Category Archives: Super Soups

Instant Pot Beef Stew

1 1/2 – 2 lbs beef stew meat (I usually cut the pieces into smaller, 3/4″ pieces)
Salt and pepper
3 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbs tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 C. beef broth
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 C. water
Cornstarch
Optional:
1 can peas, drained

Push ‘saute’ button on Instant Pot. While pot is heating up, season beef with salt and pepper. Once pot says ‘HOT’ add olive oil and a portion of the beef and brown on all sides. You will need to cook remaining beef in batches, transferring cooked beef to a bowl. Once all the beef is cooked, put onions into pot and saute a bit to loosten any browned bits left from cooking meat. Turn off saute. Add carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, garlic, beef broth, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thyme and water.

Cover Instant Pot (checking to ensure gasket is in place and pot is set to seal). Push either the ‘Meat/Stew’ button or ‘manual’ button and set time for 20 min.

Once pot is finished cooking, do a quick release and remove lid. Set pot to ‘saute’. At this point you may add the drained peas. To thicken stew, make a slurry of 1 Tbs cornstarch and 1 Tbs cool water. Pour into pot while stirring. Stir until mixed and thickened. Serve immediately.

President’s Potato Soup

This is Laura Bush’s Irish potato soup recipe.  It’s a favorite of my family, but in the beginning, I enticed them a bit by calling it President’s Potato Soup….I mean who wouldn’t want to eat like the president of the United States (okay, don’t answer that!!!).  It is very simple, fairly quick, and delicious!!  Oh, AND CHEAP!

6 potatoes peeled and cubed (I had a few red potatoes that I threw in this evening, and I just left their skins on them)
1 Tbs oil (I omit this with my directions….see below)
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup onion (actually, I chopped up 2 whole onions and threw them in there….onions are good for you!)
1 12oz can evaporated milk (or 1 1/2 cups of milk)
1/2 cup butter (or margarine, if you must, but…..don’t!)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (whatever!  do the salt and pepper to taste!)

Mrs. Bush’s directions: Place potatoes in a stockpot with enough water to cover.  Boil until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add celery and onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add potatoes.  Stir in evaporated milk, butter, salt and pepper.  Heat until just below boiling.  Serve immediately.

My directions (cuz you know how I am about following a recipe precisely!) Melt butter in large pot, add onions and celery and cook until translucent.  Add potatoes and just enough water to barely cover everything.  Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender (10-20 min).  Add milk, salt and pepper.  Heat until it’s hot enough.  Serve (no immediately about it…..they will come running!)

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

This is another favorite Olive Garden soup.  It is also pretty simple.  I used swiss chard instead of kale, but everything else was the same.  SO good!!

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

  • Author: CopyKat Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Italian sausage
  • 2 large russet baking potatoes sliced in half and then in 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 large chopped onion
  • 1/2 can Oscar Meyer Real Bacon Bits (these are less fatty than real bacon)
  • 2 cloves garlic,  minced
  • 2 cups chopped kale or Swiss chard
  • 2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
  • 1 quart water
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Cook sausage in a 300-degree oven for approximately 1/2 hour; drain on paper towels and cut into slices.  (okay, um, I actually fried the sausages as directed on the package, and went from there)

Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water, and garlic in a pot and cook on medium heat until potatoes are done. Add sausage, bacon, salt, and pepper to taste and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn to low heat; add kale, cream, and water (optional).  Heat thoroughly and serve.

Olive Garden’s Italian Sausage Soup

Found this on the Olive Garden recipe page this evening when I was looking for a soup recipe using sausage.  Considering my SuperHero is Italian, I figured he might like it (he did)  He even took a picture and told me I should post it.  Pretty quick and simple soup. I am putting the actual recipe here, and in italics, the changes I made (for what we had on hand).

italian sausage soup

1 lb sweet Italian sausage, ground
1 cup white rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes in puree (1-10 ¾ oz can)  (I used a can of tomato sauce)
1/2 lb chopped frozen spinach (1-10 oz box), thawed and drained
6 cups beef broth (used water and bouillon)
1/4 tsp black pepper, ground
Pecorino Romano cheese, for garnish (used a Parmesan Romano blend)

