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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to think that soup is a meal?

196 replies

AlrightThereSkippy · 02/09/2021 16:52

Light-hearted disagreement between DH and me!

He says soup is not a meal; it's a starter. I think it can be either and definitely a meal when you include a sandwich.

OP posts:
Coffeemakesmehappy · 02/09/2021 18:58

As an evening meal (especially if I know I’m going to be working late) I often opt for soup with root veg mash (batch cooked, always have lots of portions in the freezer) - my sister thinks it’s vile, but it’s quick, filling and I love it!

crivit · 02/09/2021 19:12

@LoveFall

We make soups for dinner quite often, especially in winter.

I had my sister and nephew here to visit and I made a roasted butternut squash and cauliflower soup with lentils in it. Served with fresh bread and a salad. It was delicious and filling. Great option for my vegetarian nephew. It was actually vegan.

That soup sounds bloody lovely. Do you have a recipe?

Also, soup is definitely a meal and absolutely a dinner. A good, hearty soup in autumn / winter is for me one of the best dinners. Fortunately there isn't a disagreement about this in my household Grin

YellowandGreenToBeSeen · 02/09/2021 19:21

Genuinely, with no snide, I am full after a normal bowl full of lentil soup with grated Parmesan on top.

No rage / hunger / competitive under eating here.

Pedalpushers · 02/09/2021 19:39

Mumsnet eating is so weird. I can quite easily eat an 18 inch pizza that this site says should feed a family of 6, but I would still be reasonably full after a decent bowl of soup. We had soup for dinner tons when I was growing up, lentil soup, leek and potato soup especially. Soup is filling?

RiversideAnne · 02/09/2021 19:42

With a sandwich, yes. Otherwise probably not. Ah really heart soup could be a lunch, but not dinner imo.

TheHoundsofLove · 02/09/2021 20:05

@cultkid

I used to cry when I had soup for dinner 🤣🤣
I think homemade soup with sandwiches/cheese scones/cheese on toast is a perfectly acceptable main meal. Lovely even. But, I've stopped ever serving it as my husband land son look totally depressed when I say it's what we've got for dinner.
LemonFantaGin · 02/09/2021 20:06

Im about to have a soup for my dinner.

PartyPotato · 02/09/2021 20:07

Soup absolutely can be a dinner! I make a lovely thick butternut squash soup, a big portion with a baguette is certainly filling enough for dinner (and I eat like a horse).

SkinnyMirror · 02/09/2021 20:09

@User135644

This was a big debate in the 90s.

Yes!! I totally clicked on the thread hoping for a Seinfeld inspired discussion!!
bunny85 · 02/09/2021 20:20

Oh yes it can be a meal, including dinner, and very often it is in my house! If it's a chunky soup made with pieces of chicken/meat, potatoes, veggies etc, something between a soup and a stew, with a nice buttered toast or two, of course it's a meal and a very filling one. Actually even nice thick lentil or bean soup is just the same.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 03/09/2021 07:12

It really depends on the calorie content of the meal as a whole. 400 calories - meal. 200 or under, not really a proper meal. 2-400 = light meal.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 03/09/2021 07:15

Mumsnet eating is so weird. I can quite easily eat an 18 inch pizza that this site says should feed a family of 6, but I would still be reasonably full after a decent bowl of soup. We had soup for dinner tons when I was growing up, lentil soup, leek and potato soup especially. Soup is filling?

Its filling in the sense that it's a high volume, so you feel full after a big bowl. But it can be high water content and depending on the ingredients may continue little fat or protein and have a low calorie content, so for many people they will feel hungry again only a couple of hours later as it's not enough calories for their body. It's not rocket science, soup is mainly water, root veg and leek have high water content.

spotcheck · 03/09/2021 07:27

It IS a meal.

