6 healthy soups worth making in a big batch

Soup might be the ultimate meal-prep food. It's cheap, packed with vegetables, easy to scale up, and most kinds freeze beautifully. One big pot on Sunday can cover lunches for the week with plenty left for the freezer.

Six soups to batch cook

• Red lentil and tomato: ready in 30 minutes, high in protein and fibre
• Minestrone: beans, vegetables and small pasta in a tomato broth (freeze it without the pasta and add fresh when reheating)
• Butternut squash and ginger: smooth, warming and naturally creamy without cream
• Chicken and vegetable: a classic, with shredded chicken, carrots, celery and leeks
• Black bean: smoky and filling, great topped with yoghurt and coriander
• Pea and mint: bright and fresh, made mostly from frozen peas

Make it a full meal

Soup can leave you hungry an hour later if it's mostly broth. Make sure each bowl has a source of protein, like lentils, beans, chicken or a swirl of Greek yoghurt, and serve with wholegrain bread if you need something more substantial.

Freezing and reheating

• Leave space at the top of containers, as soup expands when it freezes
• Label with the name and date
• Most soups keep best within two to three months
• Reheat until steaming hot all the way through
• Add cream, yoghurt or fresh herbs after reheating rather than before freezing

Plan your soup week

Pick one soup for the week, scale the servings up in Mealful, and the grocery list adjusts to match. Pair it with a different topping or side each day so lunch doesn't get boring.