  • Cook ground sausage in a soup pot and break the meat up with a fork as it cooks. Add in rice, beef broth, tomatoes and black pepper and bring to a simmer.
  • Simmer 12-15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in chopped spinach and let simmer for a few minutes.
  • Ladle soup into soup bowls and garnish with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

Lasagna Soup

This is a fairly quick soup to make as it involves a boxed lasagna mix.  WONDERFULLY tasty, the whole family enjoys it!  This recipe is from Family Dinners by Shari Meyer (a wonderful handmade cookbook my friend Kim shared with me!)

1 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1 package (7 3/4 oz) lasagna dinner mix*
5 c water
1 14-oz can undrained tomatoes
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 zucchini, chopped

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef and onion until it browns.  Drain.  Add the lasagna sauce mix, water, tomatoes, and Parmesan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.  Add the lasagna noodles and zucchini.  Cover and simmer 10 min or more until noodles are tender.  Serve immediately.

10 servings

*I couldn’t find this size Lasagna mix, which comes with a seasoning packet.  Instead I used the larger HomeStyle Lasagna which comes with canned meat sauce.  I leave off the tomatoes to compensate.

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup

One Sunday after church, we went to Chili’s for lunch with some friends.  My friend highly recommended the Chicken Enchilada Soup, which my husband and youngest son then ordered.  Hubby gave me a taste of his and I thought it was pretty good, then, when my little guy ate his, he asked for seconds and raved about it for days!  So I knew I needed to find this recipe.  And voila!  CopyKat Recipes had it!
1/2 C. Vegetable oil
1/4 C. Chicken base
3 C. diced Yellow Onions
2 tsp. ground Cumin
2 tsp. Chili Powder
2 tsp. granulated Garlic
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
2 C. Masa Harina
4 qt. Water (divided) (I actually used 3 qts of water as we like a thicker soup)
2 C. crushed Tomatoes
1/2 lb. processed American cheese, cut in small cube
3 lb. cooked, cubed chicken
In large pot, place oil, chicken base, onion and spices. Saute until onions are soft and clear, about 5 minutes. In another container, combine Masa Harina with 1 quart water. Stir until all lumps dissolve. Add to sauteed onions and bring to boil. Once mixture starts to bubble, continue cooking 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. This will eliminate any raw taste from Masa Harina. Add remaining 3 quarts (here’s where I added only 2 more quarts rather than 3) water to pot. Add tomatoes; let mixture return to boil stirring occasionally.
Add cheese to soup. Cook stirring occasionally, until cheese melts. Add chicken; heat through. Makes 1 1/2 gallons or 16-20 servings.
Please note you must mix in the mesa harina into 1 quart of broth completely.  If you add the masa harina into the soup directly it will be difficult to mix in and may be lumpy.  If you feel 2 cups is too much masa harina I have made the soup with 1 1/2 cups successfully.
My family also asked for the “chippy things” that were sprinkled on top.  To make those, I cut several corn tortillas in half and then in thin (1/4 inch) strips.  I spread them on a cookie sheet, sprayed them a little Pam, and baked them at 475 degrees for 5-7 min (until crispy).

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Garlic Soup

My Mom emailed me this recipe.  And I admit, it does sound a bit scary.  However, my Mom was sending the recipe to a bunch of us because my 18yo (VERY COOL) nephew loved it so much and wanted the recipe so he could make this for himself.  I don’t know about you, but in my book, if it passes teenage boy taste bud tests, it’s gotta be good.  Plus it is very inexpensive to make.  So please, give it a try, and I promise, you won’t even be gagging on garlic fumes after eating it!
2 small onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 C. butter
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
 
In a large saucepan, saute onions and garlic in butter until tender, about 2 – 3 min. 
Stir in flour until blended.  Gradually add broth.  Bring back to boil; cook and stir
for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 min.
Stir in cayenne pepper.    Yield: 4-6 servings.