Beer Cheese Soup

 

Another snowy day in the northern plains and the need for some warming comfort soup.  I've been unable to find my favorite soup in the grocery stores lately so I created my own.

Beer Cheese Soup ~

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 - 32 oz low sodium chicken stock

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 - 15 oz jar of Cheez Whiz

1 cup Triple Cheddar Easy Melt Cheddar Cheese

3/4 cup warm beer

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp paprika

2 dashes hot sauce (I used Frank's)

Melt butter and stir in the flour a Dutch oven.  Allow to cook for a minute over medium heat.  Gradually whisk in the chicken stock making sure there are no clumps.  Add in the cream.  Cook until it's thickened, stirring frequently.  Stir in the Cheez Whiz and cheddar cheese and stir until melted.  Add in the rest of the ingredients.  Allow to cook for another 30 minutes, still stirring frequently.  The restaurant that I used to get this with served with popcorn.  I made my own wheat croutons.  

Ham & Corn Chowder

Cooler temperatures meant turning off the air conditioner and thinking about soups to warm up with.  I baked a loaf of honey wheat bread and made this soup since I had some corn to use.  

Ham & Corn Chowder

1 cup ham, diced
2 tbsp butter
3 cups milk
1 cup carrots, diced
3 ears of sweet corn, shucked and cut off cobs
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 dashes hot sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt butter in the bottom of your soup kettle or dutch oven. Stir in the flour.  Gradually whisk milk into the flour mixture.  Bring to a simmer and add in the carrots, potatoes and bay leaf.  When slightly tender, add in corn, ham and seasonings.

Instant Pot Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup

There's a blizzard here up in the frozen tundra so it's the perfect time to make soup and bread.  I decided to try making one of my favorite soups in the Instant Pot instead on the stove so I had more time to binge watch Grace and Frankie while making greeting cards.


Instant Pot Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup

2# potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used Yukon Gold)
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp celery flakes

Place all in your Instant Pot and set on soup setting (20 minutes).  Release the steam and add in -

8 oz cheddar cheese
1 cup ham, diced
1 cup cream (heavy or whipping)

Allow the cheese to melt and ham and cream to heat up before serving.

Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff Soup

This is a wonderful hearty soup on a rainy Fall day.  Whenever the temperature starts to dip, I start craving soups and stews.  I had already made a pot of split pea and ham soup so I wanted to try making this in the Instant Pot (I tweaked my crock pot recipe).



Beef Stroganoff Soup

1 1/2" beef stew meat, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 oz baby bella mushroooms, sliced small
1/4 cup onions, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 cup cream
1 cup sour cream
2 cups dumpling egg noodles

In the bottom of your instant pot, heat olive oil as you cut up the meat.  When heated, toss in meat and cook without browning.  Add in onions, mushrooms and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.  Stir in flour and coat everything well before pouring in beef broth and add in the bay leaf.  Allow to cook for 20 minutes on the soup selection.  Add in dill weed, cream and sour cream.  Stir until mixed well.  Add in dumpling egg noodles and cook until tender.

Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup

This creamy soup is full of lots of veggies and chunks of chicken breasts.  I cut up some Grands biscuits into quarters for a perfect dunking size.


Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup

1# chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup corn
2 tbsp. celery flakes
1 bay leaf
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Set your instant pot to saute and add in the olive oil.  When heated, add in the chicken pieces and lightly brown.  Turn off the instant pot.  Add in the stock, vegetables, celery flakes and bay leaf.  Set your instant pot to the soup setting for 10 minutes.  While that is cooking, warm the milk and whisk in the flour.  When soup is done, release the pressure.  Remove the lid and stir in the milk mixture.  Turn to the saute setting and cook until it slightly thickens.  

Instant Pot Cheeseburger Soup

Cheeseburger soup is one of my comfort soups.  Freezing rain and snow are in our forecast so today seemed like a perfect day to make some in my Instant Pot.  


