Are you tired of all those lactation cookie recipes? Want something nourishing to eat while breastfeeding that will help you produce more milk? Have you tried soup for breastfeeding?
Figuring out what to eat when breastfeeding can tough. Soup is one of the best meals you can eat to make more breast milk. These healthy postpartum soup recipes for breastfeeding moms are full of nutritious ingredients that can help boost milk supply and nourish your baby.
There are certain foods that you can eat while breastfeeding that can help you make more breast milk. Eating more of these milk boosting foods called galactagogues while breastfeeding means you will have an abundant milk supply.
Soup is simple food that contains tons of nutrients.
“Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living. For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.”
Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)
Breastfeeding requires A LOT of fuel. You need fuel for your own body, but also fuel to produce enough milk to nourish your growing baby. It’s important to eat 3 meals a day with snacks in between.
And with each of those meals and snacks you should be packing in as much nutrients as possible!
Eating soup is an excellent way to get extra nutrients while breastfeeding AND make more breast milk.
Read all about the benefits of bone broth while breastfeeding.
Here are a few tips for making healthy breastfeeding soup recipes:
- Use ingredients that boost milk supply – foods like bone broth, coconut milk, fennel, fenugreek and garlic.
- Avoid foods that can irritate your baby or decrease your milk supply
- Use the slow cooker or instant pot to make your soup – it saves time AND energy. Plus slow cooking vegetables and meats makes them more digestible.
- Make freezer meals out of these breastfeeding soup recipes, so that when you don’t have the time or energy to cook, you can still eat a healthy, nourishing meal.
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Postpartum Soup Recipes for Breastfeeding Moms
All of the soup recipes that are included in this list include breastfeeding friendly foods. The recipes are also clean eating, real food based and gluten free. With a few modifications the recipes can even be Paleo or Keto friendly.
Perhaps the best thing about these recipes is they can be cooked on the stove, slow cooker or instant pot. This one below is the one I use and love. It has a digital timer that you can set for up to 24 hrs, which is awesome for making homemade broth for soups!
You can also make any of these soups into a freezer meal by combining all of the ingredients in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and freezing. If freezing to use in the Instant pot, I recommend freezing in circular containers like these to make it easier.
If you don’t have time or energy to make soup right now, try out the soups from Proper Good! Lots of options for every type of diet, with clean ingredients all delivered to your door!
Watch the video for a quick overview of the recipes!
Now on to the recipes!
# 1 – Chicken Soup for Breastfeeding
There is so much nourishment in bowl of chicken soup! Chicken soup is a traditional comfort food that is known to help with healing and boosting the immune system. Slow cooking the soup with bone-in chicken gives it extra nutrients. It’s the extra nutrients that make this such a good soup for lactating mothers.
This is a recipe from Healing Freezer Meals for Postpartum and Breastfeeding
Recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup (Gluten Free)
Ingredients:
- onion
- bell pepper
- carrots
- celery stalks
- garlic
- chicken thighs (with bone)
- bone broth (homemade or this store bought one is amazing)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Turmeric
- fresh rosemary
- Smoked paprika
- gluten free spaghetti
The great thing about soup is that it makes a big batch so that you can have leftovers for lunch and for another dinner (or 2). Freeze or store your leftover soup in little containers like these so that you can grab a quick nourishing meal as soon as hunger strikes! Just heat and eat!
Try the BEST chicken soup recipe for breastfeeding
Grab a copy of our FREE breastfeeding meal plan below so you can know what to eat this week to make more milk!
#2 – Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Carrots are another food that is considered beneficial for breastfeeding moms. This slow cooker soup is super easy and nourishing. It also contains coconut milk, curry powder (with fenugreek), garlic and ginger to help make more breast milk.
Recipe for Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Ingredients:
- 3 – 4 lb butternut squash
- 2 large carrots or 12 baby carrots
- 2-4 fresh garlic gloves
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp of curry powder
- 2 cups bone broth
- 1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk
Directions:
- Chop all the vegetables.
- Combine all the ingredients except coconut milk in the slow cooker.
- Cook on LOW for 6-8hr or HIGH for 4hrs.
- When finished add coconut milk and mix to combine.
- Puree the soup using an an immersion blender, potato masher, or blender. If using a blender, make sure to cool the soup first and not to overfill.
- Serve and enjoy!
#3 – Creamed Fennel and Cauliflower Soup (Paleo & Vegan)
This super creamy soup is dairy free and contains the galactagogues fennel making it perfect for breastfeeding moms. It is also super fast and easy because its made in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients:
- Coconut oil
- onion
- garlic
- fennel bulbs
- cauliflower florets
- coconut milk
- bone broth or vegetable broth
- salt
Recipe for Creamed Fennel and Cauliflower Soup from Foraged Dish
#4 – Sweet Potato Black Bean Tortilla Soup (Gluten free & Vegan)
Sweet potatoes and black beans are foods that can help boost milk supply. This recipe is made on the stove in about 50 minutes, but I imagine it would also come out great in the slow cooker. Make a big batch and freeze the leftovers!
