It’s winter, and sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than enjoying a warm bowl of soup.
Sure, you can look up any recipe online or follow the recipes on this site to a T, but at some point you’re going to find yourself standing in your kitchen with little time, a bunch of random ingredients, and a hungry brood coming home soon. Wouldn’t it be nice to step away from the recipe cards and be able to throw together something delicious?
This is where the soup formula comes in. When you look at enough soup recipes, you might notice they all seem to have about the same basic steps. When you know these steps, and assuming you have the right ingredients around, you can throw together your own concoction in no time at all.
Here are the basic building blocks of just about any soup/stew
• Fat (animal fat, olive oil, coconut oil)
• Aromatic veggies (onion, celery, carrot, leek, garlic)
• Base (vegetable, chicken, beef, shrimp, fish stock)
• Meat, beans, and/or additional veggies
• Spices, herbs, and/or cream
Once you have the basic building blocks and a few techniques in your bag of tricks, you can throw together everyday foods and turn them into a successful meal. Here’s what you do.
1. Get the fat warm in a pot.
2. Add chopped aromatic veggies and sizzle them for 5 min without browning them
3. Stir in spices and let them sizzle for 2-3 min
4. Add meat/beans and stir to combine. If you’re adding dry beans like black, pinto, or chickpeas, make sure you’ve soaked them for at least 8 hours. Canned beans can be drained and added easily too. Adding cooked meat makes for an easier prep, but cooking the meat in the soup adds more flavor. You make the call there.
5. Add 6-8 cups of base. Hey if we’re doing this we might as well make a bunch so we have some leftovers. Bring it all up to a simmer. You can also add harder veggies like squash or potatoes at this time.
6. Simmer until meat or beans are cooked through and tender.
7. Add softer veggies in time for them to cook all the way through
8. Finish the soup by adding your favorite herbs, or a splash of
cream
Now step away from the recipe card and go make yourself some great soup.
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