The air is crisp and cool at night now in Virginia. It’s the time of year when my favorite dinner is a hearty seasonal soup or stew served with fresh-baked bread.

Here are some of my favorite soup recipes. Some are old standards in my house and one is a new recipe I can’t wait to try.

Click the soup title or accompanying photo to go to the original recipe.

Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution Cookbook, Susan adds her own tips that assure success with this zesty soup.

When I make this, I do use the tomato paste in a tube and top it with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. The crushed tortilla chips are my kids’ favorite part.

Let the kids help crush the chips. You’ll probably get chip dust, but it’s a great way to get them involved in preparing the food they eat.

Serve this with the best cornbread recipe: Grandmother’s Buttermilk Cornbread.

My own mother would call this a “Yankee” recipe, so just don’t tell her I put eggs and sugar in cornbread. Do not miss one of the most popular recipes on allrecipes.com.

This is a cool-weather staple at my house, although I mix it in a bowl and bake it in a prepared 9×9 pan.

Chloe’s Virus-Killing Soup

Make this soup now and store half of it in the freezer for later in the winter when someone in your house has the sniffles.

This recipe can have endless variations. Previously, I left out the fennel because it was hard to find at my Kroger and often too expensive.

Now I almost always add the fennel (sometimes it’s labeled “anise”, but it’s not really anise) since I can get it so cheaply at Trader Joe’s. It’s about half the price, compared with my local grocery stores.

Try to add it, both for the flavor and the alleged health benefits of fennel.

I make this killer soup mostly with whatever I have in the crisper drawer, but the two must-add ingredients are the garlic and the cayenne. Adjust to taste, but make sure they feature prominently.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I make this all the time when the weather is cool. Sometimes I blend it smooth with my stick blender and sometimes I leave it as is. If you blend it, it’s way more green.

Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew

This is a great vegan and gluten-free stew. I made this tonight and really liked it, but it was hit or miss with the kids.

It was very new and different for me. I make curries occasionally, but usually with chicken and other vegetables served over rice.

This would be great served over basmati or jasmine rice.

I used less curry than the recipe called for because I had to blend my own and I also omitted the cilantro. Because cilantro tastes like soap.

The next soup I want to add to my autumn repertoire is Acorn Squash and Pear Soup.

Do you have any favorite soups that are perfect for fall? If you have one on your blog, feel free to link it up in the comments.