It is a truth universally acknowledged that busy people hate deciding what to have for dinner. Even Aretha Franklin once said that one of her biggest challenges in life was “trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, nightly, you know, just night after night.”

The Queen of Soul. She’s just like us!

Enter: soup. Soup is the Justin Tucker of dinners. When there are just minutes to go on the clock with the game on the line, soup gets the job done.

No one needs to spend any time convincing Kevin Mullaney, owner of Soup’s On at 11 W. Preston St., that soup is a meal. He and his twin brother Keith have devoted their lives to the dish, which they first started selling while living in California in the 1990s. “Soup gave us the option to explore the world in a bowl,” he said.

While the Mullaneys have added a few other menu items to the offerings at their eatery, they’d rather stick to soup, sold for a reasonable $7 a pint to entice customers. “We’ve been raising the prices of the sandwiches steadily to discourage them,” Kevin Mullaney said. He considers himself a prickly person, but he promises he’s “not a Soup Nazi.” Still, the eatery does call to mind the New York soup vendor made infamous by an episode of “Seinfeld.” A magnet by the Soup’s On cash register even says “No Soup For You,” a nod to the TV character’s line.

Mullaney said his business could get by selling just four types of soup: Maryland crab, cream of crab, chicken noodle and French onion. But he prefers to challenge himself and his customers by switching up the offerings on a near-daily basis. The menu this week includes 10 different choices, including tilapia and chorizo chowder, roasted beet and cream of tomato. (The eatery’s delicious French onion is always on the menu, though.)

Ever-changing soups are also a specialty at Atwater’s, which has locations in Belvedere Square, Catonsville and Towson. I love that you can buy it by the cup, bowl or quart (prices for quarts range from $13.95-$15.25) and add on a loaf of bread. While you’re at it, pick up a piece of cake, too.

While the menu at Mera Kitchen Collective frequently changes, chef Iman Alshehab’s hearty and healthful red lentil option, also sold by the quart, is a staple since one fateful chilly day at the farmers market when Mera’s booth first began selling it — and sold out almost immediately. “It’s literally four ingredients,” said Emily Lerman, a co-founder of the eatery in Midtown-Belvedere. Though all you need is lentils, onion, cumin and garlic, you might not want to try Alshebab’s recipe at home. “Even though I’ve watched her make it for years now, I can never get it right when I try to make it,” Lerman said.

Here’s my hot take on hot quarts of soup: the label always says it can serve two, but it’s really only enough for 1 ½ servings. So when you’re at Mastellone Deli and Wine Shop on Harford Road, be sure to pick up two quarts of their frozen pasta e fagioli ($12 per quart) if you plan on having a partner for dinner. Italian for “pasta and beans,” the filling tomato-based soup is finished off with prosciutto and pancetta.

“Soup is tearing it up right now,” said Thomas Pons, who took over Sophia’s Place in Fells Point’s Broadway Market from founder Zofia Para. Prices range from $10.95-$20 per quart. Top sellers include borscht, made with red beets, a vegan carrot, ginger and turmeric option and a mushroom soup. Carnivores like me will also find plenty to fill up on with smoked meat soups — this is a Polish deli, after all. Try bigos, a hearty hunter’s stew made with cabbage, sauerkraut and sausage.

As we’re entering cold and flu season, nothing quite compares to the healing power of chicken broth. At the first sign of illness, I’m likely to head to Mekong Delta Cafe on North Charles Street for their beautifully seasoned pho ga ($11), or Attman’s Deli, which has city locations in Harbor Point and on Lombard Street, for matzo ball soup ($12.99).

In fact, was that a sniffle I just had? I think I’d better go get some soup right now, just in case.