How to Make Hearty Soup without a Recipe

How to Make Hearty Soup without a Recipe

If you stock your freezer and pantry with a few simple ingredients, you'll always be able to pull together a quick pot of hearty soup.  Basically all you need is some protein, a little starch, a variety of vegetables, and flavorful stock.  Keeping a stash of Homemade Chicken Stock in my freezer is my secret weapon for a lot of things, but for soup, I consider it an essential.  Whether I buy a rotisserie chicken at the store or roast a chicken at home, I always use the carcass to make stock.  

For this soup, I started with about 8 cups of stock and added a small bag of frozen tortellini, 16 ounces of frozen mixed veggies, about 1/2 cup of frozen edamame, a small bag of frozen swiss chard, a can of rinsed and drained cannellini beans, about a cup of mushrooms that I sliced and sauted, and 4 cups of leftover cooked chicken I had in the fridge.  And since the recent frost didn't completely kill all of my herbs, I added a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley and chives too.   That's all there is to it - go make some soup!  

Creamy Leek and Potato Soup

I've said it again and again, sometimes the most simple of ingredients turn into the most delicious creations in the kitchen.  And that's exactly the case with this creamy leek and potato soup.  Wow, it tastes amazing - let me show you how easy it is to make.

To clean the leeks, start by cutting off the dark green leafy tops.  I'll freeze them for now and the next time I make my amazingly delicious homemade chicken stock, I'll toss them in.

Okay, cut the leeks in half lengthwise, keeping the root end in tact.  Rinse the leafy petals under running water to remove any dirt.  Because leeks grow straight up out of the soil, dirt and sand get stuck between those leaves.  

After the dirt is rinsed away, trim the root end away and cut each half in half lengthwise again.  Then cut across down the length of the leek until you have a whole bunch of chopped leeks ready to go in the soup pot. 

Alright then, to make the soup, simply saute the lovely leeks in a bit of butter until they caramelize a bit.

This is where I wish you could take a whiff.  It smells so good!!!!

But we're not done yet - it's time to add the potatoes.

Followed by some chicken stock, salt, and pepper.  Than simmer until the potatoes are tender. Seriously though, try my homemade chicken stock if at all possible.  It's so easy to make, but you can certainly use store bought stock of you don't have the time to make your own. 

That reminds me, I like to keep this stuff in the fridge for rare occasions when I don't have any homemade stock in the freezer.  I think it tastes better than cans or cartons of stock you can get at the grocery store, and it doesn't take up much room so it's easy to store.

Okay, back to the soup - once the potatoes are tender, you pour everything into a blender and puree  (I can't even begin to tell you how much I love my Vitamix).  Be careful though, you never want to over process anything that contains potatoes because they can become "gummy" or "gluey" when overworked.  Also, don't fill your blender more than 1/2 full because warm ingredients expand in the blender and you don't need green goo on your ceiling.  Of, you can simplify things and just use one of these.

Stir in a little sour cream, sprinkle on a few chopped chives, and dig in!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• vitamix https://amzn.to/3g9VIUs

• dutch oven https://amzn.to/34i4pJt

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Creamy Leek and Potato Soup

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter

• 1 pound leeks, cleaned, trimmed, and chopped (about 3 cups chopped)

• 1 pound red or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

• 4 cups chicken stock

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

• chopped chives for garnis

Directions

1. In a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat, caramelize the leeks in butter.

2. Add potatoes, chicken stock, salt, and pepper.

3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer; simmer until potatoes are tender.

4. Remove from heat and puree soup until smooth, being careful not to overwork the potatoes (which can make them "gummy or gluey".

5. Stir in sour cream if desired.

6. Garnish with chives.