Best way to make soups?

[Brokensunrise]

I'd like to start making some soups for lunches etc. I have a blender but it's a real pain to clean and I hate it

Do people use stick blenders or something else? Any recommendations?

Any delicious favourite recipes?

Thank you!

In a pan with a stick blender is by far the easiest. Less washing up, too.

Can't recommend a recipe because I tend to use what I have to hand. Any recipe I've used has turned out disappointing.

Easier is good!! Sadly I'm not a very natural cook so need to follow a recipe! Though last time I made a soup (with recipe) it turned out really really thick - it was more like a puree you'd feed to a toddler!

I too just use a large cooking pot with whatever veg/meat I have then a stick blender. Here are some I do:

• pea and ham. (packet of dried split peas soaked overnight. Then cook with a potato or 2, ham/gammon/cooking bacon, celery, carrot or whatever other veg you have)

• chicken carcass left over which can turn into chicken/veg soup. chicken and sweetcorn soup or chicken noodle soup

• left over sunday roast veg cooked up and blended

• carrot and coriander soup

• curried cauli soup

If a soup is too thick, you just add water, milk or cream to thin it out.

I use a blender, not a hand-held one. I find them better tbh.

Though last time I made a soup (with recipe) it turned out really really thick - it was more like a puree you'd feed to a toddler!

It doesn't matter at all if it turns out too thick - you can just add more stock/water to thin it out a bit. Much easier to deal with than it turning out too thin!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beetrootsoupwithfeta_13774

I use a stick blender too - love this soup at the minute!

Or make something like a minestrone, or a red lentil soup, that doesn’t need blending?

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/courgette-potato-cheddar-soup

This ^

To clean my blender I add a drop of washing up liquid to a couple of inches of hot water in the blender jug, put the lid on and then pulse It a few times. Then I wash it normally.

I use a hand held stick blender, I like it bc I just whizz it in the water to wash it up. I've also just got a slow cooker so I'm looking forward to trying some soups in there. My favourites are:
Spicy red lentil (soften onion and garlic with curry powder/ garam masala/ fancier spices if you like, add any bits of veg that need using like old carrots and bendy celery, add a mug of red lentils and some stock cube stock to cover, simmer and add more stock if necessary. Add chilli flakes if your curry powder is a bit pathetic. I don't usually puree but you can)

Ginger tomato and carrot (soften some finely chopped root ginger and diced carrots, at least one per person. Add a tin or two of chopped tomatoes, a glug of orange juice, and a bit of stock, simmer. Add ground ginger for extra kick, and blend well)

Leek and potato (soften onion and leeks in butter. Stick a couple of potatoes in the microwave for 5-10 minutes to soften, and peel off the skins if you can be bothered. Chop the potatoes and add to the leeks with some veg stock, simmer, and blend. I like some yoghurt or cream stirred in, or some grated cheese on top, but it's nice without)

I had lovely paragraphs on that!

Not all soups need blending some, like minestrone have bits.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chunky-minestrone-soup

Broccoli and Stilton is one of my all time favourites and very simple.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/broccoli-stilton-soup

Forgot the link

Make soups such as potato & leek, pasta & bean, winter vegetable, courgette & pasta, etc etc, that don’t need to be blended. They are just as delicious as blended soups but less work!

Pan and stick blender here as well.
I love soup and we have it a few times a week over the colder months. I get most of my recipes from bbcgoodfood and Jamie Oliver’s site but use lots of other sites too.
Some of our favourites are
Tomato
Leek and potato
Pea and mint
Thai buternut squash
Lentil
I also make lots of rice and noodle soups which don’t need blending.
There are so many soup sites. One of my favourite things every autumn is to browse through ‘hearty soup recipes’ and plan which recipes to make

Really good ideas thank you! And good point that there are lots of recipes where you don’t need to blend at all. I’ll try some of those!

Those who use stick blenders, do you have one you would recommend? They seem to range in price quite a lot online

I am very lazy, I usually bung everything in the slow cooker, I even use ready chopped frozen veg sometimes depending on what I am making, then add stock as needed at the end and use a stick blender. Lakeland soup bags are good for freezing.

Sometimes I use a hand blender to start it but as a mum of a two year old with very little spare time I bung the concoction into our nutribullet and within seconds it's a perfectly smooth soup - winner! (You just have to be careful to let it cool a little before putting it in and not overfill it).

We have a Tefal soupmaker. That and our breadmaker are our most used kitchen gadgets by far.

I have a little Breville blender. It comes with the blending attachment and a chopping jug and blade too. For something at the bottom end of the cosy range, it's very good. Small enough to sit on the side so it's always available.

Pan and stick blender for me! I had a proper blender for a birthday a few years ago and I’ve only used it once It’s just awkward to set up and wash up. I like Jamie Oliver’s sweet potato and chorizo soup (in ministry of food)

I have a sainsbury own stick blender, it works beautifully and has lasted a few years

Stick blender here as well. Mine is from Tesco’s, it wasn’t expensive. I love soup, always have batches in the freezer.

To clean my blender I add a drop of washing up liquid to a couple of inches of hot water in the blender jug, put the lid on and then pulse It a few times. Then I wash it normally.
This is inspired. Why have I never thought of it?

I have a cheap stick blender, possibly breville, had it years. The end comes off to wash up.

I don't really make soup to recipes any more as it never seems very nice! I just make stock by boiling up a chicken carcass, then add veg and sometimes lentils. As long as its mostly root veg, it will be delicious. Always blend as otherwise its just vegetables in broth!

No need for a soup maker, just boil it in a pan. I could do with a pressure cooker though as that produces way better stock.