Can I make a soup without stock?

[MicroCrisis]

I've seen a few recipes online which claim to, and am happy to try!
Thought I would check here too, since many of you are so much wiser than I at this sort of thing.

I want to make a med style soup to freeze.
Plan to use tomato (mutti) or fresh cherry toms.
With red lentils, courgette, bell pepper and herbs/spices, etc.

I don't like the ingredients in most stock, including palm oil and other additives. I also don't have the time, money or inclination to create my own from bones or spending all day boiling old veg.

Is it possible? I would likely use a base of onion and garlic and herbs to flavour.

Any tips appreciated!

Yes of course! Onion, garlic, herbs, vegetables, seasoning, water. Whizz up. Yum!

Yes it will be fine, make sure you add enough water to cook the lentils though or they'll be grainy, I struggle to cook lentils in just tomato, not enough liquid. Possibly risks being a little on the bland side, add more salt to compensate, I'm always surprised TBH by how much salt a homemade soup needs adding in order not to taste of water and sadness, and that's with it being made with stock so don't feel afraid to keep adding (it will feel like a lot but remember you're making quite a few portions so it will even put). That's assuming you aren't making for a toddler or someone with heart disease of course!

This doesn’t have that many nasties in and is a great all rounder..

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/marigold-swiss-vegetable-bouillon-150g?utm_medium=cpc&cmpid=cpc&catalogId=10241&utm_content=shopping&productId=18086&utm_campaign=20333793068&utm_custom2=759-449-0952&storeId=10151&gclid=CjwKCAjwuIbBBhBvEiwAsNypvSH9wjQ6ndt4JlFIKK62ZiDI0955e73s-68Brfy2a8aEDBMtgLHZRRoCJ_QQAvD_BwE&utm_custom1=&langId=44&utm_source=Google&krypto=fxM%2F%2Fulqev%2FkG9fN%2BWrbQPbrnwRnvXCnccTIz4qg4CbohF4rZ7w1r6Dvb40IXfn9Nd24ZVe8TR94rGc6pDcsRAhBykhF%2BEm%2BGaHrJ2HOIA5EG5GjRnBlcZV02qf8YBS1qx6SqEF%2Fa06mf%2FpKtaFJW7bdJwz478RtWo92AGErGnLqtCv589P%2FGxn%2BXhIBRUwHHe4%2BqsttIDwIFr2%2BAKsv0a%2B3%2FI2miyve%2F%2FCWCu7vAZpb1c9DSta2gbJmYd6yNUmyBpmzk7oYLKO0Lz6H2vEUtiKpvmZ9bjqHky3L710WxEJMyMpJKZzebu2k7jp0XGDJfs7ylcCd7NsNYcfPcL9j3bYq%2FDUR0Cnm%2FdDLC1x5bPTu9UM971rwGQvIQ3OCd41DizsDq6WfXo%2BEPAsb9P4B6F1fTiYb2oWTlpqXID3VBf9mr3XXtAHLxCTfO7NE%2F%2FftH9OM%2B2Vuw3RooNgWV9rmyTWX5X%2FaSpgkOs2OyCa0a9RuXqwE%2BmDBzTlbxRnIDyFqenwToDHa9eykCSZV3ot5mw%3D%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fmarigold-swiss-vegetable-bouillon-150g

That is good to know, thank you!

Oh woops insane link sorry

Also, after freezing (and using within a month) would the consistency hold up well?

I plan to add a touch of cream but after cooking - will not be attempting to freeze with cream.

I find it's fine, just don't be put off by how disgusting it looks during the defrosting process (more than a passing resemblance to vom depending on the colour and how thoroughly you've blended it 🤮 ). Might need a good stir and sometimes a drop of extra liquid when you reheat to get it back to normal consistency. To thicken it up I find the best thing is a little potato, less calorific and more nutritious than cream and once blended in you wouldn't guess it's there but gives a nice smooth texture and freezes fine

Good thinking! I may add some sweet potato or squash.

Not doing large batches, just a couple of servings per week.

I find the lentils cook so much better if I add them 20 mins before the tomato. I think I read somewhere the acid in the tomatoes makes a difference

Ah, I was planning on searing the garlic/onion etc then adding the peppers and perhaps a bit of carrot to begin with - then adding toms.

How would adding the lentils work at the early point? Just thrown them in in their own water?

I find tomato / Italian style soups okay without stock lots of onions, garlic and herbs, but do prefer with.

Some of the Kallo cubes don’t contain much in way of “bad” ingredients including palm oil but check the labels, think it’s the original veg I buy. Also if you can get the frozen disks of chicken or beef bone broth in M&S freezer section they add a lot of flavour to soups and sauces and don’t contain a lot of ingredients,
they sell out a lot.

I use the frozen soup bases you can buy which are essentially onion celery and carrot with frozen veg , tinned pulses and spices or chilli powder and water . Same reluctance to use a UPF stock - we’ve been happy with the result

If you can, start with soffritto as a base, finely chopped onion carrot and celery, that will give your soup a good flavour. Plenty of garlic and Mediterranean herbs will help too.

If you've got some concentrated tomato purée it will add some umami flavour, as will a dash of mushroom ketchup or Lea and Perrins. I often add some celery salt to tomato soup too.

I use tinned tomatoes for soups, sauces etc, not fresh. They have more flavour. I roast fresh tomatoes if I need to use them up.

Yeah just chick it all in a pan and simmer with some herbs and blend.

With the soup you're going for, you could add some feta cheese and that would add some tasty saltiness and creaminess.

I made lentil and tomato soup today and regularly make various soups to freeze.

For today's, after sweating my onions, garlic and then spices, I added lentils and water and simmered until they were soft, before adding the tomatoes (tinned chopped ones) and stock pots. Cooked perfectly. It's important not to add any salt until the lentils are cooked, hence adding the stock pots later on, otherwise the salt can make the lentils hard to cook.

And soup with cream (I use double cream) freezes just fine.

Oh my, this is fantastic, some great tips here for a soup newbie!

I had forgotten about celery so will definitely add that.

Thank you!

I make my own stock because my mother told me to :) But even then I often make soup without it because even a good stock can overwhelm the soup and you taste nothing but the stock. I make curried squash soup, potato and leek soup, lentil and veg soup all without stock. I wouldn't put it in minestrone either. Or a fish soup - would use clam juice (but I think that is just a US thing)

Love the marigold stock. Sometimes have it on a flask in the winter watching the kids sports

You can make a base stock yourself or I just sauté onions, carrots, celery and leeks in olive oil adding garlic, salt and pepper after 45 minutes

I make red lentil and mushroom soup without stock and it is delicious.

I also add lots of mixed dried herbs.

I think this will be my method, thank you everyone!

This is my favourite soup, I’m not even really a soup fan but I love it. Sometimes add roasted carrots or butternut squash and I use the marigold bouillon and often cherry tomatoes
it works whatever you do

This is what I use

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kucharek-Seasoning-200G/dp/B077P5B1TG

Its 90p a bag in Tesco ( I buy it bulk from Poland ) , I use it as the stock for anything