Instapot, check! I need a soup for tomorrow - will go check for a recipe - unfortunately I have no dried beans (or hardly any beans except refried!) in the house!
The secret to good broth is browned bones. I keep a gallon zip-lock in the freezer and throw in any bones from meat we have had. After a few (or a lot) weeks when it’s full, I spread them out in a baking sheet and roast them until they are well browned and any meaty/fatty bits are really cooked. You can use raw onions/carrots/celery (or the trimmings from them) in the broth because you throw them out before it’s soup.
Once I have roasted the holiday turkey carcas and all those veggie trimmings into a rich broth, I put it into a gallon ziplock bag and lay it flat in the freezer. The thin sheet of frozen broth can be broken off into bits as needed.
For a great soup that doesn’t require great broth, our favorite is
How I learned to make good soup: read recipes in a good basic cookbook like (the original) Joy of Cooking, which explains many things. After you win a few, experiment with adding. I love lemon, worcestershire, and recently, sausage (WF links, taken out of the casing and browned first.) Bok Choy or other greens are good. But start with basics. Nothing works without a good broth or base.
You can graduate to more sophisticated after you learn the basics. America’s Test Kitchen has a review if good, boxed broths, maybe some canned. Not everyone wants to make that part from scratch, at home.
Good luck.
I used to make a quick curried yam soup - took about 45 minutes, on the stovetop. It helps to have an immersion blender. I don’t remember the recipe I used, but you can find examples online.
(I don’t follow recipes anyway - I’ll typically read 3 or 4 recipes online to figure out what the essential ingredients are, and then make my own version, with my own variations.)
Basic idea is to cook the yams in broth until soft, then blend in coconut milk – and of course use curry powder or appropriate spices. I’ve added in carrots or apples in the past.
I think that the need for slow, long prep applies to broth and vegetable based soups but for cream-based soups …you really don’t want to cook that long. So clam chowder, cream of mushroom, etc – will all be faster to prepare.
Of course it’s useful to have stock on hand. I also always have better than bullion & miso paste on hand and will add one of those ingredients when I don’t have stock.
I just make stock from time to time in the crock pot and freezing a bunch – I have a silicon tray to make big ice cubes and basically make a couple of trays full from time to time.
I just recently discovered how much better dried beans are than canned beans in soup. It does take longer to make soup with dried, but I think using them is worth the effort. H got these beans at a specialty food store and they were amazing. We order them online. https://www.ranchogordo.com
@Bromfield2 I switched to dried beans a few years ago when I learned that the cans have bht in them (the lining).
I also stopped using campbell’s soup when I found out. I’d known about bht since the girls were babies, and the scientist who did all this testing on plastics kept saying bht was dangerous and nobody would listen to her. I’m glad they finally listened, but a lot of canned goods still are loaded with bht…
I like a good pasta fazool soup (I know that’s the wrong way to spell it, but I like my way better), and the williams sonoma white turkey chili recipe is much more soup than chili, and is amazing in the slow cooker.
We love the pasta fagioli soup out of the classic italian cookbook by Marcella Hazan, over time I have altered the recipe a bit. It’s my D’s favorite soup, we have even named it after her and she requests it every time she’s home.
You don’t really need a recipe for soup. Soup is a magical creation: throw any number of random items into a pot and with a little tinkering and a goodly amount of time, you will have delicious soup. But for a beginner, as someone else suggested, follow a few recipes in a good basic cookbook. Make a chicken or beef soup, a vegetable soup, a cream soup to learn the basic techniques. Then start playing around. If you eat a soup you like, look up a few recipes for similar soups and experiment based on your own preferences and what you have in the house. It’s really hard to make a bad soup, because you can always adjust the seasonings at the end if it doesn’t come out the way you intended.
I throw used chicken bones and carcasses in the freezer then dump them in a stock pot along with a carrot, an onion, a bay leaf, some pepper corns, some parsley and a bit of salt. I simmer it for hours on the back of the stove then put it in the freezer to use later.
I made a good butternut squash soup yesterday. Here’s the recipe.
