Soups

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I want to expand my soup repertoire in 2026. I'm very much a throw whatever veg I have in and blitz type of soup cook. It works, and I always have some in the freezer but I'm looking to advance on that.

What are your favourite soup recipes?

I love soup! Pasta e fagioli, hot and sour lentil soup, roast carrot and chickpea, fish chowder, leek and potato, broccoli with slices of goats cheese on top, french onion, random veg drawer and bean...

Soup is my favourite lunch.

So I am also a throw it in and blitz person, so I can't help with an actual recipe 🤣.
But I like a spiced cream of orange veg soup. I bake butternut squash, sweet potato and onion, plus sometimes carrot and swede if it's around (less of the last 2) whole. Then when the veg is soft I scoop/squeeze the flesh out and stir it around a pan with plenty of chopped chilli, cumin, pepper and salt and any other spices I fancy at the time, then add stock, simmer then blitz with cream.

A cream of tomato.
tinned tomato, onion, cream/milk. although if you have overgrown courgette to add then you need less cream as it takes some of the acidity away

Spicy sausage soup.
Onions and tinned tomato with chilli base, with small beans (borlotti) half of which are blended with the base to make it lovely and thick, then the rest of the beans and sliced sausages are put in.

I make butternut squash soup very often - onion, cumin and coriander, squash, bit of garlic. I also do celery soup - celery, onion, a potato, thyme or tarragon. However, my current obsession is Turkish lentil soup, I use this recipe:
https://www.themediterraneandish.com/turkish-lentil-soup/

Ooh I have a butternut squash to use up so might do that @WarmGreyHare

I love a red lentil soup, so I'll definitely look at that one too @CharlotteSometimeslikesanafternoonnap

What made my soups more flavoursome was always starting with onion and garlic, and often a stick of celery, chopped very finely and then cooked very gently in oil for ten minutes.

I always fried onions in oil first but it was the fine chopping (in food processor) and slow frying, making a sort of soffrito or mirepoix, that made a difference. And the addition of celery, which adds a umami flavour.

Roasting veg first makes it really tasty too.

Instead of blending up with a wand I sometimes chop all the veg small in the food processior, and leave it as it is, adding red peppers, courgettes and oregano, making a sort if Italian vegetable broth instead.

Another favourite is celeriac and potato, with a bit of truffle oil added in the bowl on serving.

Ive been copying M&S soups by looking at the ingredients on the pot and my current fave is the chicken and rice one. I fry onions, garlic and add chopped roasted carrots and mushrooms. Bay leaf. Tomato puree. stock from chicken bones. Shredded chicken and then a bit of Greek yoghurt or cream. Add a handful of rice or pearl barley. Sometimes spinach or a tiny squirt of lemon juice. Very nice and you can reduce the amount of liquid if you prefer and turn it into a sort of risotto.

Hot and sour lentil sounds lovely. Can you share the recipe please?

The throw-it-all-in method is a good fridge clearer but I like a bit of variety in my soups as I have it for wfh lunches so often.

Love a potato & leek/potato & spring onion. I also do a tomato & roasted red pepper soup with red lentils which just melt in.

I’ve made this roast cauliflower soup a couple of times and it’s lovely.

This https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/courgette-leek-goats-cheese-soup www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/courgette-leek-goats-cheese-soup]]]] is very tasty too imo but maybe not if you don’t like goats cheese!

Brocolli and stilton soup
I buy a big bag of frozen brocolli about £1. Also add cream to it, delicious

Sure! Diced onions and celery sweated down in a bit of oil until cooked, then lots of brown or green lentils, vegetable stock and generous sprinkling of dried chilli flakes. Simmer until the lentils are tender then add the juice of 1 ot 2 lemons until the soup is good and sharp.

Frequently I use sliced mushrooms and make half the stock from dried porcini mushrooms to add some depth - but not if my mushroom-averse son is staying.

Brie and courgette
Carrot and coriander
Leek and potato
Chicken and rice
Ham, potato and sour cream
Russian vegetable
Corn chowder

Sadly I've never been able to make a good carrot and coriander soup, maybe this is the year that changes.

Do you have a recipe for the brie and courgettes one?

I like soups that don’t need blending.

Vege and lentil - fry onion/carrots/potato/parsnips. Add some dried thyme, a kettle of water, a stock cube, a couple of big handfuls of red lentils. a load of black pepper. As it cooks, mash it with a potato masher a bit.

Black bean / fry onion/red pepper/sweet potato. Add dried thyme, chilli flakes, chipotle paste:red wine. Drain and mash black beans and add with stock. Mash some more as it’s cooking. Nice with soured cream and avocado. Even nicer with nachos, soured cream and avocado.

I was given "A soup for Every Day" by New Covent Garden Food Co.
I was a bit cynical, but it's very useful for inspiration - & of course it's seasonal.

Broccoli and stilton, (Christmas left overs!) makes a lovely soup, especially with some toasted almonds.

If you’re making a broth/chunky soup, add a Parmesan rind in the simmering stage. Adds a lovely depth of savoury flavour. Discard the rind before serving, obviously. I keep the ends of my Parmesan blocks in a ziplock bag in the freezer for this purpose.

I was given this book as a gift and love it! Simple, tasty and easy!

here

Just to add, I'd been buying the authors soup bags for years and frequently use his greengrocers shop and every recipe is amazing.

I like a bean soup, super easy as it’s just onion, celery, garlic and carrot cooked down (which I do in bulk for other dishes too) add chopped tomatoes, paprika, oregano and mixed beans a little water to desired consistency and a stock cube, season. It’s vegan, gluten free, hearty and cheap

I do a really easy one with onion, garlic, sweet potatoes and peppers. Just soften and addd stock or milk and water. It weirdly tastes quite like tomato.

I'm stocking the freezer with soups today.
Having massively over purchased cheese this Christmas, I have made broccoli and stilton soup with a full bag of frozen broccoli.

I've got a parsnip and white bean soup simmering at the moment, because both DH and I picked up parsnips before Christmas and had far too many.

I love a good lahksa(?) Just spicy enough, can make it veggie or chickeny or fishy. Just right if you're feeling blah.
Also a good Mexican black bean soup with feta and cornbread.

I love a good lahksa(?) Just spicy enough, can make it veggie or chickeny or fishy. Just right if you're feeling blah.
Also a good Mexican black bean soup with feta and cornbread.

I hadn’t thought of serving cornbread with black bean soup, but that’s a great suggestion. Which cornbread recipe do you use? DP used to make it, but the book that it was in got drowned!

Love a Brussels sprouts soup!