Chicken soup might hog all the glory, but a meaty broth is just as healthy and can also help you build muscle.

This recipe, courtesy of Sophie Sproson, food development manager for EAT restaurants, gives you eatery-level soup that you can box up and stick in your freezer. If you’re trying to lose weight, have a small serve before your main meal as research at Penn State found this will help you reduce your over-calorie intake by 20%.

So, whether you want to bulk up or lean down, this soup will help you do it…

 

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 700g beef chuck steak

• 5 white onions, diced

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 heaped tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika (or paprika)

• ½ tsp whole caraway seeds

• 250g tomatoes, chopped

• 750ml beef stock

• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into a large dice

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Chopped fresh leaf parsley/sour cream to garnish

 

Method

1: Line up your meat and vegetables and dice them all at once. Research at John Hopkins School Of Health in Baltimore found home-cooking is the most important ingredient in a healthier diet, so relish your prep time.

2: Heat the oil over a high temp – it’s best in a heavy, castiron pot. Sear the steak in small batches to ensure a nice rich color and set aside. Sporadically eating small amounts of red meat is great for bolstering protein and zinc levels, which will increase your testosterone.

3: In the same pot, sauté the onions in the oil until they start to color, lower the heat and cover, letting them sweat until soft. You may think onions are a garnish but their vitamin C and phytochemicals strengthen your immune system, too.

4: Add the paprika, caraway, tomato, beef and beef stock. Cover and simmer for an hour until the meat is tender. Slow-cooking red meat is the best way to limit the cancer-causing carcinogens associated with eating it.

5: Add the cubed potatoes and cook for another 30 minutes until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The spuds make this an excellent post-workout meal because they’re full of B vitamins, potassium, copper and fiber, so you’ll feel fuller for longer.

6: Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkling of chopped parsley. This breath-freshening herb could ensure you get to live out more birthdays. Parsley is rich in apigenin, which puts a pin in cancer cells’ immortality traits, found Ohio State Uni.

 

Find nutrition tips and meal ideas to help you maintain your gains and more in every issue of TRAIN magazine.