Here are postpartum soups and stews recipes from a variety of sources. While you’re cooking away in the kitchen, consider listening in on our top nutrition-related shows, including:
- The Fourth Trimester Podcast episode dedicated to The Essentials of Nutrition and Nourishment. (We highly recommend starting here!) It provides strategies for feeding and nourishing the new parent in your life and yourself as you make your way through the first weeks and months with your newborn at home.
- Our overview on How To Avoid Anemia (Before & After Pregnancy). Education is a great first step for preventing this issue. And, good news: the Chunky Lamb Stew recipe below is particularly great for building up iron stores.
- Fourth Trimester Podcast’s Eat Like The Rainbow episode answers questions about the relationship between what you eat while pregnant and your baby’s palate, about food & milk supply, about foods that help recovering new moms, and good first foods for baby.
Most of the recipes in our postpartum soups and stews collection can be made in large batches and consumed throughout the week as various lunches, snacks and dinners (or even saved in the freezer for a future easy meal). It’s an absolute joy to open the fridge or freezer and see containers of healthy, homemade sustenance. Make sure to label everything with the name and date of when you made it. We use these restaurant containers, frog tape and a permanent marker.
Recipe note: If you are someone who is sensitive to grains or nightshade vegetables, please try these recipes leaving those items out or substituting items you normally do. As someone who has those sensitivities, I understand, and encourage you to be flexible. These recipes are pretty forgiving. Bon appetit!
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Creamy Kabocha & Red Lentil Soup
Orange is a color of celebration, ritual, and happiness—a shade that instantly lifts the spirits. This pureed soup is so easy to make from ingredients stocked in your pantry, and it’s a great one to ask a visitor to whip up for you. The slightly sweet taste and grounding properties of kabocha squash are especially comforting on days when you might feel teary or blue, and a generous amount of lubricating oil helps to remedy inner dryness and wind, soothing the nerves further.Recipe from The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou
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2
Chicken, Red Dates & Ginger Soup
This twist on a classic “first food” for mom may sound strange. Dried fruit in chicken soup, you ask? But go with it: Chinese red dates—also known as jujubes, available at Chinese markets or online—plus ruby-colored goji berries is a time-tested combo used to boost circulation and enhance inner warmth. Your eyes will delight at the look of these little gems in your soup bowl. Your taste buds will love the subtle touch of sweetness against the savory chicken. I recommend making every effort to use Chinese red dates, which bestow amazing postpartum health benefits, as they are not difficult to find online or in local Asian markets. Medjool dates are okay in a pinch but they do not have the same medicinal effects.Recipe from The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou
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Chunky Lamb Stew
I know, I know, you don't like lamb. Did you know it has almost twice the iron of beef? And did you know how many women in America are anemic? Too many.
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4
Caldo (Bone Broth)
Bone Broth is one of the sacred foods of La Cuarentena (quarantine). This recipe comes courtesy of Pānquetzani who writes about her experiences of learning traditional postparutm practices and recipes passed down many generations. Learn more recipes and hear her wisdom and stories in her book Thriving Postpartum. And, Caldo is a great staple to have on hand for everyone to enjoy postpartum or otherwise!
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Shakshuka
Let's say you have a high quality can of tomatoes, some eggs, some cheese, some herbs and possibly some onion and garlic. What do you have now? 'A Rich Egg Dish That Satisfies'. See the NYTimes Cooking version if you subscribe because Melissa Clark's video is the one to watch.
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6
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Fennel and Dates
We saw a photo of this dish in our Instagram feed and couldn't resist asking for the recipe so we could try it and share it with you! (Thanks to Suzanne Ko at Skofit for sharing.)
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Black Bean Soup
This is a warm, comforting soup packed full of protein and flavor.
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Mushroom Barley Soup
This soup is so good you might have to triple the recipe to have enough leftovers to freeze. It freezes well, though you may want to add a splash of soy and sherry.From: You CAN Cook After the Baby Comes! Favorite, Quick and Easy Recipes for Postpartum Families
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Butternut Squash and Greens Soup
Nourishing and soothing, this soup is easy to make, especially if you have a blender wand to whiz up the contents, rather than transferring to the blender and back. I like this soup hot or cold, with any kind of bread or cracker, a simple salad, and rich dessert (for breastfeeding calories!). It freezes well, so make a double batch. You can use hokkaido, pumpkin or other dark orange winter squash instead of the butternut.
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11
Lentil Soup with Fennel
Lentils are a fast way to add the high fiber of beans as well as a good source of protein and iron. Unlike other beans, they do not need soaking and cook quickly. If you soak them in advance they take on a nice crisp texture. This is a bright cheery soup that freezes well.From: You CAN Cook After the Baby Comes! Favorite, Quick and Easy Recipes for Postpartum Families
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Eggplant and Potato Curry
This dish has a long list of ingredients but is actually quite simple to make. Cut the vegetable up before beginning and place all the spices together on a small dish before beginning. The eggplant does not have to be peeled or salted.
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13
Broccoli and Tomato Soup
A healthy, warm and tasty soup for a postpartum lunch or dinner.
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14
Manhattan Clam Chowder
This one is hearty, comforting and beautiful. Clams are an excellent source of iron and calcium and the tomato base helps with their absorption. Leftovers are good the next day, but this one doesn’t freeze well once the clams are added. At a tasting dinner, 18 months old Chase’s only comment was, “More, more, more!”
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15
Carrot Ginger Soup with Cranberry-Almond Salad
Fresh and flavorful, this soup and salad combo hits the spot.
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