Community Cooks: Atlanta restaurant founder ladles 20 years of soups in new cookbook

Sausage, Kale & Tortellini Soup
Courtesy of Joel Silverman/Sky Chief Media

Credit: Joel Silverman/Sky Chief Media

Credit: Joel Silverman/Sky Chief Media

Sausage, Kale & Tortellini Soup Courtesy of Joel Silverman/Sky Chief Media

Known as Souper Jenny, also the name of her chain of soup and salad restaurants, Jenny Levison identifies herself as an “entrepreneur, actress and philanthropist.”

A proud native Atlantan, Levison opened her first restaurant 21 years ago, with “only two employees and $10,000 from a short-lived hand-modeling career.”

Currently, she owns and operates five Souper Jenny locations around metro Atlanta, and she’s set to open a prepared food shop in Seagrove, Florida, later this year.

“We’ve struggled a bit over the last two years,” Levison said. “But, fortunately, we had a takeout model to begin with, so that helped.”

The self-proclaimed “soup diva” also has released her fourth cookbook, “Souper Jenny 20 Years of Soups” ($30), which is available at all her restaurants, and at souperjennyatl.com/shop.

“The book really came out of my collecting recipes for the last 20-plus years,” Levison said. “I opened my first place after an 18-month trip around the world, collecting and learning how to cook.”

The cookbook features 50 Souper Jenny favorites, with easy recipes aimed at home cooks, including her all-time top-seller, My Dad’s Turkey Chili.

“My dad was always the big cook in my family,” Levison recalled. “When I said I was going into the soup business, I remember him giving me that chili recipe, so that was the first soup I cooked on a large scale. Now, our menu changes every day, except we always have turkey chili.”

For winter, Levison favors her Italian-style sausage, kale and cheese-stuffed tortellini soup, which, she claimed, “has magical powers when eaten on a cold, blustery day.”

“I really love one-pot meals, and that one, with a salad, is all you need,” she said. “But, you can switch it up. If you’re not eating pasta, you can leave the tortellini out and add a couple more handfuls of veggies. And, if you’re not eating sausage, you can add ground turkey or tofu crumbles.”

Jenny Levison of Souper Jenny with her dog Ada.
Courtesy of Alli Royce Soble

Credit: Alli Royce Soble

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Credit: Alli Royce Soble

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