Many canned soups that are used as a base in soup recipes have questionable ingredients. Here are 8 soup recipes that don’t use canned soups. Read on to see how easy it can be and why it’s so much better!
Tomato Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Beef and Barley
Broccoli and Cheddar
French Onion
Minestrone
Gumbo
Chicken and Dumplings
Soup is Fall Food
Fall always makes me think of soup weather. In Oklahoma, we haven’t quite gotten to Autumn on the thermometer, even if we have gotten there on the calendar. Still, there’s something about soup that warms (and feeds) the soul.
The Bad News About Canned Soups
Campbell’s Tomato Soup used to be my favorite, and I was under the mistaken impression that it was healthy (or at least healthy-ish). When I discovered 90/10 Nutrition in 2012 and started reading ingredients labels, Campbell’s went the way of other processed foods: smack dab on the red tier. Ingredients like dextrose, maltodextrin, corn syrup, and more were among the “no no” ingredients I found on the canned soups I loved.
Campbell’s Tomato Soup Ingredients:
Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Water, Wheat Flour, Sugar, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Potassium Salt, Natural Flavoring, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Monopotassium Phosphate, Celery Extract, Garlic Oil. Contains: Wheat
90/10 Nutrition Tomato Soup Ingredients:
Olive Oil, Onion, Tomatoes, Vegetable Broth, Salt, Pepper
The Good News About Homemade Soups
The good news is that not all soups are created equal and it will come as no surprise that homemade soups are much healthier than canned soups. What might surprise you, however, is that homemade soups are actually pretty easy to make.
Freeze For Later
And, if you have the time and the determination, you can actually pre-make your soups and freeze them. At that point, heating them up is just as easy as opening a can of Campbells and mixing with water, only you don’t even have to mix it!
Soup For One
We love the idea of freezing these in single portions. That way you have an easy microwave meal whenever you need one: work lunches perhaps, or if you’re flying solo one night. One or two to bring to a sick friend, maybe. Check out these great reusable freezer containers! They seal well, no leaks, and nest great so they take up less room in your cabinet. They’re dishwasher safe and cheap enough to “lose” if you have trouble hanging onto containers. I use a grease pencil to label them, which rubs off easily so when I reuse and change the contents I can change the label.
Soup For All
Feeding more than one person? That’s okay too! Freeze these in 1 gallon containers, even zip top freezer bags, and use your slow cooker to get them ready for a family meal. PS you can even reheat these healthy soups in an Instant Pot!
Pin this soup recipe blog to your favorite boards. Use the pin button on the image below (hover to see it on desktop). This would go great on clean eating boards, fall recipe boards, soup and stew boards, and more.
8 Soup Recipes That Don’t Use Canned Soups
1. Tomato Soup
At just 5 ingredients, this healthy tomato soup will become your new favorite, as it has mine. We love to pair this with our healthy grilled cheese sandwiches for a quick and easy healthy weeknight meal.
2. Chicken Noodle Soup
While Campbell’s Chicken Noodle has MSG and enriched pasta, ours is just real chicken, whole wheat noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs, and no sugar added at all. We love using leftover cooked chicken for this recipe, because you can grill a whole chicken for one meal, then shred the leftover meat and reserve it for soup. Then, throw the bones in the Instant Pot with some water and herbs, and make your own broth. This is literally two meals from one hen, and you save yourself a bunch of work and money too.
3. Beef and Barley Soup
This recipe is very similar to the Campbell’s Vegetable Beef condensed soup in a can. Loaded with real steak, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, and peas, all cooked with hearty and nutty barley, this soup is a Boortz family favorite.
4. Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
Poll: would you rather have fake cheese loaded with preservatives or real cheese?
I thought so. Can the can of broccoli cheddar and make it from scratch instead.
5. French Onion Soup
French Onion soup is the consummate consommé. Give me caramelized onions in a savory beef broth, topped with perfectly melted gruyere and even a whole wheat baguette, pretty, pretty please. Seems indulgent but it’s 100% green tier!
6. Mediterranean Minestrone
This is another noodle soup chock full of healthy ingredients that is sure to satisfy even the most distinguishing of minestrone lovers. No baloney: you’ll love our Minestrone!
7. Gumbo
There’s nothing like a jumbo pot of gumbo on game day. This ragin’ cajun soup will delight and tantalize your tastebuds, all with real, whole food ingredients. Fun fact: okra is the only vegetable my dog won’t eat. She calls it “nokra”.
8. Chicken and Dumplings
Here’s a secret about our chicken and dumplings recipe: it uses a healthy version of Bisquick, so it goes together very easily! I serve this when we have people over for dinner who automatically assume something that is healthy is not going to taste good. So I make this and just don’t tell them it’s healthy. And they never know the difference.
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