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!

Stick blender here too. We use it for soils, blitzing tinned tomatoes as ds doesn't like tomato bits, making smoothies, breadcrumbs. Loads of stuff.
I made a gorgeous parsnip soup recently.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spiced_parsnip_soup_with_10574

I dont blend.
I am not a fan of puree- very dull.
I like chunky soups, cock a leekie, minestrone, french onion etc.

Even lentil soup I prefer chunks of veg in it - potato and carrot. At the end of cooking I may use a potato masher and give the soup a light mashing, but retain some lumps of veg.

I never blend soups.

My preferred soup is definitely minestrone. Just Fry onions, garlic, then whatever vegetables you have laying about/fancy using, some stock, some Mediterranean herbs, some tinned tomatoes. Maybe some tinned beans or chickpeas (I can’t eat wheat, & it’s a really bad idea to put rice in soup if you’re not eating it all up straight away). Then simmer until done. I often add half a teaspoon of pesto per bowl when I serve it up.

If it’s not all getting eaten straight away, I cool it in the pan ( immerse the pan halfway in cold water in the sink) & decant into smaller tubs to store in the fridge.

Stick blender here. I've used the same Breville Anthony Worral-Thompson one for years, sadly DD put the whole thing in the washing bowl, plug and all, after making a smoothie... so we need a new one.
As for thinning it out, I always seem to have a jug of extra stock left over so pour some in at the end if it's too thick.

I'm excited it's soup season again 🍁🍂😁

Stick blender, £7.99 asda own. I bought it in 2015 and it gets used twice a week at least. Still going strong.

Soup, soup, beautiful soup :)

Thanks for the recipes.

I use a slow cooker and a stick blender :)

I got a ALDI one - similar price to Waiting many moons ago. I got it at least 5 years ago.

My favourite soup is tomato with red lentil - finely dice & fry an onion or 2 (slowly for a long time so it is really soft but not brown) - you can add bacon here if you fancy. Add a carton of passata, a cup of red lentils, water, stock cube (or salt), herbs, bay, plenty of pepper, pinch of sugar and a dash of vinegar. Bring to the boil, reduce & simmer. It is ready when the lentils are cooked through to your liking. Sometimes I add chilli and / or smoked paprika.

Stick blender here too, favourite smooth soups are curried parsnip, spicy butternut squash and leek and potato.
Other soups I don't blend are french onion, minestrone, lentil and bacon, chorizo and black bean and vegetable.
I love soup, I'm off for a rummage in the fridge to see what I've got that needs using up!

I need a recipe for most things too, but soup is the only thing I can do without a recipe

I just chop up vegetables (always onion and garlic in oil first), boil them in stock and let simmer until soft, season as needed then blitz.

I normally do carrot tomato and sweet potato, or broccoli leek and Stilton (adding the Stilton at the end), or just chuck in all the veg I want to use up.

Oh and I also use a stick blender most of the time, but I can never get it as smooth as when I use the food processor.

Stick blender in a pan. DH loves spicy lentil and carrot - onion, celery, carrot (lots of carrot. I don't do garlic), fry odd gently, add ground cumin, add lentils, add stock (chicken or vegetable), salt and pepper etc. Leave to simmer low for about an hour. Blend with the stick. If it's too thick, add more stock or coconut milk.

I use a pan and stick blender for soup, also for pasta sauces.

I'm really not a fan of chunky soup

Thanks for the recipes everyone.

These are great ideas, thanks so much everyoneshah

*everyone! Weird autocorrect