovetop so the cream doesn't split.
You can freeze soup recipes in an airtight container or bag in the freezer for up of 4 months. You'll want to thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before re-heating.
10 amazing low carb soup recipes
With all of that information, here are 10 low carb soup recipes I have developed just for you! If that's not enough, I have 21 more keto soups and stews here!
This Broccoli Cheese Soup is ready in under 30 minutes! I use cheese as the thickener instead of flour. I also give tips to keep the cheese from not melting and sinking to the bottom of the pot.
This Keto Cheeseburger soup is a fan favorite and with good reason. It is such an amazing and hearty low carb soup.
Leftover Steak Soup - You can make this easy low carb soup recipe in no time at all! Use leftover steak if you have it, or cook up some fresh sirloin. You will not regret it
Curried Pumpkin Soup - This Pumpkin Curry Soup from Carolyn Ketchum's cookbook "Keto Soups & Stews" is so perfect for warming you up on a cool Fall day. I made the dairy free version which was so rich and creamy using coconut milk. Can you believe this low carb soup is ready in 20 minutes and has only 5.4 net carbs?!
This Instant Pot chicken soup is so simple and hearty with lots of veggies. Make it creamy, but still healthy and low carb with the addition of a little heavy cream.
This Cream of Cauliflower Soup recipe has smoky bacon and is gluten free (no roux!), low carb, keto, and really easy to make.
Albondigas Soup is a hearty Mexican meatball soup with a simple soup base made of diced tomatoes, chipotle salsa, and broth. It is one of my favorite low carb soup recipes!
Low Carb Chicken Soup with Spaghetti Squash Noodles: A veggie packed low carb soup recipe for that warm and comforting feeling this Fall. Spaghetti squash provide the noodles without all of those pesky carbs!
Low Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup: You will not miss the potatoes in the comforting low carb zuppa toscana soup. Cauliflower makes a nice replacement!
This Instant Pot Beef Stew with Bacon and Mushrooms is so full of flavor and so tender! When you use your electric pressure cooker, you can have beef stew in under an hour!
This Keto Cream of Mushroom Soup can be ready in less than 30 minutes and is so thick and creamy.
This Keto Tomato Soup also has a quick recipe for keto parmesan croutons!
Irene says
Soups sound great I need to start the new year back to low carb now because over the holidays I added holiday goodies / carbs!
Sherri Cline says
Can't wait to try these soups. Thank you!
Patricia says
These look amazing! Thank you!