Favorite Soup!? Fav Homemade, Fav Canned??

The only canned soup I like (guilty pleasure) is Progresso Light New England Clam Chowder.

I try to stay away from canned soups though, for obvious reasons.

Homemade soups are sooooooo easy to make, and you can make a huge batch that lasts all week.

I make 2 soups and switch them up every other week - homemade chicken soup and lentil soup.

For the chicken soup I boil up 2 big chicken breasts and 4 skinless boneless chicken thighs in 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth, celery and onion (I remove them later), and spices like parsley, bay leafs, oregano, garlic. I like to simmer the base for a few hours with the chicken in it. Then I remove the chicken and shred it. I also take out a cup or so of the base before I put the chicken in to use later.

Later in the day I'll make a bag of frozen veggies (I like the roma blend which is zucchini, carrots, lima beans, and cauliflower) and using the base I put aside I'll puree all of them together, then throw them back in the soup. Not only does it thicken the soup, but pureeing them removes alot of the veggie taste which my kids would never eat if they knew what veggies were in there. LOL

Sometimes I'll drop in homemade dumplings and cook them in the soup 20 minutes before serving.

The lentil soup is similar at the beginning. I do the same thing with the veggies too. However I do take out about 1/2 the lentils and puree them as well. I leave some in there whole. Lentils don't have to be cooked very long, 45 minutes is all it really takes. I like to throw in (low calorie) turkey sausage or chicken hotdogs for protein.

My new favorite soup is homemade Potato Leek Soup. I make this about every other week. An 8oz. bowl is only about 150 calories or so... and it's thick and yummy, and stays well in the fridge for about 5 days or so. I make mine w/o cream or milk, and it's plenty tasty, plenty thick! This recipe below makes a huge pot! It's basically just veggies (leek, potato and onion, with a few extra add-ins for flavor).
I've made this with about 1lb each of leek and potato - just saute the leeks (white and light green only) and onion in some butter for about 10 mins, then add in your liquid and potatoes, boil until potatoes are tender. Transfer to blender and blend- add in other stuff to taste. SOOOO Good!

Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle the way the made it in the 80's. *kitten* changed the recipe and now the soup of my childhood, my perfect comfort food, is no more. :frown:

My new favorite soup is homemade Potato Leek Soup. I make this about every other week. An 8oz. bowl is only about 150 calories or so... and it's thick and yummy, and stays well in the fridge for about 5 days or so. I make mine w/o cream or milk, and it's plenty tasty, plenty thick! This recipe below makes a huge pot! It's basically just veggies (leek, potato and onion, with a few extra add-ins for flavor).
I've made this with about 1lb each of leek and potato - just saute the leeks (white and light green only) and onion in some butter for about 10 mins, then add in your liquid and potatoes, boil until potatoes are tender. Transfer to blender and blend- add in other stuff to taste. SOOOO Good!

You're my hero. I was just searching for a good potato leek recipe (because the canned junk is just so salty it kills my stomach nowadays) and this is now my dinner. Thanks doll!!

**Editted to address the OP because I got distracted by the above. lol **

I love cabbage vegetable soup. I don't even really have a set recipe honestly because its such a good throw together.
I make it two ways though..the cabbage soup version is usually just cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, vegetable stock, water and seasonings to taste. If I want a vegetable cabbage soup I add in potatoes and tomato juice/tomatoes. Of course, you can put any other veggies that you enjoy and the caloric intake is typically under 200. The one I made the other day was around 80 for a large bowl full.

I don't do canned soups, but I do use store and/or homemade broth and stock!

Personal favorites:-
Cream of Mushroom
French Onion
New England Clam Chowder
Lobster Bisque

(yes I am a sucker for creamy soups lol)

At the moment, it's Coconut Kale soup and Thai Coconut soup. Trader Joe's has some great soup boxes...my favorites are Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Low Sodium. I have a copycat rcipe for Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana that is amazing. I use turkey Italian sausage and cut back on the potatoes. You just have to watch out for the sodium in soups.

My FAVORITE soup of ALL TIME, is the kind my mom always made.

It's tomato sauce, and beef broth. Add beef stew meat, 'taters, corn, green beans, sliced carrots, diced tomatoes, and onions. Little salt and a good bit of pepper. IT'S SO GOOD. I could eat like 3 bowls of it.

Canned soups are the nastiest! Why eat something that was designed to last for years? Not just because of the can, but the preservatives in it..

I make my own and they really don't take that much time. Once I make them, I freeze them in individual servings.

