Cooking up a pot of soup is a classic way to feed a crowd, but what if you're a single person who often cooks for one? Can you still have your soup and eat it too? Read on for a few tips on how a single diner can enjoy several meals from one pot of hot, delicious soup.
1. Freeze It. This is the obvious response and a good one. Leftover soup freezes really well. There's nothing like coming home from a long, hard day and reaching into your freezer for something that will quickly become a hot, nourishing, homemade dinner. Issues can arise around freezer space: apartments don't always have full-sized freezers and one batch of leftover soup can quickly fill it to capacity. On the opposite note, having a large freezer isn't always the solution. Knowing that I can toss leftovers in the freezer has lead this cook to go a little overboard with her soup making enthusiasm!
Be sure to divide your soup into individual containers and label each container with the name of the soup and the date it was made.
2. Add New Accompaniments. Try eating your soup with different sides each time. Swap out crusty french bread with some cornbread, for example. Or toast some pita or flatbread or papadams. Soup and salad is a good combo but try adding a sandwich for round two.
3. Puree It. Changing the texture will go a long way towards making leftover soup seem like something new. Simply blend in a food processor or blender (stick blenders are the best). When serving, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle a few fresh herb leaves for a flavor boost, or add some croutons for texture.
4. Add New Elements. Consider adding a dollop of pesto to your reheated leftover soup to change the flavor. Or stir in a few tablespoons of cream or creme fraiche to introduce a rich, dairy element. If it's a vegetable soup, add some sliced cooked sausage or shredded chicken while reheating. Even a few tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs would be nice. Other additions are rice, barley, faro or other grains, or a new vegetable like a can of chopped tomatoes or frozen peas.
5. Make Smaller Batches. Soup often involves a lot of chopping so it's tempting to make a large pot while you're at it, but you can often cut a soup recipe in half with good results. Cooking isn't always about efficiency, so don't make more than you think you can eat in a couple of meals.
6. Make Pot Pie or Shepard's Pie! If you have a leftover broth-based soup like chicken vegetable, beef vegetable or just plain vegetable, heat it up on the stove and then thicken it with a slurry. Pour it into a pie tin or casserole dish and top with either puff pastry, savory pie dough, or layers of filo dough and bake in a 350 degree oven until the top is cooked through and golden brown. All three toppers are available frozen from the grocery store, and if you get a reputable brand (Trader Joe's is a good choice) it will be almost as good as homemade. And of course you can keep your own homemade pie dough in the freezer, too!
7. Invite a Friend. Soup is often better the second time around, so don't feel bad about asking friends over for 'leftovers.' People always love homemade soup, and it's such a simple meal to throw together. Just pick up some good bread on the way home, toss a simple salad and there you go: an almost instantaneous weeknight dinner party.
What tricks have you used to help you work your way through a pot of soup?
Related: Soup's On! 7 Ways to Make Any Soup Creamier
(Images: Dana Velden)
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Yep, cooking a big batch and then freezing it works for me. I work nights so that's the only way I can have home cooking when I have "lunch" at work.
I dunno if there is some kind of a local analogue to your location, but seasonally here in Minnesota appear these mixed bags of root vegetables from Harmony Farms. They usually contain stuff like celeriac, turnips, radishes, carrots, and parsnips. What I did (on a week off) was make a little soup every day highlighting a particular ingredient. As a for instance- the soup in the picture was for turnip night:
http://flic.kr/p/7K8ZCE
I'm loving these ideas. I always just freeze it, but now I can at least shake it up a little...
if it's a thicker soup, serve it over rice or quinoa!
or, if it's a southwest/hispanic-inspired soup, serve it over fried or baked corn tortillas with black beans, and add a fried egg on top for your own version of huevos racheros!
we did both with my turkey and white bean soup (made with green salsa):
http://www.beyondthestoop.com/2012/04/chunky-white-bean-turkey-soup.html
you could also make a big pot of, for example, minestrone (minestrone usually either has rice or pasta in it, quinoa or bulgur would be modern variations), stop a few minutes before its ready, take out some and add rice/pasta/bulgur/quinoa, next day reheat the rest and add rice/past/bulgur/quinoa ect. Feels quite different because one day you're eating soup with rice, the next day pasta.
Adding things like cheese, pesto, croutons or an egg are good variations too.
I agree with all these ideas! Two days ago I made a curried sweet potato and lentil soup and some cream biscuits. Then yesterday we had the same soup with coconut rice. Both the soup and the accompaniment were better the second day. I was stoked about that.
I'm crazy about soup. Soup is the best thing ever. It's my go to for when I'm sick too - spicy bacon bone and vegetable. I always fill my 7L stockpot and then freeze it in 1L batches. 1L feeds my partner and I, so it's effectively 14 servings. It's perfect when we're both stuck in the depths of assignment busy season.
I usually make soup in an enameled cast iron dutch oven and I love my stick blender, but I recently replaced my pot and read the booklet that came with it--they specifically say not to use metal utensils with it. I've always followed that instinctively and used wooden or silicon spoons and such, but I never thought about whether my metal Cuisinart stick blender would ruin the enamel. Is it safe or do I need to transfer it to another bowl for blending?
I should mention that it was the recalled exploding dutch oven from Martha Stewart via Macy's, hence needing a replacement. Sigh.
I usually just make small batches of soup (1 to 2 servings)--Solo Suppers by Joyce Goldstein has some great recipes, and has given me ideas to make up my own. It's a different way of thinking, but it's nice to be able to slice just one onion to make a crock of French onion soup, or to chop just one potato for two bowls of potato soup. That way I don't have leftovers for days on end, and the smaller batch cooks faster than a big pot!
@victoria w- the pot pictured above is part of the La Chamba line from Williams-Sonoma. It is wonderful to use with your stick blender. The pot makes me happy just to use- it is so light yet sturdy, simple and versatile.
Kind of pricey- but... it is nothing compared to the top enameled cast iron pots.