Ingredients:
- olive oil
- red onion
- garlic, minced
- ground cumin
- chili powder
- smoked paprika
- sweet potato
- red bell pepper
- corn, fresh or frozen
- Veggie Broth
- can black beans
- can fire roasted diced tomatoes (consider leaving out if baby has reflux)
- lime
- fresh cilantro
- salt and pepper
Recipe for Sweet Potato Black Bean Tortilla Soup from Flavor the Moments
#5 – Instant Pot Moroccan Chickpea Stew
This soup is technically a stew, so it’s thicker and hearty than some of the other recipes. It includes a powerhouse of nourishing foods that will help you produce more breast milk. The chickpeas, sweet potato and garlic in this soup all support healthy breast milk supply.
I like to add a dash of ginger and turmeric to this because they are anti-inflammatory ingredients that support postpartum healing.
And the best part is that it’s super easy because it’s made in the instant pot!
Ingredients:
- onion
- garlic cloves
- sweet potato
- red bell pepper
- can chickpeas
- can fire roasted tomatoes
- freshly grated ginger
- turmeric
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- cinnamon
- salt and pepper
- vegetable broth
Recipe for Instant Pot Moroccan Sweet Potato Chickpea Stew from The Toasted Pine Nut
#6 – Vegan Slow-Cooker Detox Coconut Soup
This vegan coconut soup is so simple and easy to make, yet nourishing and delicious. It includes coconut milk which is high and lauric acid and essential for breast milk supply. It also includes lemongrass, another galactagogues that is used by breastfeeding moms to help reduce colic in infants and improve breast milk production (source).
Ingredients:
- canned coconut milk
- vegetable broth
- fresh lemongrass
- fresh ginger
- garlic cloves
- scallions
- salt
- limes
- baby spinach
- glass noodles
- snow peas
- bean sprouts
- unsweetened coconut flakes
- basil leaves
- mint leaves (consider leaving out the mint some moms report it can lower milk supply)
- cilantro leaves
Recipe for Vegan Slow Cooker Detox Coconut Soup from Pure Wow
#7 – Slow Cooker Curried Lentil Soup
Lentils are another great food to add to your breastfeeding diet. This delicious soup is full of real food ingredients and is gluten free and vegan. The curry in this soup will also give your breast milk supply a nice boost as curry powder contains fenugreek.
This recipe is made in the slow cooker and can easily be made ahead of time and turned into a freezer meal.
Ingredients:
- butter
- yellow onion
- salt
- black pepper
- large carrot
- garlic
- fresh ginger root
- ground turmeric
- curry powder
- cardamom
- cloves
- cinnamon
- green lentils
- chicken broth
- full fat coconut milk
- lemon juice
- fresh cilantro leaves
Recipe for Slow Cooker Curried Lentil Soup from A Beautiful Plate
#8 – Chinese soup for breastfeeding mothers
Did you know that in Asian cultures there is a long tradition of nourishing breastfeeding women with soup? It is thought that mothers need to be given special care during the postpartum period. Special soups are prepared to help regain strength and increase breast milk supply.
There is a really interesting book on this topic called Zuo Yuezi: An American Mother’s Guide to Chinese Postpartum Recovery (its free with Kindle Unlimted)
Moms in China are given “confinement” soups to provide the extra nutrients needed for a full recovery. Warm foods are encouraged to help restore the body to balance and ease digestion. (source)
Common Ingredients in Chinese Confinement Soup:
- Codonopsis Pilosula Root
- Chinese Angelica Root
- ginger
- Longan
- meats
- pepper
- red dates
- sesame oil
- wolfberries (goji berries)
- green papaya
Recipes for authentic Confinement Soups from the Chinese Soup Lady
#9 – Malunggay Soup for Breastfeeding
Have you tried Filipino food to increase breast milk? In the Philippines, Moms rave about a soup called chicken tinola for boosting milk supply. The soup includes “malunggay” leaves, also known as moringa.
Recipe for Malunggay Breastfeeding Soup
Moringa can help to boost breast milk supply because it is high in vitamins and minerals like potassium, amino acids, iron, calcium, vitamins C, B and beta-carotene. It has been shown in a recent study to help increase breast milk production and help improve infant weight gain.
Watch this video to learn how to make chicken tinola soup for increasing milk supply from Rivertenkitchen.
Interested in trying to increase breast milk with moringa? Try these moringa leaves for adding to soups or making tea. This moringa powder is great for adding to smoothies, yogurt or made into a tea. And this chai lactation booster has moringa in it!
More Healthy Eating Recipes for Breastfeeding Moms
Love our postpartum soup recipes?
At Birth Eat Love our goal is to help make healthy eating easier for busy moms. Here are a few more posts you may find helpful:
Looking for snacks that boost your milk supply that you can just grab and go? This list of breastfeeding snacks has 20+ healthy prepackaged snacks you can toss in your purse, diaper bag or pump bag!
Love pumpkin? It doesn’t have to be Fall to enjoy these delicious and healthy pumpkin lactation recipes including smoothies, snacks and dinner ideas.
Struggling with low milk supply? Eat more of these foods that help boost milk supply! This post has recipes and supplement suggestion that can build breast milk supply.
Preparing for baby’s arrival? Stock up on quick and easy foods for breakfast, snacks, drinks and dinner that are breastfeeding friendly! Read the Ultimate List of Food for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding.
No time or energy to cook? Plan a freezer meal prep day so that you can have easy slow cooker (or instant pot) meals ready to go. Check out these Healthy Freezer Meals for Breastfeeding Moms!
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