IP Cheeseburger Soup

1# extra lean ground beef
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
3 tbsp. flour
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. parsley
2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup half and half
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat the Instant Pot on saute, add in the olive oil and then the ground beef.  Brown the ground beef, when almost done, add in the onions and garlic.  When the onions are translucent, turn off the Instant Pot.  Deglaze the bottom with the white wine.  Stir the flour into the ground beef.  Gradually add in the chicken stock.  Add in the spices, parsley, potatoes and carrots.  Set the Instant Pot to the soup setting for 10 minutes.  Allow to naturally release.  When ready, stir in the half and half and cheese.

Instant Pot Split Pea & Ham Soup

Today we had a blizzard.  I left work at noon and came home with the intention to make soup and work on making greeting cards.  The soup is done.  The cards might get worked on this evening.  Growing up my favorite soup was Campbell's Split Pea and Ham soup but they have changed the recipe so much over the years that it was my turn to take over making it.  And here it is ~


Instant Pot Split Pea & Ham Soup

5 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup onions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. celery flakes
1 1/2 cups carrots, small slices
1# green split peas, rinsed and sorted
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 cups ham, diced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Bay Leaves

Saute the olive oil, onions and garlic together until translucent.  Add in the stock and remaining ingredients.  Set to soup mode and cook for 20 minutes.  Allow the soup to naturally release.  This is a thick soup.  You can add an additional 1 cup of stock to make a thinner soup.

Beef Barley Soup

It's definitely soup season now.  The temperatures have been dropping down towards 0 degrees at night and flu is starting to make the rounds.  I've been using my Instant Pot every weekend and I made this soup in under an hour yesterday.  It's so good.  Today I'm going to freeze some so I can have easy weeknight meals in the coming weeks.  


Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup

1# Beef stew meat
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 cups water
1 - 16 oz can stewed tomatoes, crush before adding
2 cups carrots, I used frozen
2 tbsp celery flakes
1/2 cup pearled barley
1 tbsp beef Better Than Boullion
1 tbsp parsley
Salt & pepper to taste (also season the beef while cooking)

Heat the olive oil on the saute mode.  Brown the seasoned beef (in batches).  As the final batch is browning, add in the onions and garlic to cook.  Cancel the saute.  Add in the rest of the ingredients.  Hit the meat/stew button and you are set.  I used this button over the soup/broth so the meat was extra tender.

Winter Squash & Apple Soup

There's nothing more comforting on a cold and rainy day than a hot bowl of soup.  I took my winter squash soup and added a few things ~ like an apple and some chili powder.

Winter Squash & Apple Soup

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken stock

1 1 /2 cups squash, cooked

1 apple, peeled & diced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 cup cream

Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large sauce pan or dutch oven.  When heated, add in the onions and cook until they are translucent.  Add in the minced garlic and cook for another minute.  Add in the chicken stock, squash and apple.  Cook over medium heat until the apples are tender.  Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.  Heat soup until it comes to a simmer stage.  Add in cream.  

Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup

It doesn't matter that it's supposed to be 92 degrees today, the rest of the week calls for much, much cooler temperatures and rain.  I made this soup for then.  Plus as an easy weeknight dinner.  Just heat and eat.  This is my favorite soup and 15 minutes of cook time and 10 minutes for the release.  It's the quickest way to cook wild rice.  I keep celery flakes on hand instead of buying celery and wasting most of it.

Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup

2 boneless chicken breasts

2 tbsp butter

2 carrots, sliced

2 tbsp celery flakes

1/2 cup onion, minced

1 Bay Leaf

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp thyme

32 oz low sodium chicken stock

1 cup wild rice/brown rice mixed

3/4 cup cream

Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Saute the carrots and onions for a few minutes with the butter in the instant pot.  Add in the garlic and celery flakes and cook for just one minute.  Add in the chicken, stock, cream, rice thyme, salt & pepper.  Seal the pot and cook for 15 minutes.  Let the steam release naturally.  While waiting, mix together 1/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup cream.  When the pressure pin drops, open the instant pot and take out the chicken breasts to shred.  Return to the instant pot and then stir in the flour/cream mixture.   Allow it to sit for a couple minutes to thicken.

