Few things are tastier than soup. Whether you’re at the full-liquids stage after your bariatric surgery or are well beyond stage four and simply want to stay on track, you’ll love these delicious recipes.
Sometimes soup just hits the spot. It warms you up, makes your stomach feel full, and even keeps you on your doctor-approved diet plan.
Ready for some soup recipes? Keep reading to check out the ones that our experts selected.
Bariatric-Friendly Foods
After having bariatric surgery, you’ll go through three dietary phases before you find yourself eating normally again. This is designed to ease your digestive system into recovery and help you lose weight, which was the entire point of your surgery. Although you’ll still need to eat small, healthy meals once you enter phase four, soup remains on the list.
Focusing on soup allows you to avoid foods that you can’t eat, thanks to your newly reconfigured digestive system. Your stomach is smaller, and part of your intestines are bypassed, making it tougher to digest things like fibrous or fatty foods.
Other things to avoid include:
- Sugary foods – Snacks that contain a lot of processed sugar are you. You may be able to have a teeny tiny slice of birthday cake, but those daily Twinkies, cookies, brownies, and more are quite literally off the table.
- Fatty foods – You can have various types of meat, but remember that they need to be lean. Avoid fatty cuts of steak or roast and ground beef with high fat content. Chicken and turkey can be your go-tos; both work well in soup.
- Processed foods – Although you can have lean lunch meat, you may want to steer clear of the full-fat and salt-filled options at the deli counter. Stick to things like low-salt chicken and turkey for lunch meat. Other processed foods, including those standard grocery-store frozen meals, can also be challenging to digest.
- Plenty of carbs – You’ll need to lower your carbohydrate intake drastically. Too many carbs can halt your weight loss process and anger your digestive system. Thankfully, you can still have noodles, whole grain bread and rolls, and even rice, as long as it’s in small portions.
- Spicy foods – Even though you might’ve enjoyed plenty of spicy foods before, you’ll need to limit them after weight loss surgery. Your digestive system won’t be able to properly process them, leading to stomach pains, diarrhea, and more. That said, you still have a few options here, like roasted red peppers and standard pepper.
Thankfully, many of the ingredients that make up these soups aren’t on that list.
Delicious Bariatric Soup Recipes
Soup is something that many people enjoy. They eat it with a side of crackers or even alongside half of a sandwich. For those who’ve had bariatric surgery, soup may stir up memories of being on that clear liquid or full liquid diet.
However, soup remains a healthy and filling option for those adhering to a post-bariatric surgery diet. If you’re tired of eating canned soup and want to find something more daring or interesting, consider adding one or more of these soup options to your repertoire.
1) Spicy Lentil Soup
When combined with lentils, the roasted red peppers give this soup a little kick.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of lentils
- 1 cup of roasted red peppers
- 2 containers of chicken broth (preferably low sodium)
- 1 chopped carrot
- 1 chopped onion
- 2 diced celery stalks
- Bay leaves, salt, and pepper
Instructions:
Pour some olive oil into the bottom of a stock pot. Heat it slowly, then add the carrot, onion, and celery stalks. Cook them until softened. Add the lentils, roasted red peppers, chicken broth, bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Simmer for around one hour before serving.
2) Creamy Chicken Soup
Looking for a creamy version of a classic? This chicken soup solves (almost) all of your problems.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- ½ pound diced lunch meat chicken (preferably low sodium)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Pour the ingredients into a soup pot in the following order: cream of chicken soup, chicken, and chicken broth. Stir well. Add in the poultry seasoning and salt and pepper. Stir again. Allow to simmer for one hour before serving.
3) Chicken and Bean Soup
Want Mexican soup but without a lot of the spices? Check out this option.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans of low-fat refried beans
- ½ pound of diced low-sodium lunch meat chicken
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Place your chicken in a food processor and pulse until ground very smooth. Place in a pot with the refried beans, evaporated milk, salsa, and chicken broth in a pot. Stir well. Simmer for around an hour until everything is well-heated. Add salt and pepper before serving.
4) Tasty Vegetable Soup
There’s nothing quite like this thick, tasty vegetable soup. (See, it lives up to its name!)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 diced carrots
- 2 sliced celery stalks
- 2 diced medium onions
- 2 diced garlic cloves
- ½ diced medium zucchini
- 3 diced potatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Place the carrots, celery stalks, onions, cloves, zucchini, and potatoes in a food processor. Pulse until well blended. The results will look like a paste. Pour the vegetable broth into a pan and add the blended vegetables to it. Stir well. Add in salt and pepper, and cook until warm enough to eat.
5) Chicken and Onion Soup
For something a little different, this fragrant and flavorful soup uses onions, garlic, and noodles.
Ingredients:
- 3 diced boneless chicken breasts
- 1 box farfalle noodles
- 2 diced medium onions
- 3 diced garlic cloves
- 1 container of low-sodium chicken broth
Instructions:
Pour the broth into a soup pot. Add in the chicken breasts, onions, and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Simmer on medium until the chicken is fully cooked and the onions and garlic have started to dissolve into the broth. Raise the heat until the mixture is boiled. Pour in the noodles and allow to boil until cooked, following the instructions on the box.
6) Stuffed Pepper Soup
Like stuffed peppers, but want a soup version? Look no further than this option.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef, fully cooked and drained
- 5 diced bell peppers
- 1 diced medium onion
- 3 diced garlic cloves
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 4 cups beef broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Pour the beef broth into a soup pan. Slowly add the other ingredients, including the onion, garlic, and bell peppers, ensuring the ground beef is thoroughly cooked beforehand. Add in the can of diced tomatoes, juice and all. Add in salt and pepper. Allow the mixture to simmer until the onions, bell peppers, and garlic are fully cooked, usually around one hour.
7) Leek and Potato Soup
If you want something that’s a little different, make sure to check out this thick, filling soup.
Ingredients:
- 2 diced medium-sized leeks
- 8 diced medium potatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Bay leaves and thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Start by browning the leeks in the bottom of your soup pan. Add two tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt and sizzle a little before adding the leeks. Brown the leeks for three minutes. Then add in the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Allow to simmer for 40 minutes, until the potatoes are softened. Serve with some low-fat cheese, and add in salt and pepper before eating.
Bariatric Soup Recipes
What’s better than soup? A bariatric-friendly soup recipe that you made yourself from scratch, of course. Soup is surprisingly easy to make if you start with the broth. (Going the traditional route with soup bones and water can take a long time.)
All that you need are the right ingredients, a little bit of creativity, a soup pan, and some patience since your soup will need to simmer on the stove for at least an hour before you can eat it. No matter what type of soup you prefer, sticking with these bariatric options will keep your diet and weight loss plan on track, which is exactly what you want. Consider adding some of them to your meal plan.
Have any questions about bariatric-friendly soups? Reach out to us!
Sources:
Three Bariatric-Friendly Soup Recipes | Arkansas Heart Hospital
31 Brilliant Soup Recipes For Gastric Bypass Patients | The Inspiration Edit