What Do You Put in Your Soup

I make a lot of soup. I like to use a variety of beans in a lot of them.

I made taco soup not long ago and it was great.

My favorite is my tomato basil which is pretty heavy with all the cream and butter!

I keep a variety of soup in my freezer for quick lunches or dinner.

I like to add corn. Fresh corn cut from the cob. I might "char" it first before I add it.

Potato soup I add fresh chives and crispy bacon

I guess my name should be "jane" because I'm pretty plain jane when it comes to adding stuff.

My chicken soup is chicken, rice, carrots, celery, onions and broth. I might add pasta depending upon my mood.

as much as I love spinach - ewww in soup. will NOT add black beans to soup either.

I use the KISS method...sometimes more is just too much.

ETA - I love celery and carrots in my chicken soup. I just can't add too much. And I think adding spinach would change the consistency!! (wasn't trying to be rude)

Onions go in practically everything.
Garlic too.

I've never really been good at just throwing things into a pot to make a soup.
I usually have a particular soup in mind so I'll have a general guide to follow.

When I roast a chicken or turkey - I get a very good broth base for soup or gravy that I have total control over the salt or anything else that goes into it.
After pouring it out of the roasting pan I chill it, remove the fat off the top and then freeze the broth for future use.
You just can't buy anything that tastes better.

You can freeze the fat separately too.
If you are making a gravy (or stew) and it calls for butter and flour to make a roux - using chicken or turkey fat instead of butter will give it a richer flavor.

i start with a whole chicken. boil it with seasonings celery and carrots till its tender and has rendered a tasty broth. then i strip out the meat and add that back to the strained broth. then i either add in homemade noodles or potatoes and can it all. it makes several single serving pints and its tasty too. ( my hubby is allergic to onions and i have yet to find a broth that does not have onion in it so i make my own.)
the other soups i make are cream of anything you can think of. sautee anything (mushrooms, chicken bits celery bacon, anything you want) with a tbsp of butter and a tbsp of flour. add a cup of milk and reduce till its thickened to your liking. and yummy soup is served!
i use milk or water to make mashed potatoes a soup like consistency, then add bacon, ham or broccoli and its a hearty delicious soup.
tomato is a bit more challanging for me asi use tomato sauce from th garden, add a bit of honey, salt garlic and basil for a tasty tomato basil soup. (basil and garlic are also homegrown too)

Stone soup. Whatever we have goes in.

whatever's lurking in the fridge that i want to use up.
my soups are different every time.
:) khairete
S.

My husband makes the best soups all the time. He seems to throw everything in but the kitchen sink and it works!!

It depends on the soup. My mom adds green peas, corn, potatoes, and red peppers to some soups, to others she adds cayenne pepper, or basil, garbanzo beans, fresh spinach, even Parmesan cheese... but she almost always adds garlic to any of her soups, in addition to salt and black pepper. Those are her "must" add-ins. The other stuff just depends on the type of soup she is making.

I think the bigger question is what WON'T I put in soup :) Seriously, just about anything is fair game! I use my crockpot alot for soups: Taco Soup, Minestrone, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Enchilada Soup, Chili (both white and red, both chicken and ground beef/turkey), Chicken or Turkey Wild Rice, Ham Bone and Cabbage. Cream based soups I do on the stove: Clam Chowder, Cream of Cauliflower/Ham (used to be potato until I figured out I could use mostly cauliflower instead and no one would notice), Cream of Mushroom, Seafood Chowder, Cream of Tomato and Basil with cheesy tortillini.

I like using Cannelloni beans, black beans, and hominy in soups. Spinach, kale, and leeks are great add ins. Any meat (except maybe kielbasa) I think I would use without reservation. The only veggie I think I haven't used in a soup is probably brussel sprouts. When I make a soup, I always poke around the fridge and see what I have laying around to throw in - if in doubt, I always saute it first (I think onions, green peppers, celery, and other veggies taste better if I fry them up first - just a personal preference). One thing I wish I had constant access to is parmesan rind. I would use it in most all of my soups if I had easy access to it! I throw it in along with the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and pull out and throw before serving (like you do a bay leaf).

Spinach is a personal favorite! I bet you would love a good Minestrone :)

I make a sort of minestrone / veg soup. My base is chicken broth and canned tomatoes. I can my own tomatoes but store bought is just fine, don't drain them. I put all sorts of veggies in mine - onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, green beans, peas, diced cabbage or greens, basically whatever I have either from my garden or store bought in winter. Then I also like to add a can of kidney beans and a can of garbanzo beans for protein. season with salt and pepper as needed after it's all cooked.

Mine is similar . I do turkey sausage with chicken stock , a couple bay leaves, diced tomatoes, white kidney beans, broccoli , and a little pasta . Fantastic