Crock Pot Pasta e Fagioli

A chilly day here in the valley that started off with fog and still isn't above freezing.  It seemed like a good time to make something in the crock pot while watching college football and making Christmas greeting cards.  

Pasta e Fagioli

1/2# extra lean ground beef, cooked
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 medium onion finely chopped
3 oz pancetta
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz Cannellini beans
1 15 oz Light Red Kidney beans
 32 oz chicken broth
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 1/2 cups Ditalini
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Cook ground beef in a large saucepan.  Add in garlic, onion and pancetta and cook until soft and put in the crock pot with the beans.  Add in chicken broth, oregano and parsley.  Cook over medium heat for 3 hours and add in the Ditalini.  Allow to cook fully before serving.

Top with freshly grated Parmesan.

Cheesy Hash Brown Soup

A co-worker was telling me how much he loved this soup his roommate had made him last Spring.  I was going to try it then but the weather got nice and all thoughts about soup vanished as grilling took over.  Fall is here now and even though the first day of it was not soup weather by any means, the second changed all that.  I decided to add a little kick in the soup by using pepper jack cheese and my go-to for every soup recipe - hot sauce.



Cheesy Hash Brown Soup

32 oz chicken stock
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. flour
32 oz frozen shredded hash browns
8 oz pepper jack cheese
4 oz cheddar cheese
8 oz cream cheese
2 cups ham, diced
3 dashes hot sauce (I used Frank's)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a stock pot or dutch oven, heat up chicken stock, milk (shake in a covered container with the flour before adding) and cheeses over medium heat.  Add in the hash browns and ham.  Cook about a half hour and add in hot sauce, salt and pepper. 

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

It’s still soup weather unfortunately but if the temperature outside won’t heat up the subtle heat from the chilies in this soup will warm you. 

 

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 – 32 oz chicken broth

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 – 15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 – 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 ears of corn, sliced off or 1 cup frozen corn

Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup cream

 

Place all the ingredients (except the cream) in a stock pot or dutch oven to cook until the corn is tender.  Ten minutes before you are ready to eat, stir in the cream.  Top with crisp tortilla slices, avocado, cheese, sour cream, cilantro…

To crisp tortilla slices, slice into even slices and place in a heated frying pan.  Stir often until the slices crisp up.

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Soup

It's that time of year for soup and the cold weather seems to have hit earlier than normal.  I was planning on another meal with chicken but decided to warm up with some creamy soup that comes together in less than an hour.

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Soup

1# chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
32 oz chicken stock
1 tbsp celery flakes
1 cup long grain & wild rice
1 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or soup pot.  Cut up chicken into bite size pieces and add into the heated oil.  Stir often so all sides cook.  While that's cooking, microwave the carrot slices for a couple minutes so they cook faster.  Add in the carrots, chicken stock and celery flakes and bring to a simmer.  Stir in the rice and cook for 12 minutes.  Add in the milk and cheese and cook until the cheese melts.  Serve with additional cheese and bacon on top.

Italian Mac & Cheese Soup

Cooler temperatures bring the need for comforting soups, stews & chili.  I saw mac & cheese soup recipes popping up and thought I'd like to try it but using some of my favorite Italian cheeses.  I added in a shredded carrot just to add a vegetable in there and it adds a lovely color.

Italian Mac & Cheese Soup

1 cup elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cups organic chicken stock
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
2 cups milk
8 oz Italian 5 cheese mix
4 oz Fontina cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cooked pancetta for topping

Melt 3 tbsp butter and stir in flour.  Gradually add in chicken stock, stirring frequently.  Add in the shredded carrot and cook for 20 minutes.  Stir in the cheese and milk.  Stir until completely melted.  Add in garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Winter Squash Soup

Fall is officially here and it's time to start making comforting and warming foods.  Squash is my favorite vegetable and here's another way to enjoy it.  I know a lot of squash soups call for butternut squash but that's not my favorite by any means so I used an Kabocha that I baked and resisted eating right away. I topped the soup with some crumbled pancetta and toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

Winter Squash Soup

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken stock
1 1 /2 cups squash, cooked
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cream

Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large sauce pan or dutch oven.  When heated, add in the onions and cook until they are translucent.  Add in the minced garlic and cook for another minute.  Add in the chicken stock and squash.  Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.  Heat soup until it comes to a simmer stage.  Add in cream.  

