Your favorite soup recipes?

[Flaxbee]

I've decided I need to cook at home more and want to get some good soup stuff at the store tomorrow. My husband and I are both lazy and often just pick up sandwiches or noodles or something but it gets so dull (and costly) so I'm going to try to be a good girl and cook at home 4-5 days a week.

Anyone have any favorites? I don't have easy access to a food processor or blender (still packed away god knows where in the basement) but have everything else I'd probably need.

Thanks!

[Kali]

1. Soup is born of chance, not recipes!

the key to good soup is good broth. Roast veggies (any or all: roots like carrots, turnips, celery, tomatoes, garlic and onion (the last two are almost must haves) and bones (beef, chicken or skip - can also use whole chickens or roasts and then you have the meat too, though after making the broth it will be pretty flavorless - bones are what give the real flavor) for a couple of hours and then simmer in water for some more hours. Strain.

That is your base. Decide what you want to add or what you have on hand - prepare it and throw it in the pot. Simmer till done, season, eat a few bowls then put in the fridge. Its really not ready till the next day.

You can even use recipes. ;-) but the important thing is getting this good base.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Here's my favorite recipe for Beef & Vegetable Soup......

Actually, it's more like Beef & Vegetable Stew.

Get a couple of pounds of lean beef, cut into cubes.

Put the beef in a pot, cover with water and add an envelope of dried onion soup and a little salt. Cover the pot and simmer over low to medium heat for at least an hour, the longer it simmers, the more tender the stew meat will get.

Add a couple of large cans of mixed vegetables or two cans of small, whole potatoes. (You may need to add more water depending on many vegetables you add to your stew.) Stir and let stew simmer til all is hot through and through.

Get a 1/4 cup of cold water and dissolve one or two packs of dry, brown gravy mix. After stiring to remove most lumps from gravy mixture, turn heat up on stew and stir gravy mixture into it. After stew has thickened, serve with a side of corn bread. Enjoy!

Edited: Because meet and meat are not interchangeable!

[WCGreen]

3. Vegtable Beef

1 lb to 1 1/2 lb of Stew Meat....

Suate Onions garlic fresh oregano in EVV.....

Wait till they are carmelized...

Then put in the meat...

When it is browned, put in three 12 oz cans of V-8

There is your base.....

then cut up what ever you have, root veggies are the best...

Add a bay leaf

Cut and rinse and then soak your potatos in salt water before putting them in the soup...

Save the tomatos for last or they will go mushy on you...

Turnips are good to add and so is cabbage.....

Have fun. Really nothing to making a good soup

[In_The_Wind]

9. simmered ...

how long till dinner ...

add a homemade loaf of bread ...

[WCGreen]

10. Nothing liked simmered beef in

just the right pot

[In_The_Wind]

11. with just the right seasonings

yummy

[mntleo2]

4. Do You Have A Pot With

an insert that has holes in the bottom?

If so, put uncooked chicken in the insert and water in the bottom of a large soup pot. Season the water with some poultry seasoning, a pinch or two of sage, garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper and a pinch of curry. Cover pot and steam on low heat until the chicken falls off the bones, around three hours. About halfway through the steaming of the chicken: In the water, dice about 1/2 or whole onion depending on the size, a couple stalks of celery, a medium potato and a couple carrots. Remove the insert with the cooked chicken and cool until you can skin and bone the chicken into bite sized pieces (not too small because the meat will sort of disintigrate otherwise). Put the chicken pieces in the broth.

With this broth you can make several things like:

Chicken and Dumplings (great rainy day dish)
You can make bisquick dumplings as well homemade ones, the bisquick dumplings are as good as homemade, IMO.

Follow the directions on your bisquick box (Jiffy Mix works well too. you can put herbs in the dumplings too and this is good such as a little fresh sage in the flour before you add the milk.
Drop misture into the gently boiling chicken and broth. Steam 10 minutes with the lid on and ten minutes with the lid off. Gently spoon out the dumplings and put them into a serving bowl. Thicken broth with a little rouex (mis some flour and water until there are no lumps and then slowly stir into the the gently bubbling broth. simmer until thick about 3 or 4 minutes). Serve in giant bowls with a salad and steamed red potatoes (my family likes to put the dumplings and broth over their potatoes with the skins on).

Good leftovers as well if you store the dumplings covered separate from the chicken and gravy.

You can also take the leftover gravy, add perhaps a little canned chicken broth and a some cooked rice to make "creamed" chicken soup. Serve with with some bread or crackers for lunch.

