Soup Building Formula

Now we are going to switch gears and move on to a formula on how to build a soup. This can be found on the Simple Bites website tho I did modify it slightly.

Step 1: Pick your meat. Of course this is optional. Think about chicken (probably the cheapest option), beef, fish, meatballs, steak, ham, etc.

Step 2: Pick 3-5 vegetables. Often onion and garlic will be two of those. Carrots and/or celery are also common, but you can add spinach, corn, peas, green beans, kale, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, heck just about any vegetable you desire.

Step 3: Pick your fat. This can be margarine, butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil. Try to match your fat to the type of soup you desire. So if you want a cream soup, try butter or if you want an Italian soup maybe try olive oil.

Step 4: Pick 1-2 base liquids. You can use stock, cream, milk, tomato puree, bouillon cubes or powder or just plain water.

Step 5: Pick your spices. You can go simple like just salt and pepper or expand it to any spice, herb or seasoning blend you desire. Think about Italian seasoning, celery seed, thyme, oregano, cumin, marjoram, parsley, sage and the list goes on and on. Here is a quick simple list of spices that pair nicely with its meat counterpart:

Beef: marjoram, thyme and rosemary

Chicken: celery seed, thyme, parsley, marjoram, sage

Tomato Based: basil, fennel and oregano

Cream Based: parsley or thyme

Chili: needs chili powder and maybe cumin

Now to put together your soup, you will start by cooking your meat and sauteing your onions and garlic (and possibly some or all of your spices) in the fat you choose. Combine your cooked meat and sauteed aromatics with your base liquid (do not add cream or milk until just before serving as it will prevent curdling or splitting.) Next add your veggies you selected and the spices you didn't cook earlier. Now you will cook this for a minimum of one hour.

Note: some soups may require the use of an acid. These are things like apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, lemon or lime juice. If you wish to add it to your soups, start sparingly and increase from there. You also may want to use flavor enhancers like MSG (generally found in the spice aisle), fish sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, etc.

Now go a build a soup and your family will come running to the table ☺  Enjoy!

💗 Jo