Soup is a kind of food which is mainly liquid. It is usually eaten as hot food or hot food (but it can also be cold food or cold food). It is made by mixing ingredients such as meat and vegetables with soup, juice, water or other liquid. In addition, hot soup is characterized by boiling the solid ingredients in the liquid in the pot until the flavor is extracted to form the broth.

In traditional French cuisine, soup can be divided into two categories: "clear soup" and "thick soup".

Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a significant difference between the two. However, soup usually has more liquid than stew. Cold soup is a special variant of traditional soup, in which the temperature of soup is kept below room temperature. They may be sweet or salty. In summer, sweet cold soups can form part of a dessert plate. An example of cold dish soup is Spanish cold dish soup, which is a kind of cold dish soup and originated in Spain. Another example is Moore Naeng myun, which is Korean cold beef soup.

East Asian soups, which are often not found in western cuisine, are characterized by the use of tofu in soups. Many traditional East Asian soups are usually broth, "clear soup" or starch thickened soup.