Chicken Soup:
Into the chicken and broth, you can add some noodles or rice, just a handful or two because otherwise they soak up all the broth and it becomes too mushy. Other veggies can be dropped in if they are half cooked while the rice or noodles are cooking. Serve with a good bread and salad. I make my own noodles: 1 egg, about a cup of flour or a little more, a pinch of salt and make a stiff dough that you can roll out on a floured board. Roll out dough about 1/2 " thick and cut into strips. Drop into gently boiling broth. MMMMM!



Cat In Seattle <---Soup Mama

[yellowdogintexas]

6. on rice and noodles and the taking up of liquid.

whenever I cook rice or spaghetti if I have any leftover, I freeze it in little ziplock bags. Then when my soup is done, I throw the already cooked frozen rice or pasta in the soup. The hot soup will thaw the frozen stuff, and it won't soak up nearly as much of the liquid. Adds lots of body to the soup recipe.


Also, on the Bisquick dumplings: I wholeheartedly agree that Bisquick dumplings are wonderful. I like flat dumplings, so I use the actual biscuit recipe, roll it thin, almost like a thick pie crust, and cut it up into squares. drop the little squares into the boiling stew and the rest is the same as for the drop dumplings.

YUM YUM. Can't wait for a cold day to make chicken and dumplings.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. Heart Healty Spicy Chicken Soup

Large stock pot
this makes a large pot of soup!

1 large fryer or even a hen SKINNED! (or you can use any combination of chicken parts, or just chicken breast)just be sure it is skinned and the yellow fatty globs are all cut off.
chicken broth
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 cans of diced green chiles
2 cans of tomatoes, diced
1 cup each diced carrots and celery
1 tsp of cumin
1 can of either Great Northern, garbanzo or black beans, rinsed
salt, pepper to taste



wash the chicken, remove the giblets (feed those to the cat)
if you want to you can cut the chicken up into sections
Put it in the stock pot, cover with water and simmer . Skim off the foam that rises to the top of the liquid, and add water to keep it from cooking down too low.
When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool.
Add all the other ingredients to the stock except the canned beans and bring up to a boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. You can cook this another 45 minutes or so.

Once the chicken is cooled enough, you can debone it and cut up the meat. Add the cut up meat back into the soup and add the drained and rinsed beans. Simmer until everything is heated through.

TIP: do the cooking of the chicken the day before, refrigerate the broth and bag up the chicken meat. The next day you can skim all the fat off the broth, then continue on and finish the soup.

I make a small version of this with a couple of boneless skinless breasts; sometimes I throw some frozen corn in the soup and if I happen to have some, a little frozen leftover rice.

[vajraroshana]

7. Fall is coming and it'll be soup time around here too......

Minestrone is one of my favorites.

I don't have any recipes at hand, but I can recommend that you simmer your soup for at least 1 1/2 hours.

And start out with about one big onion diced finely, one carrot diced finely and one or two celery ribs diced finely (save the chopped green parts to add in the last 15 minutes or so)-- sautee these three ingredients in some olive oil for 10 minutes or so, then you can add just about anything.

Probably you'll want to add about 8-10 cups (at least) water or broth.

And then simmer for at least 1 and 1/2 hours. It'll come out good pretty much no matter what else you put in.

Minestrone is a *great* begginers soup. Just google.

[Kali]

8. If you like bean soup

The old ranch standby: sort and rinse about one or 2 inches worth of pinto beans into the bottom of a big pot. Fill most of the way with water, add an onion or two, chopped, some chopped garlic, some black pepper (all to your taste) and a few slices of bacon, salt pork or a ham bone (or scraps) (or if you are really broke a spoonful of bacon grease) and put on a very low flame for 6 to 8 hours. Stir when you think about it. Serve with grated cheese, salsa, fresh onions and tortillas or cornbread.

Also good with it: place 6 regualr corn tortillas on a baking sheet. Mound about a tablespoon of yellow cheese in the middle of each, sprinkle with salt and bake at 375 - 400 for about ten minutes - till crispy but not too brown. Pile beans, tomatos, onions and salsa on and binge!

The soup or just the beans can be frozen if you get sick of it, mad into refries, burros, dip etc. Beans are your friends.

Vary with other types of beans. Lentils too - good with kielbasa or smoked sausage. Split peas soup - just follow the recipe on the bag (except for the spices - I just use garlic onion carrot and pepper, maybe a bay leaf for a bit - bay is also good for the beef stew recipes above - throw it away when through cooking.

[tanyev]

12. Italian Garden Soup.

SOUP PURISTS, SKIP THIS POST. You would be horrified.

