Easy Soups to Make | Frugal Cheap Soup and Meal Ideas | Winter Soups

I've come up with a few different types of easy yummy Fall and Winter Soups to make that will appeal to many people and are relatively easy to prepare.


A lot people, me included at one time, are inclined to think that soup is rather a difficult dish to make. However I've discovered that this isn't the case, and that making soup can actually be really enjoyable and have a delicious result.

It's easy to make soup from leftovers - a favorite is Stuffed Peppers Soup, or Golumpki soup made from my leftover Lazy Golumpki stuffed cabbage casserole recipe. I've even turned leftover Pot Roast into a soup for lunch or dinner.

Easy Soups to Make

A Crockpot is my best friend for cooking Fall and Winter meals.

First, we have an old favorite of Crockpot Slow Cooker Leek and potato soup. There are two ways you can enjoy eating this, either cream, or not blended, and each way has its own distinct merits. If you blend it, you'll truly enjoy the soft texture that this technique creates and it looks wonderful as well, perfect for serving up at dinner parties, or even enjoying while chilling out sipping wine around the fireplace in winter or playing cribbage or your favorite family board games. 

The ingredients also go very well when prepared as a cream soup too, so if you blend it, add in some of this and you'll have a meal of pure indulgence.

However you can also leave the soup unblended, allowing you to enjoy the textures of the leeks and the potatoes, as well as the broth it produces. This can be perfect for those cold winter nights when all you want is a hearty, warm dinner. 

Homemade soups are always a great dish to bring for someone who's under the weather, has a new baby in the house, or loss of a family member.  Ready-to-Serve, and bring along a gift-basket of colorful Handmade Dish Cloths from Moomettes Shops for easy kitchen clean-up.

Fall and Winter Vegetable Soups

Butternut squash soup can also be blended or not. The wonderful thing about butternut squash is that it's unusual yet yummy, and you can combine it with most of the same ingredients that you use to make leek and potato soup.

The basic principles of soup making are to chop up all the ingredients, saute them for around ten minutes and then add the stock. I like to use my homemade Chicken Stock from a roaster, or homemade scrappy veggie stock.  When I don't make stock from scratch, I buy boxed Chicken Stock or Beef Stock from the grocery store, whatever is on sale.

Boil until the ingredients are cooked and semi-soft, season with salt and pepper, any of your favorite seasons to taste, and blend if you prefer. 

Roasted Red Pepper soup or Tomato Soup is easy and satisfying! Serve with croutons or crackers and a artisan grilled cheese sandwich for lunch or dinner.

Traditional Cabbage Sauerkraut Kapusta Soup

Kapusta soup is yummy for Fall Oktoberfest, Christmas, Easter, or any winter day! 

Search my blog for other soup favorite for all seasons! 

Artisan bread is the perfect accompaniment to this type of dish, and the combination will satisfy you up, while making you feel warm and contented. Add some chunky homemade Sourdough bread, Dill Seed Onion bread or Ciabatta and sweet cream butter from Cabot in Vermont, and you'll have a meal to be proud to serve.

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© Frugal New England Kitchen 

Crockpot | Hearty Hamburger Vegetable Barley Soup | Slow Cooker Recipe

It can get mighty cold here in Connecticut in winter and we’ve certainly had our share of extreme snowfall!  I’ve been giving my crockpot a good workout and treating my family to some delicious new meals, soups and chowders. Like this Crockpot Hamburger Barley Soup - with ground beef, or chicken or turkey.

Crockpot Soup

My daughters learned to enjoy homemade soup as my Yankee Grandmom would always make a big batch and send us home with some after a visit.  This recipe for Hearty Hamburger Vegetable Barley Soup made in the slow cooker has turned into one of my family favorites.

Chock full of meat, mixed vegetables of green beans, carrots, corn, peas and lima beans - you can add barley or pasta to make it a hearty minestrone and add body.  Use your favorite ground beef, ground turkey or ground chicken as the base.

If you don't have one or need a new one, here are some wonderful crockpots to help you get started.

The addition of grains to your meals makes this Vegetable Soup Mediterranean Diet friendly!.  Choose Barley, Bulgar, Farro, or Lentils as your favorite grain of choice.

Make up a batch of this yummy minestrone and take a container to your Mom, Grandmom, family friend or neighbor who’s a shut-in.  Send the kids back to college with a savory soup that’s homemade!

While the soup is in the slow cooker, fire up the breadmaker with your favorite bread recipe!  You'll have a complete balanced meal with meat and vegetables.

Easy clean-up with my crochet handmade Cotton Dish Cloths from my Moomettes Crochet shop!

