Can I save money by making my own soup?

hollyh

My favourite and easiest to make soup is sweetcorn soup. It doesn't last long in my house but it probably makes 5 / 6 servings.

2 tins of sweetcorn
1 pint chicken stock

Blitz sweetcorn including liquid ( i do mine in the food processer)
Bring stock to the boil
Add sweetcorn to stock, bring to the boil & simmer for 20 mins

It's probably not one of the cheapest, although i use Tesco value sweetcorn at 19p a tin i think so still cheaper than buying soup.

Debt_Free_Chick

Making soup from stuff you would otherwise throw away or struggle to use will almost certainly save you money. However, buying stuff just to make for soup? I'm not so sure

Having said that, you will almost certainly get a better quality and better tasting soup if you make it, compared with anything in a packet or tin.

With a blender, it's possible to make soup from vegetable peelings that you would otherwise throw away or compost

brisck1

Well judging by hex2's recipe at £1.50 I could certainly reduce it with just a veggie soup! one think im a little confused about is the term "stock", can I just use chicken/veg/beef oxo for the stock or do i need to go and buy something else?

And yeah if I go any cheaper than 50p for a tin of soup it tends to be pretty nasty stuff

Cheapskate

I use stock cubes most of the time, but make own stock from chicken bones etc sometimes. Made soup on Monday with 'bendy' veg from fridge (onion, carrot, potatoes, 1/2 courgette) fried in a bit of oil, then added leftover cooked chicken, big handful of rice, veg & chicken stock cubes, turmeric & pinch curry powder (plus water, of course!). Total cost around £1.50 & it made 4 large bowlfuls plus a bit for toddler - quite thick, more like stew, could have gone further with a bit more water in, but fab on a cold night!

Debt_Free_Chick

brisck1 wrote: »

Well judging by hex2's recipe at £1.50 I could certainly reduce it with just a veggie soup! one think im a little confused about is the term "stock", can I just use chicken/veg/beef oxo for the stock or do i need to go and buy something else?

And yeah if I go any cheaper than 50p for a tin of soup it tends to be pretty nasty stuff

I would buy a tub of Marigold bouillon powder. With powder, you can use as little as you like - with a cube, you have to crumble some and save the reaminder or use the whole cube (but I guess you could use the whole cube and freeze the remainder?). However, I think the powder works out cheaper anyway and Marigold is good quality - adjust your seasoning though and don't add any salt until the end, after tasting it. Salt may not be necessary with any stock cube or powder.

carolinosourus

I used to use Marigold, and still have some of a tin in my cupboard but I got sick of the taste of it after a while as everything just ended up tasting like the bouillon powder. I now prefer to use a stock cube as it's more subtle and I can add my own herbs and spices without it all becoming too overpowering.

Edited to say I agree with zippychick, I don't have a slow-cooker and really don't think I'd get on with one, so I cook all my soups on the hob in a big pan. My mum uses a pressure cooker, but I seem to be able to achieve (almost) the same result with a saucepan!

zippychick

Good thread - Soup recipes

Soup is fantastic and so cheap to make you wouldnt believe. Try a few recipes and then you will soon be making up your own. I especially use reduced whoopsie mash or veg, then create a soup round that.

Mine usually involve starting with frying and onion and garlic, add veg *pre roasted gets flavours out*, add stock and filler - pasta, lentil, potato, etc if desired, bring to the boil and then simmer - long and low heat is good. Let all the flavours cook down before seasoning. Remove half and blend and mix with remainder, or leave chunky or use a potato masher to change the texture. You can thicken the soup up if too watery (add instant mash, extra veg, beurre manie etc)

Veg soup

Leek and potato

Mushroom soup

I was making soup long before i had a slow cooker. In fact, i prefer it done in a big pot on the ring.

brisck1

This all is great advice, I think I will use up my backlog of oxo cubes first before investing in some bouillon powder, and thanks for the link to the recipes!
Im wondering if a hand blender is going to be good enough or if I should invest in a proper one? (got some argos vouchers to use up!)

I think im gonna try some set recipes before I start improvising, but I wanted to ask, should I always 'sweat' veg before adding stock atc?

also is their anything I shouldn't be adding which cant be frozen and reheated with the soup?

Rebekah24

Its so much cheaper!

I dont blend my soup genrally

Usually use a simmer soup as a base- get them on offer or whoopsie 10p-20p max..then just throw in lentils..any veg ..fresh or tins... quorn...voila

Sometimes its just simmer soup & tin tomato & veg scraps - 60p ish...will feed me for 2 meals at least

brisck1

I dont mean to sound silly, but what's a whoopsie? :P