1 can Del Monte Italian Beans, drained
1 can DM Zucchini w/Italian-Style tomato sauce
1 can DM peas and carrots
1 can DM diced tomatoes w/basil, garlic & oregano
1 can chicken or beef broth

Dump, heat, serve. If I have time, I like to add extra liquid (more broth and/or V8 or tomato juice) and some barley and let it simmer for a while.

It's quick, easy, and tastes pretty good.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. oh hell, nothing wrong with that at all.

I am a fan of hamburger soup myself

Brown up some lean ground beef
add 1 huge or 2 large cans of VegAll
add some canned or frozen corn
can of diced tomatoes
seasonings of your choice

quick and easy
filling

tastes good

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

21. even though I am a purist I keep canned vegetables around

of course I also keep charcoal, 5 gallons of water and loads of other stuff in cases of power shortage and emergencies

:shrug:

Nothing wrong at all with making soup with canned veggies (although I favor frozen if I am not using fresh)

[Kali]

22. I can do pure or I can do fast-emergency

for your recipe you can even use dry bullion cubes or powder - I always keep that on hand.

Totally broke fake soup: however much chicken bullion with recommended amounts of water. Handfull of any kind of noodles. dry parsley if you have it, celery salt or whateve sounds good. Add more salt if not enough "flavor" a touch of butter or olive oil can actually make it pretty tasty.

I do hamburger soup too - but add some macaroni or flat noodles.

Keep lots of dry stuff on hand - it keeps forever and you can always make some kind of soup.

[henslee]

14. red lentil soup with dried apricots and garlic, maybe a bit wintery though

re-edited, posted wrong recipe....will look for real one.

[youthere]

15. Easy Quick and Yummy-Potato Leek Soup

You'll need:
Potatoes (1-3 or more depending on how many you are feeding)
Garlic (1-2 cloves-depends how much you are making and how much you like garlic)
Chicken Broth (or bouillon) (enough to just barely cover the potatoes)
Olive oil or butter (to sautee leeks)
Leeks (1-3 white and light green parts only-wash them GOOD)


Peel and dice 1-3 potatoes
Boil until tender in enough chicken broth to cover the potatoes (you can use canned broth, bouillon, or homemade)
Add one clove of garlic (pressed or chopped).

While the potatoes are simmering, slice (and clean) the leeks, and saute in some olive oil or butter (don't use margarine though-it turns bitter tasting).

When the potatoes are soft, mash a few of them to thicken the soup, add the leeks and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Now, if you are a fan of creamed soups (I am not) you could add some half and half or some milk to this. I have also added a shredded carrot for color and some celery (finely diced)-but celery would add to the cooking time. You can also add some bacon if you want a smokier flavor-but I think it overpowers the leeks.

This is great and filling with some crusty bread.


This easily can become vegan if you substitute vegetable broth and use olive oil instead of the butter.

[Flaxbee]

16. these all sound great! Thank you!

I've made a shopping list and will be off to the grocery store soon....

I actually enjoy cooking, I just don't have that special cooking creativity some have and like to have some guidelines to follow. Tho, as I cook more, I'm finding it is becoming more 'natural' and I don't worry about precise measurements so much.

[Kali]

23. precise measurements are good for baking -

cakes, especially until you are really good - and I find it still helps to go back and double check now and then - especially if things aren't quite coming out the way they used to. But for soups and casseroles - no precision needed!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. I love to make sweet and sour cabbage soup with flanken ribs

get some cross cut short ribs, brown them in a tablespoon of cooking oil in a deep pot.

once the ribs are browned add a whole chopped cabbage and cover with water and one can of chopped tomatoes and one can of tomato sauce, add about 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic, three tablespoons of brown sugar and two ounces of white vinegar...bring to a boil and let simmer for about an hour...salt and pepper to taste

way easy and real good!

[charlie]

18. I love making soups with ribs

Tender meat with enough fat for good flavor.

Never made a sweet 'n sour soup before. I'm gonna do that one after my grocery run next week. Thanks!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. Have fun

the cross cut ribs have a thinly sliced bone in them that renders loads of flavor to the soup...if you want, after browning them, cut them apart with kitchen scissors or a knife before adding other ingredients.

I never waste ribs...after making a rib roast I always make soup with the bones

[Akoto]

19. Mine is pretty simple.

On a cold night, I really like to make a hearty soup with lots of meat and veggies.

I cube and then brown a cheap cut of beef in the cooking pot. Once its been seared, I pour in beef broth and let it heat up. I then add chopped carrots, peas and corn. After that, I add green beans and cubed potatoes (lots of 'em).

The final step, closer to the end, is to make big dumplings out of simple biscuit mix. They float on the top so that each bowl gets a big dumpling.

It's a healthy soup that'll fill you up. :)