How to Make Easy Homemade Soups

Chicken Vegetable Bean Soup

• 1 or 2 chicken breasts sliced in strips
• 2 carrots sliced
• 2 celery sliced
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 3 med. potatoes, peeled, then diced or sliced.
• 1 tomato chopped (optional)
• 1 can green beans drained
• 1 can small white beans, drained (optional)
• several thin slices of cabbage (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Put it all in a pot, fill with water to 1 inch above veggies. Bring to a boil, stir, simmer for 1 hour. Turn off until dinner time. Reheat and serve with a dollop of sour cream. You can make this soup as thick or as thin as you want.
My own recipe, this is a soup I make all the time.

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 whole chicken breast, de-boned and cut up
• 2 sliced carrots
• 2 sliced celery
• 1/2 of a onion chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup dry egg noodles

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in noodles and simmer 15 more minutes. Serves 4 to 6

Potato Soup 1

Saute 3 tablespoons chopped onion in 6 tablespoons butter.


• Add 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoons celery seed
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 to 4 cups mashed potatoes
• Stir in 6 cups hot milk (part potato water)
• Add cooked carrots and sliced celery leaves

Potato Soup 2

• 3 potatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 quart milk
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 slices onion
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Few grains cayenne
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water; when soft, rub through a strainer. There should be two cups. Scald milk with onion, remove onion, and add milk slowly to potatoes. Melt half the butter, add dry ingredients, stir until well mixed, then stir into hot soup; boil one minute, strain, add remaining butter, and sprinkle with parsley.

Mushroom Potato Soup

• 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed
• dash of pepper
• Chopped chives

In a large heavy Dutch oven cook mushrooms and onion in margarine 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes more. Gradually add 5 cups of water. Cook stirring until mixture thickens and boils.

Add remaining ingredients except the chives. Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Garnish with chives. Tip: To make potato soup omit the mushrooms. Makes 8 servings.
Recipe circa 1977

Navy Bean Soup

• 7 cups water
• 1 lb dried navy or pea beans (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups cubed cooked smoked ham
• 1 ham bone
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 bay leaf
• Dash of pepper

Heat water and beans to boiling in Dutch oven; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer, skimming off foam occasionally, until beans are tender, about 1-1/4 hours (do not boil or beans will burst). Add water during cooking if necessary. Remove ham bone; trim ham from bone and stir into soup. 7 servings (about 1 cup each)

Also see Creamy old fashioned Bean Soup and Dutch Country Bean Soup

Great Northern Bean Soup

• 1 lb Great Northern Beans
• Ham bone (or 1 cup diced ham)
• Onion, diced (to taste)

Boil ham bone (or 1 cup baked ham, diced) in 3 cups water for 30 minutes. Wash and drain 1 pound dry beans. Add beans and 1 small diced onion to ham; cover with water and bring to boil. Turn down heat and simmer 3 to 4 hours or until beans are tender, adding just enough water to keep beans covered. They absorb quite a bit of water, so check every 1/2 hour or so to be sure they don't cook dry.
Recipe from a Neighborhood Delights 1998 cookbook pg 153

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 3 Tblsp onion
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 pkg "cup a broth chicken flavor"
• 18 oz pkg frozen chopped broccoli cooked
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Saute celery and onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour until smooth, add milk and broth in gradual amounts. Stir after each addition until smooth. Heat and stir until thicken slightly, add broccoli and seasoning. Heat stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Do not boil. Stir in cheese until melted. Serves 4.
Recipe from a SD Special Olympics Cookbook pg 14

Also see Chowder Recipes

Split Pea Soup

• 2 quarts water
• 1 carrot (cut up)
• 1 onion (cut up)
• 2 stalks of celery (cut up)
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 ham bone
• 1 cup split peas (quick cooking)

Cook everything together about 2 hours or until vegetables are soft. Remove bone and put liquid and vegetables through sieve. Salt to taste.
Recipe from a 1963 church cookbook

Sergei's Soup

• 1 lb lean pork cut into chunks
• 2 onions - chopped
• 4 potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 cans drained pinto beans
• sour cream or dill vegetable dip
• water to boil
• Salt to taste

Cook the pork and the two chopped onions in large pot of water. When tender, add the diced potatoes and 2 drained cans of pinto beans. Cook until potatoes are done. Add salt to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or dill vegetable dip.
Recipe is from Russia

Hamburger Soup

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 1 c. diced raw potatoes
• 1 c. sliced carrots
• 1 c. shredded cabbage
• 1 c. sliced celery
• 4 c. tomatoes
• 1/4 cup rice
• 3 c. water
• 4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Brown meat and onion, drain. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Makes 9 cups.

New Year's Day Good Luck Soup

Scant 1/4 cup of each of the following:


• lentils
• red beans
• white (lima) beans
• black beans
• split peas
• black-eyed peas
• pinto beans
• navy beans

Wash beans, cover with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Soak overnight in refrigerator. Drain. Put in pot with 1 quart water, ham or jowl and 1 chopped onion. Boil slowly adding water if necessary. Add 1 can tomatoes, chopped red pepper; 1 clove garlic (minced), juice of 1 lemon; pinch of ginger, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until done. GOOD LUCK!
Recipe from 1985 Warrick County Right to Life pg 23-24

My Note: I was happy when I found this recipe because I was always buying those bags of mixed beans with the little packet of ham seasoning, until they got too expensive. Now I can mix my own bag.

Scandinavian Brown Cabbage Soup

• 1 large head cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 Tblsp brown sugar
• 1 quart bouillon or more
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice

Brown cabbage in butter until light brown in a large kettle, stir occasionally. Add brown sugar, add rest of ingredients. Simmer 1 hour. Serves 6 to 8.

Czechoslovakian Good Friday Soup

• 1/4 cup margarine or butter
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 pkg. frozen French cut green beans
• shredded cheese

Melt butter in skillet. Cook carrots, onions, cabbage, parsley and salt in margarine 20 minutes. Add broth and green beans. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover pot and simmer 15 minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender. To serve place desired amount of shredded cheese in bowls and ladle hot soup over the cheese.
Recipe is from an Armour SD cookbook pg 10

Homemade Noodles

• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Flour

Beat egg slightly, add salt, and flour enough to make very stiff dough; knead, toss on slightly floured board, and roll thinly as possible, which may be as thin as paper. Cover with towel, and set aside for twenty minutes; then cut in fancy shapes, using sharp knife or French vegetable cutter; or the thin sheet may be rolled like jelly-roll, cut in slices as thinly as possible, and pieces unrolled. Dry, and when needed cook twenty minutes in boiling salted water; drain, and add to soup.
Fanny Farmer Recipe 1893

See this page for homemade Egg Noodles and Meat Filling (similar to Pirogies) and a Dumpling recipe