Real Simple’s Web exclusive this week features 14 recipes for quick, easy and belly-warming soups ranging from an ultra-basic French onion to a slightly more exotic spicy sweet potato and coconut and everything in between. Even if you’re not a recipe follower (and who really needs to be with soups?), these are good for a little inspiration and can definitely be improved upon.

Lack of time and interest in long and/or involved culinary projects made the French onion, the simplest soup of all, stand out. Also, the inclusion of French fried onions in the recipe. My husband loves these things, and yes OK so do I. We’re not doing a traditional dinner for Thanksgiving this year (i.e., no green bean casserole!), so I jumped at another excuse to buy them. I used Jarlsberg instead of Swiss and cut the recipe in half (to avoid left overs and over eating). The Jarlsberg is on hand thanks to a tip on another onion soup recipe.