Tight on time? Too stressed to make dinner? Bring that Crock-Pot or Le Creuset out of the pantry closet and prepare a warm and hearty pot of soup.

“What I love about soup is it can take you back in memory,” Hy-Vee Chef Kevin Sullivan says. “Tomato soup and grilled cheese reminds me of rainy days or coming home after school and Mom in the kitchen.”

Soup can also help cut food costs.

“In the ’70s and ’80s, soup was a big thing because it could be a simple meal,” Sullivan adds. “Mom’s potato soup was the simplest – potatoes, milk, onions, butter and celery salt. Let it simmer and dinner’s ready.”

Soup lets the cook be creative as well.

“Every soup is personal,” Sullivan says. “Soup lets you add your own touch. No one makes soup exactly the same way.”

That comforting bowl of soup provides other benefits as well.

For one, making and eating soup serves as an easy way to add vegetables to your daily meals. Adults on a 2,000-calorie diet should be aiming for five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and a large bowl of veggie-based soup can easily contain two or three of the required daily servings.

Soup can also help you lose weight. A bowl of soup packs minimal calories, but tons of nutrition. In Fiona Kirk’s bestseller, “Soup Can Make You Thin,” she writes, “The wealth of ingredients in a bowl of soup provides a good balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats as well as the vitamins and minerals required to create energy and keep us firing on all cylinders.”

Soup makes you feel full. Eat it at the beginning of a meal, and you’ll eat less of the rest of the meal.

What’s more, soup doesn’t cost a lot to make. Go the grocery or market, buy some vegetables and fruits, use broth or water, and you can easily make a batch big enough to feed the entire family. For an affordable cost per serving, you can make a lot of people feel full and healthy.

And of course, soup can make you feel better. Chicken soup has remained the go-to soup for colds, flu and anyone feeling sick for generations. That’s because it’s easily digested and filled with nutrients.

Here are some hearty soup recipes to warm you up this season:

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