Serve along with some of my favorite homemade bread recipes
Dill Bread

Easy Sourdough Bread (great for bread bowls)

Other favorite homemade soup recipes
Spaghetti and Meatball soup (Italian Wedding Soup)
Fire Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Garden Vegetable Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Hamburger Vegetable Barley Soup

1 lb. Lean ground beef ( or ground turkey or ground chicken )
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables
1 c. sliced celery
1 package (1 ounce) dry onion soup mix
1 package (1 ounce) Italian salad dressing mix
¼ tsp. Salt (or to taste)
¼ tsp. Black pepper (or to taste)
3 c. boiling water
1 can (about 14 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 Tbl. Soy sauce
2 c. Barley, cooked
¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbl. Chopped fresh parsley
Elbow or Ditalini pasta noodles (if desired)

Brown ground beef in large skillet 6 to 8 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring to break up the meat. Drain fat.
Place vegetables in crockpot or slow cooker. Top with beef, soup mix, salad dressing mix, salt and pepper. Add water, tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce and soy sauce, mixing well. Cover, cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours.
Stir in cooked Barley and Grated Parmesan cheese. Cover; cook on HIGH 15 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Can also be made on stove top.

Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.
Freeze any leftovers 

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© Frugal New England Kitchen 

Sweet Potato Soup Recipe | Winter Soup | Crockpot Soup

This mouth-watering easy winter soup recipe is chock full of sweet potato puree and caramelized onions. Sweet Potato Soup is a healthy dinner idea for a cold fall or winter night or snow day! Vegetarian too!

Hearty Soup Recipe 

I like to cook plenty of fall and winter soups, whether in my crockpot or simmering on the back burner. Usually I make my soups on a Sunday and serve as a Sunday dinner.

Most times I always cook a big batch of soup to give away to my daughters. Check out all of my other easy soup recipes recipes to make

I try to cook the best soup recipes for the freezer. That way, there's always an easy meal available that can be served with a fresh loaf of homemade bread that I bake, such as my artisan Sourdough bread, or make in my breadmaker, such as my favorite Irish Soda Bread.

Easy clean up in the kitchen with Handmade Dish Cloths from Moomettes Crochet Shop !

Sweet Potato Soup

 4-5 Sweet Potatoes or Yams, peeled and cubed

1 lb. Bacon - cup up small and fried in separate pan

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and shredded

6 c. Emeril's Organic Chicken stock or Vegetable stock

1/2 stick Cabot Butter

2 c. Milk

1 c. onions, caramelized

In a large stock pot, cook sweet potatoes/yams in chicken broth and add carrots, celery and fried bacon with the grease to the soup. The flavor of the bacon is in the bacon grease.

Add butter and cook about one (1) hour on stovetop or on Low in Crockpot or Slow Cooker for 2-4 hours

Using a blender or hand-held immersion blender carefully puree the soup with the milk, a little at a time, in a food processor .

After blending all the soup, add sherry, salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish the soup with balsamic caramelized Spanish onions for added taste and texture.

Notes

Omit bacon, and use Vegetable stock for a vegetarian soup.

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© Frugal New England Kitchen 

Adapted from: Never Enough Thyme - American Hotel

Butternut Squash Soup | Crockpot Soup Recipes

A bowl of homemade soup is always a prelude to a satisfying meal.  Serve up this easy, delicious Crockpot Butternut Squash Bisque Soup recipe before your next meal, for lunch, or when the kids come home from school.

Butternut Squash Soup 

Comfort Food

I'm not usually one who eats a lot of vegetables, but when one of my friends gifted me with a container of her homemade Butternut Squash Soup I had to give it a try.  I'd never tried it before, and one taste and I was hooked!

Rich and nutty, this creamy soup recipe was a winner.  Add a dollop of sour cream, some parsley for garnish and a few oyster crackers along with slice of homemade dill bread and you'll think you were at a New England ski lodge with a view of the the snowy mountain slopes!

This colorful soup will be a great addition to your Sunday dinner table, or Holiday dinner too!

Easy cleaning with these handmade crochet Dishcloths in Moomettes Crochet Shop !

Check out my other homemade Sweet Potato soup recipe and Crockpot Potato Leek Soup recipe here.

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

2 Tbl. butter (or olive oil)
1/2 c. chopped onion
3-4 lb. butternut squash, pealed and cubed
2-3 c. water (or chicken stock)
3/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. course ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 chicken-flavored bullion cubes
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, cubed (or labne)

Melt butter in skilled.  Add onion and saute until translucent, stirring occasionally.
In a 3-1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker, combine the onion along with remaining ingredients except the cream cheese.
Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours.
Approximately 40 minutes before serving, place about 1/3 of mixture into a food processor or a hand-held immersion blender and puree on high speed until smooth.  Return the puree to the crockpot.
Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until well blended.
Cover and cook on low an additional 25 minutes or until cream cheese is melted, stirring with whisk until smooth.

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© Frugal New England Kitchen