homemade cup-a-soup-type mix - any ideas?

coraline_2

Hi Old-Stylers, hope you can help me with this one please!

I love savoury hot drinks, especially in cold weather, and at the minute an really craving instant soup/ cup-a-soup type drinks, however, not only are they quite expensive to buy but also often seem to contain scary amounts of salt, weird chemicals, preservatives etc!

As I have a pretty full cupboard of stock cubes, herbs, spices etc it seems silly buying little sachets - is there any way I could make a kind of homemade variety to cut down on both packaging and additives? I'm imagining making a really nice kind of mixed dried tomatoey-etc version in a big jar, that I could just add a spoonful of to hot water.

Has anyone tried doing this, or if not, could recommend a product I could buy thats perhaps similar? Thanks so much!

jc2703

I would recommend using the swiss boullion veg stock powder - as a base at least. You can get low salt or vegan options in this. Not home made but you could add to it to create your own blend. I use this stuff to make a savoury drink if I get the taste for one....lovely

zippychick

Coraline - can I ask is there any reason why you couldn't make up fresh soup and heat as required? It freezes well , is very nutritious, reheats well, you can control what goes in it, and it would also keep well in a flask?

Just before I look up soup threads, I wondered if you would be open to making your own

coraline_2

thanks zippychick - I do make my own soup often and love it, but this is more for a kind of instant drink, say to have instead of a brew rather than as a meal - something to keep in the cupboard or make up just for a savoury, but perhaps partly healthy, hit, rather than defrosting and microwaving things which is, shockingly, enough effort for me just at mealtimes! I will keep experimenting - kitchen is starting to look a bit laboratory-like!

alisong_2

You could use bovril or an oxo either on its own or with some bits added, maybe croutons (not sure what other bits, can someone cleverer than me think of any?!).

Butterfly_Brain

Try this American site it has lots of ideas (you have to scroll down a bit to find the soup mixes)
http://www.newfluwiki2.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=626

anguk

Onion Soup Mix:
http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/onionsoupmix.htm

Edit: I knew I had a link in somewhere in my favourites for homemade cup-a-soup
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/cupofsoup.htm

rachbc

marigold powder and dried veg with seasonings like celery salt, garlic granules, dried croutons??

jackieglasgow

Ooh some good ideas here, I have an OH who forgets to rinse his flask, or leaves it on site, this would work for him. You could put some 9p noodles in it, too, we don't normally cook these, we soak them in boiled water, you could crumble them up a bit and they would be good. I also use the Swiss Bullion, so I think that, with maybe some dried onions and 9p noodles and some herbs, can't think of anything that would tomato it up without it being sloppy though.

THIRZAH

I make a quick mushroom soup with chopped mushrooms, about half to three quarters of a pint of the marigold veg stock, a lump of butter and a heaped dessert spoon of flour. Put them in a pan and heat stirring with a balloon whisk until the flour has blended in.Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add a little lemon juice-bottled is fine-liquidise-add milk and bring back to the boil.

Peartree

It isn't home made but if, like me, you sometimes crave a savoury hot drink on the go, Morrisons sell a tiny box of 6 soup sachets they call '10 calorie soup' for about 45p. It isn't full of chewy dried veg that doesn't properly reconstitute nor is it 'pretend creamy' but really gloopy. Basically, it is a stock drink but it is very cheap and the reason I suggest it is because they do a Tomato flavour which might be just what you want. I buy it because it goes in my handbag and often fills a mid-morning gap. I have no doubt it is full of preservatives but no more so than the stock cubes in your cupboard. And yes, I know it isn't up there with home made soup but carting round and re-heating a tub of home made soup during my working day isn't an option for me!