Soup vs stew: calories compared

Most people want the difference between the dishes. We have no evidence that defines either, and this page is about food, not the video game. Per cup in the table, soup has about 120 calories, 8.6 g of protein and 605 mg of sodium, and beef stew about 273 calories, 22 g and 783 mg. Homemade is no guarantee of less salt. A standard UK homemade vegetable soup has 315 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), canned 230 mg.

As a starter, vegetable soup cut total lunch calories by 20 percent in a randomized trial in 60 adults, whatever its texture, over single lab meals. In stew the liquid holds nutrients. By USDA factors, braised beef eaten without its juices keeps 55 percent of its potassium and 35 percent of its vitamin B6, against 100 and 50 with them.

Big pots need care. CDC links food cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures to outbreaks. In one outbreak in Uganda, 97 percent of the sick had eaten leftover beef stew, against 40 percent of those who stayed well. Refrigerate within 2 hours and reheat leftovers to 165 °F (74 °C). On hemodialysis, soup counts toward your liquid limit.

Soup as a starter may shrink the meal, stew gives more protein per cup, and its juices keep nutrients.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level E UK food tables list homemade vegetable soup at 315 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), more than canned vegetable soup at 230 mg. CoFID 2021, Public Health England, codes 17-684 and 17-712
2. Level B In a randomized crossover trial in 60 adults, eating vegetable soup before lunch cut total meal energy by 20%, whatever form the soup took. Appetite, 2007
3. Level E By the USDA table, braised beef eaten without its juices keeps only 55% of potassium and niacin and 35% of vitamin B6, against 100%, 90% and 50% when the juices are eaten too. USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007)
4. Level E CDC links C. perfringens outbreaks to foods cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures. It advises keeping cooked food at 140 F or hotter or 40 F or colder, refrigerating within 2 hours of cooking and reheating leftovers to 165 F. CDC, Preventing C. perfringens Food Poisoning
5. Level C In a funeral food poisoning outbreak in Uganda, 97% of cases against 40% of controls had eaten leftover beef stew for breakfast (OR 57). BMC Infect Dis, 2025
6. Level E For people on hemodialysis, NIH's kidney institute says limiting salt is one way to limit how much liquid they take in, because salt makes you thirsty. It also says foods that are liquid at room temperature, such as soup, contain water and count toward that liquid. NIDDK (NIH), Eating & Nutrition for Hemodialysis

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Soup: a starter that shrinks the meal and quietly adds salt
• Stew: keep the juices, respect the leftovers

Rankings and guides

• Calories: what it does and what the evidence shows
• Which foods give the most protein for the fewest calories?
• Dietary fat: what it does and how much you need

• Soup: USDA FoodData Central, Soup, NFS, FDC ID 2709144 · all forms of soup
• Stew: USDA FoodData Central, Stew, beef, FDC ID 2706592 · all forms of stew

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.