Chicken Orzo Soup

It's a chilly day outside - still in the 20's at noon which is unusual for this time of year.  I was out doing projects and decided to make a pot of soup to help warm me up.  I had a Parmesan rind in the freezer so I threw that in for extra flavor and then topped the soup with some freshly grated Parmesan for an extra salty bite.

Chicken Orzo Soup

6 cups organic, salt-free chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 tbsp celery flakes
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Parmesan rind
1 cup peas
1 cup Orzo pasta
Salt to taste

In a soup kettle or dutch oven, heat broth.  Add in the shredded chicken, carrots, celery flakes, thyme, pepper and Parmesan rind.  Cook over medium heat until carrots are tender.  Stir in peas and Orzo and cook for another 10 minutes.  Taste and add in salt.

Split Pea & Sausage Soup

Split pea soup used to be one of my favorites growing up.  Maybe it's because I got older or a certain soup company changed their recipe but I haven't really had it in a long, long time.  Despite their being sausage in this soup instead of ham, this brought back memories of growing up and the delicious soup that I made often.  I was also happy that I had just made the 6 quarts of chicken stock two weekends ago so I was able to thaw and use some of that for this soup.

Split Pea & Sausage Soup

2 1/4 cups green split peas, soaked overnight in water and drained
6 cups unsalted or low salt chicken stock
1# carrots, peeled and thin sliced
1 cup celery, thin sliced
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced with casing removed
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the chicken stock in a large soup kettle.  Add in drained split peas, carrots celery, bay leaves and grated garlic.  Cook over medium heat until the peas are tender. Remove the bay leaves.  Mash the peas in to soup or use an immersion blender.  Add in sausage slices.  Taste and then season accordingly.  

Chicken Broth & Homemade Noodles

It was insanely cold last weekend - 20's.  I had an organic chicken and vegetables to create my own broth.  I have containers frozen that will last me quite awhile (6 quarts worth) and I feel better about having my own verses a store bought one (even organic) since I can control the amount of salt per recipe that is added.  Plus it's so easy to make and I grew up on homemade broth.  I add in a little bit of salt and a few dashes of hot sauce for a perfect meal on a cold winters day.

Chicken Broth

1-3# chicken

6 quarts water

1 onion, cut in half

3 bay leaves

1# carrots, peeled

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3 stalks celery

1 tsp black peppercorns

Place all of the ingredients in a large kettle.  Bring to a simmer and keep at heat for 8 hours.  Remove the chicken and strain the rest of the liquid.  Cool down and place in the refrigerator.  After it has completely cooled (overnight), remove the excess fat.  Place the remainder into freezer sized containers.  If you keep some out, it will be good for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Homemade Noodles

Sift together -

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together in a small bowl -

1 large egg, beaten

3 tbsp milk

Pour egg mixture into the flour.  Mix together completely and place on a lightly floured surface.  Roll out the dough and let it stand for a half hour before cutting.  Cut into noodles to the size you want to use.  Spread out to dry on a lightly floured surface and let dry for at least an hour.  Drop into the broth and let cook for 10 minutes.

Pepper Jack Turkey Soup

The temperatures are about to drop.  Really drop.  Time to start making soups, stews and breads....winter comfort food (besides hotdish).  This recipe is so easy to put together that it makes it the perfect weeknight meal.  The flecks of jalapeno peppers are guaranteed to have you reaching for a tissue after having a bowl of this soup.

Pepper Jack Turkey Soup

2 cups cooked turkey, cut into small, bite-size pieces
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups 2% milk
8 oz Pepper Jack cheese
Salt to taste

Heat the broth and milk in a dutch oven or soup kettle.  Bring heat up to almost a boil and add in the turkey cheese. Stir and serve when cheese has melted  Season as needed.