Roast 2 pounds of cut up squash at 400 degrees. Meanwhile Cut up two pears into small chunks. (I used Bartletts.) Then saute 1 large onion (chopped up) at a low heat for about 10 minutes. Add 2 garlic cloves and 1 TB of curry powder for the last couple of minutes. Add 4 cups of chicken stock and add the pears and squash - simmer until the pears are soft - about 20 to 30 minutes depending on how ripe they are. Puree the soup. Then add 1/2 cup of 1/2 and 1/2. (Or cream.) Reheat if necessary. Next time I think I might try roasting the pears to speed up the process.
I just started a pot of spilt pea soup. I find that it’s way better the second day…so it’s really for tomorrow. No big secret. 1 pound of spit peas, 1 hambone, 6 cups of water, and 2 pounds of carrots…and a little onion. And YES…I put it all in at the same time. For this soup, the carrots add part of the flavor of the actual broth.
Six hours on high in the crock pot.
I make turkey stock for gravy using a cooks illustrated recipe. Turkey thighs, wings, backs, and cut up vegs are roasted and then put in a pot with chicken broth, herbs, and wine. Simmered for a few hours. This year I did it in the crock pot so no watching required. The stock can be bagged and frozen until later.
I used the ribs from Christmas prime rib roast to mak a beef soup. Combo of beef and chicken stock added to sautéed vegs. I do the one at a time method above. I chopped up a small beef ribeye steak that was on half price at the grocery and browned that. The ribs and meat went into the pot with other things. I threw in a slug of wine at some point. Shredded meat from the bones. Farro cooked separately and added to each bowl.
Always taste and add salt.
Rancho Gordo beans are the best.
I make soup like others bake. It’s so cathartic to me.
Lentil soup made this morning.
Saute carrots, onion and carrot in a little olive oil. Add 2 cups lentils. I added chicken stock and pepper. Simmer for an hour or so. Perfect for a cold winer day.
I made this during the week and it was a big hit.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/chickpea-tomato-soup-with-rosemary/
Has anyone made beef bone broth?
Chicken Corn Chowder
- In a huge pan, sauté a small diced onion (or half a large one), a couple diced ribs of celery, and a couple of diced carrots, in a tablespoon or two of butter. (about 5-8 mins on medium heat). Add a couple bay leaves and season with salt, pepper and just a bit of cayenne or pepper sauce. A diced pasilla or other mild pepper works too. (optional…)
- Add 2 cups of chicken broth or stock. Chop up a couple of potatoes and add them. Finally, drop in some chopped chicken. Bring this to a simmer and let it stay there for about eight minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk three tablespoons of flour into one cup of milk. After whisking, the flour should not be visible (the goal is zero clumps). Add the milk/flour to the pot along with another pat or two of butter and a drained can of sweet corn (a bag of frozen is fine too).
- Stir well to incorporate the milk mixture, kick up the heat a bit and bring to a soft boil/hard simmer. Allow it to simmer a few more minutes. This will allow the flour to cook and unlock its thickening potential, cook the corn, finish the chicken, etc. After those few minutes, test a piece of chicken for doneness – if it’s done, turn off the heat. Taste and re-season as necessary. Remove the bay leaves. Soup will continue thickening as it cools.
I was in that yucky soup category until
Americas test kitchen version of Chicken soup
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/6958-old-fashioned-chicken-noodle-soup?extcode=LN15A1AAA
Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
From America’s Test Kitchen Season 12: Slow-Cooker Revolution
Shopping list
Email
Print
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Making chicken noodle soup with a deep, satisfying flavor requires a few tricks when using a slow cooker. First, we used a combination of bone-in chicken thighs and breasts. The cooked and shredded breast meat tasted nice in the final soup, but the bone-in thighs really gave the broth its… read more
Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed
Salt and pepper
1tablespoon vegetable oil
3carrots, peeled and chopped medium
2celery ribs, chopped medium
1onion, minced
3garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon tomato paste
2teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/8teaspoon red pepper flakes
8cups low-sodium chicken broth
2bay leaves
1(12-ounce) bone-in, skin-on split chicken breast, trimmed
1 1/2ounces wide egg noodles (about 1 cup)
1/2cup frozen peas
2tablespoons minced fresh parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- Dry chicken thighs with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chicken thighs well on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to plate, let cool slightly, and discard skin.
- Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat left in pan. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook over medium heat until vegetables are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, thyme, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
- Stir remaining 7 cups broth and bay leaves into slow cooker. Nestle browned chicken with any accumulated juice into slow cooker. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper, wrap in foil packet, and lay on top of soup. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4 to 6 hours on low.
- Remove foil packet, open it carefully (watch for steam), and transfer chicken breast to cutting board. Transfer chicken thighs to cutting board. Let all chicken cool slightly, then shred into bite-sized pieces, discarding skin and bones. Let soup settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Discard bay leaves.
- Cook egg noodles in boiling salted water until tender, then drain. Stir cooked noodles, shredded chicken, and peas into soup and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Why that works from america’s test kitchen
Why This Recipe Works
Making chicken noodle soup with a deep, satisfying flavor requires a few tricks when using a slow cooker. First, we used a combination of bone-in chicken thighs and breasts. The cooked and shredded breast meat tasted nice in the final soup, but the bone-in thighs really gave the broth its flavor during the long cooking time. And for maximum flavor, we found it necessary to brown the chicken thighs (and remove the skin) before adding them to the slow cooker. To prevent the breast meat from overcooking (which happens when there is a lot of liquid in the slow cooker), we wrapped the chicken breast inside a foil packet. Boiling the noodles separately was a quick and easy way to make sure they had just the right texture.
If you prefer dried beans to canned beans, an Instant Pot is your friend. Toss the beans in, with water and salt, set the timer for the right time-- 20-25 minutes for black beans, for example-- and in half an hour or less, while you’re prepping all the other ingredients, your beans will be ready. If you’re making bean soup, you’ll saute the onions, carrots and celery, add the beans, pork product, seasoning, and other ingredients, set the timer, and in half an hour you’ll have soup.
What @“Cardinal Fang” said.
I made a Spanish bean soup last night.
I used garbanzo beans (previously cooked in the instant pot and frozen in 3 cup portions. $1.50 of garbanzo beans works out to 9 cups of cooked beans - equivalent to 6 cans of beans so it’s cheap too.)
Anyway,
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cans (3 cups) garbanzo beans
1 small bay leaf
1 small russet potato, peeled and diced
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups veggie broth
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika (I use the dulce/sweet rather than the picante/hot)
Salt/pepper to taste
Heat a pan over medium heat, add onion and sauté until soft and lightly brown, 10-15 mins. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
If using an instant pot, deglaze the pan with about a cup of water and dump the onions in the insert (you can sauté right in the insert but I prefer to use a cast iron pan. (I tend to warm up the liquid in the instant pot while the onions are finishing up.) Add frozen or defrosted or canned garbanzo beans, bay leaf, potato, remaining water and broth. Close lid and set on soup for 15 mins. Allow it to sit for 5 mins (NPR) then release remaining pressure.
Use an immersion blender to blend the heck out of it. Add the smoked paprika then salt and pepper to taste.
I like to top it with crumbled bacon, but the original version is vegan.
If doing it in a pot on the stove, cook for 40 minutes then blend and add paprika plus salt/pepper.
I serve it with cornbread (using a budget bytes recipe.)
Made this soup today and it was Reply · excellent!
Turkey Meatball and Kale Soup from
The Kitchen Scout
1.5 lbs. ground turkey (dark meat preferably)
2t garlic paste
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion
1T tomato paste
1t kosher salt
1t ground black pepper
2T extra virgin olive oil
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced into half-moons
8c low-sodium chicken stock
20 small-medium Lacinto kale leaves sliced (ribs removed first)
- Place turkey in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix garlic paste, 1/2 of the grated onion, parmesan, parsley, tomato paste, salt and pepper until combined.
- Roll turkey mixture into one-inch rounded meatballs (you should have about 32). Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning for 2 minutes until golden. You don't want to cook them all the way at this point.
- Remove meatballs from pan and set aside. Add crushed garlic, the remaining grated onion, celery, and carrot to the pan. Cook for four minutes or until softened. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and return meatballs to the pan.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until meats are cooked. Add kale, making sure to submerge leaves in the broth. Remove from heat. Let rest for five minutes.
- Serve with parmesan cheese.