Homemade beef veggie:
2 large cans tomato sauce
2 cans water
1 bag mixed vegetables (I love the gumbo style)
A couple tablespoons Texas Pete
1 pound hamburger
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Homemade potato with carrot:
6 potatoes and one carrot cut and boiled to soft (do not drain the water, you will use it in the soup)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup Shredded cheese (I use whatever I have on hand...Italian...colby jack...mozarella)
6 teaspoons butter (you can omit this if you'd like, but I usually add it)
Salt to taste

I try to avoid canned - but it does work well in a pinch - I like Progresso Italian Wedding.
The Trader Joes soups in boxes (butternut squash, etc.) are awesome!

Made this in the winter and it was great - super fast and easy and not bad nutritionally speaking - esp if you use chicken sausage.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-sausage-soup/detail.aspx

Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable.

The Zuni Cafe cookbook has a recipe for asparagus and aborio rice soup. Perfect for Springtime.

Tortilla Soup from The Pioneer Woman's blog is my favorite! Easy to make, and awesome left over. Had the last of it for lunch yesterday with avocado, plain greek yogurt, salsa, cheese, and tortilla strips on top - super tasty! Her recipe calls for baked chicken breast, but I've also made it with ground beef and it's still awesome. You can cut a corner and use rotisserie chicken too. Good stuff!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/

I used to like canned soups, but avoid them now - too much sodium!

These two are my favorite homemade soups!

Spicy Taco Soup
Chicken – Breast 1.5 cup, chopped
Instant Stock Mix - Chicken, 3 tsp.
Black Beans (No Salt Added), 1 container (2.2 cups ea.)
Peaches and Cream Frozen Corn, 1 cup (85g)
2 cans Whole Plum Tomatoes low sodium
Tomato paste, 2 tsp
No Name - Garlic Salt, 1 tsp
Spices - Cumin, 3 tsp
(cilantro) leaves - Raw , 0.25 cup
Garlic, 2 Cloves (I.E. 6 g) - Raw, 2 tsp (6g)
Generic - Jalapeño Pepper-Raw, 1 qty
Onions - Raw, 1 cup, chopped
Chipotle Peppers In Adobe Sauce, 2 tbsp (31g) with sauce
Lime juice to taste
2-3 cups of water

Serve with fresh cilantro, guacamole, greek yogurt, lime wedges, and cheddar cheese






Italian Vegetable soup

Barb - Yellow Zucchini Raw - 1 Cup
Cabbage - Raw, 600 g
Carrots (Raw), 1.5 medium carrot (78g)
2 cans Whole Plum Tomatoes
Onion, Raw, Diced, 1 cup (160g)
Garlic - 2 clove (3g)
Italian Herbs Paste, 8 g
Tomato Paste, 30 mL
Chicken Instant Stock Mix, 3 tsp

I don't eat canned soups - ever!

All my soups start with, and onion/celery/carrot/garlic fried up with herbs/spices if required. Sometimes I chop up a huge container and freeze it, I will cook just a handful from frozen.

Then add stock + veg and simmer till veg soft. blend and good to go.

Some of the combinations I use:
Celery + apple (1 head of celery + 1 cooking apple). I'd probably add mixed herbs of fresh thyme
Roasted root veg - carrots/turnip/parsnip/etc... roasted. I sometimes put some chili on them in the oven, definitely some herbs.
- as above roasted veg, with the addition of beetroot. Gives it a real earthy taste
Broccoli + cauliflower, plain, but really tasty
Carrot + cumin
Fennel + mixed veg
Pea + mint - I use a pack of frozen peas for this (probably about 500gm, but all depends on your pot)
Carrot + almond - this is a real delicate one
Sweet potato + tamarind (this is a real winner and if I remember I added a chile in for a bit of extra kick. I'm sure it was 50% sweet potato and 50% veg, like carrots
left over's, I'll throw all left over veg in to freezer, when there's enough, I'll make up a soup. I do the same with the end of the fridge, before I'm going shopping.
Roasted red pepper, add in a tin of tomatoes with the stock. a bit of cream with zest of lime is nice with this.
Leek and potato (don't do this one as often)
Next winter I'm hoping to up the anti with spices / coconut milk (last year, in my opinion, fat was bad and coconut milk was limited....this year, I'm converted, embrace the fat.)
Curried parsnip - yummy, I never tire of this one!

Sorry, I measure nothing. I've made bad soups from time to time, but you have to experiment. nothing nicer than homemade soup.