Is "soup" a food or beverage?

Why not both? *broth?

Soup is generally considered food but due to association of the word ‘drink’ with it, some people say it is a drink. However wikipedia says Soup is a liquid food.

This is another of my “It depends” answers. In my purely personal and unscientific opinion, soup can be either, depending on the kind of soup. I also think there may be a linguistic distinction between soup and food in some languages. When I worked in a community center where the majority of the staff were Latinas, they almost universally said that they “drank” soup, when speaking English. I don’t know if this is a translation thing, or a distinction in the class of food that existed in Spanish, but not in English, or if it was just something they said. Any native Spanish speakers out there, I’d be interested in your opinion.

As far as being a food or a beverage, soup is usually thought of as a food, but there are soups that one drinks, like bone broth, or schav. Schav is a Russian borscht made with sorrel and leeks, thickened with tempered egg yolks, and it served cold, as a refreshing summertime drink. There are cold fruit soups served in the same manner. If you put it in a mug and sip it, it is, almost by definition a beverage, even if it started life as a tomato and not an apple. Put the same tomato soup in a bowl and eat it with a spoon and suddenly it’s a food. It’s like a magic trick.

Obviously there are some soups that make the transition more easily than others. A thick, chunky minestrone is unlikely ever to be considered a beverage. But a cool mug of avocado coconut soup on a warm summer afternoon could very well be a beverage. A nourishing beverage, to be sure, but still something you drink, not something you eat.

Schav Summer Soup Recipe on Food52

Soup is a food, albeit in liquid form, because it is intended to provide nourishment. Beverages, on the other hand (non-alcoholic) are intended to provide hydration.

The word “drink” was originally a verb describing how you imbibe a beverage. The verb's transition to a noun is the cause of your confusion. Of course you can drink soup. But do you drink a drink? Yes, but that sounds stupid and redundant. You drink a beverage. This is the confusion created when you dumb things down too much.

Both.

Soup is a beverage when it is simply broth, and you drink it like so.

When you slurp it out of a bowl. If it’s just chicken broth.

Soup is a food when it is thicker, or with things in it, and you eat it with a spoon. Like chili.

In true culinary terms. “Soup” is classified in a number of catagories. Broth, soup, and stew are all soups. And even though broth can be used as beverage, all soups are foods. Not beverages.

While the answer from Beth Goldowitz is really complete, as one would expect - in that it often depends upon the specific vessel the soup is served in - I have a somewhat different way of looking at this. If the spoon stands up in the soup unsupported (an exaggeration, but hopefully it makes the point) then it’s food. The exception to this is if the soup contains noodles - noodles that are that plentiful are pasta - but since pasta requires wine, then they’re still food.

It also gives me a chance to put in a plug for the extraordinary food that I’m surrounded by…

This kind of underlines the point - if you need an independent beverage to take with the soup, then it’s food. My clam chowder is an example - a good crisp white goes very well; beef stew comes off well with a nice rose. Who would want a wine with chicken consommé? (other than me, I find wine goes well with air)

Alert: If you are a Peruvian expat, and thus not living in Peru, I advise you not to look at the images that follow - you will find them disturbing since you’ll go into food withdrawal. It’s an ugly condition…

I, however, do live in Peru - this is Chupe de Camarones, Arequipa style:

It looks very much like food and not a beverage, right?

This is a variation from Lunahuaná, a district in Cañete province in the south of Lima Region (about 180 km south of the Capital):

…still looks much like food, right? Camarones are freshwater shrimp (or crawfish, or whatever regional variation you favor). Andean rivers and streams are pure and cold, and these critters abound.

Water is also essential for the production of beer - note the Beer Deckel in the upper right hand corner of the photo above - it says “Cusqueña” - that’s a Peruvian beer from Cusco. This demonstrates the need for an independent beverage, as suggested above.

So, I have to agree with Beth - soup is both beverage and food- you eat chupe de camarones (if you’re very lucky), and you drink consommé.

It is a food but it can also be a beverage. It depends on what the ingredients are and how it is eaten. In a bowl with a spoon or in a mug to sip.