But only if there is a ton of veg/ potatoes/ possibly chicken or meatballs. Bread on the side.
Just use a bigger bowl than you'd have for lunch 😀

Annoyedanddissapointed · 03/09/2021 08:51

Its filling in the sense that it's a high volume, so you feel full after a big bowl. But it can be high water content and depending on the ingredients may continue little fat or protein and have a low calorie content, so for many people they will feel hungry again only a couple of hours later as it's not enough calories for their body. It's not rocket science, soup is mainly water, root veg and leek have high water content.

Most of this, except the water bit, can apply easily to many normal meals.
Equally though soup can absolutely be loaded wwith protein and have good amount of fat and carbs to take person through a day. Mine are. My soups are between 450-550 calories. 'Cause I know how to soup😂 (is my theory)

drwitch · 03/09/2021 09:00

I made tomato and lentil soup for the four of us last night. It had 4 tins of tomato's, big handful of lentils, half a head of celery, 3 enormous carrots, 6 cloves of garlic, glug of red wine, pint of stock (from chicken natc). We had it with cheese and garlic bread and bacon bits to scatter over the top. If you made a stew out if this lot it would be clearly a meal why should the addition of more liquid make it less so? We are all really greedy and we're stuffed (only one bowl left).

knittingaddict · 03/09/2021 09:04

It's a meal, but not a main meal. Even as a light meal it needs bread too.

NotMyCat · 03/09/2021 09:17

It's a meal. I had tomato soup with a bit of cheese last night and garlic naan

BarbaraofSeville · 03/09/2021 09:22

On what basis is it failing the 'meal' test bearing in mind that there's no universally set definition and many are nutritionally indistiguishable from stew?

Annoyedanddissapointed · 03/09/2021 09:43

@BarbaraofSeville

On what basis is it failing the 'meal' test bearing in mind that there's no universally set definition and many are nutritionally indistiguishable from stew?
yeah! I think the issue is that everyone thinks of different soup. Like for example a can of tomato soup (i actually don't even like tomato soup🙈) would absolutely not be a main meal for me even with a slice of bread. But! A big bowl of broth, noodles, meat, veg, egg absolutely is. And no bread in sight. Some of my soups are basically like a stirfry, rather than a stew, with liquid on top of it. So a meal
HeronLanyon · 03/09/2021 09:49

A ton of tomato soup with cheese on with nothing else has very unusually been my dinner twice in the last week. Mix of really wanting it (eat it maybe once a year and had a craving) plus heavy heavy workload just made it a sensible and v good option. Filled me as think my lunches had been more varied/substantial.

SkinnyMirror · 03/09/2021 11:40

@NotMyCat

It's a meal. I had tomato soup with a bit of cheese last night and garlic naan
Soup with garlic naan is THE best!
DameAlyson · 03/09/2021 11:42

On what basis is it failing the 'meal' test

If there's little or no protein, imo, it's inadequate as a main meal.

So many people saying 'of course it's a meal, we have it with xyz' when it's the xyz which actually has the nutritional content which makes it a meal.

Bluntness100 · 03/09/2021 11:43

I think you’re loosing yout own argument, if you say with sandwiches it becomes a meal. Then no it becomes part of a meal. Eat enough food in one sitting and it’s a meal. It’s like saying olives are a meal because you had tapas. 😂

OneTC · 03/09/2021 11:47

Soup is a meal. It's a disappointing meal but it's a meal

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 03/09/2021 11:51

If you made a stew out if this lot it would be clearly a meal why should the addition of more liquid make it less so? We are all really greedy and we're stuffed (only one bowl left).

It doesnt sound like a meal to me, there's not a huge amount of fat or protein unless there was a lot of that bacon. Lentils arent very high in protein relative to animal products.

There are no calories in water, so the addition of more liquid means that the volume you consume to fill your stomach has a lower calorie content than the same ingredients with less water added. Given that what we need food for is the energy and nutritional content more so than how stuffed our stomach feels, it's the calorie/nutrition content that makes it a meal imho.