Soups: Low calorie or low sodium, why not both!?

Have you tried to make your own soups? It's pretty easy to accomplish with a big pot, some low sodium chicken broth, and whatever veggies and seasonings you like. You can also add in some chicken breast pieces and yolk-free noodles for a great chicken noodle soup.

It can actually be cheaper to make your own cause it lasts for soooo long. And depending on what you add, both low calorie AND low sodium!

Why can't there be a low calorie AND low sodium soup? Are they making up for lost flavor by keeping the salt? I don't get it...

You're bang-on. Companies overcompensate on the sodium when eliminating the fat, because it's a cheap way to make things taste good.

I'm with everybody else. Add a couple of homemade soup recipes to your arsenal and you're set. Freeze in batches or portion 'em out in the fridge and you're golden. It's pretty much just as convenient as buying pre-made.

I wrote out this recipe for another MFP user the other day:

Corn and potato chowder

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1 leek (white & tender light green parts, chopped) make sure the leek is ferociously cleaned of grit
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
2 bay leaves
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup corn kernels
2 medium golden potatoes, large dice (I like to leave the peel on)
1 can coconut milk (about 3/4 cup)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add onion, leek, garlic and celery. Sautee until translucent.
Add spices to pot. Watch out because they will want to stick and burn. Stir frequently.
Once your kitchen starts to smell awesome (2 min) add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Add corn and potatoes.

OK here's where you can decide to make it a smoother chowder VS a chunkier chowder. I remember in your original post you'd mentioned not really liking to blend things up. If you'd like a smoother chowder, I would only add half of the corn kernels at first. That way you can add the rest of the kernels after processing the soup a bit, so that it's not completely pureed. If you want to forgo any blending that is totally fine- add the whole can of corn and go on your merry way!

If you're using canned corn, I'd add the liquid as well. Waste not, want not.
Allow the soup to simmer on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes.
When the potatoes are tender and wonderful, turn the heat way down to low and add in your coconut milk (this is also when you would be blending). Make sure the heat is low so you don't separate the soup, especially if you are using real cream.
Taste and season appropriately. If you used a broth with sodium added, you might skip the salt. Up to you.

Yields four entree servings, or 6 regular bowls.


*edit: this recipe probably takes all of 45 minutes, total.