Do You Have a Favorite Soup Cookbook?

Dana Velden
Dana Velden
Dana Velden's first book, Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook (Rodale Books) is available where ever books are sold. She lives in Oakland, CA.
published Jan 5, 2011
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

While I’m not usually a fan of single subject cookbooks, I make an exception for the soup cookbook. I guess it’s because soup can be so incredibly versatile: hot or cold, hearty or light, meat-filled or vegan, creamy or chunky. Soup can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert and is an important part of nearly every cuisine around the world.

What’s your favorite soup cookbook? Read on for my top three recommendations and add your own the list in the comments.

Vegetable Soups by Deborah Madison
This book gets top marks all around for it’s lovely presentation and fool-proof, delicious recipes. Deborah Madison has an innovative palate and high standards in recipe development. The result is a cookbook you can always count on to be accurate and inspiring. Favorite recipes for winter soups: Rutabaga and Leek Chowder with Crispy Smoky Croutons, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Seared Radicchio and Pumpkin Seed Oil, and White Bean Soup with Salsa Verde.
• $12.36 from Amazon.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Splendid Soups by James Patterson
James Peterson’s Soup book is considered by many to the the bible of soup making. At over 600 pages, this lovely volume sure lives up to its reputation. Nearly every kind of soup from around the world is represented here with clear instructions and delicious results. Beginning with clear broths and consommes, Peterson explores all manner of vegetable based soups before diving heavily into fish and meat and ending with sweet dessert soups. The international focus here is also a plus. Try Oxtail Soup, Senegalese Peanut Soup or Shrimp Balls in Hot and Sour Thai Broth
• $29.70 at Amazon.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Soup and Bread Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon
Whenever I talk to my Wisconsin-living Mum in the wintertime, she is invariably in the kitchen making soup based on a recipe from this cookbook, which is one of her favorites. I love it, too, for its tips and techniques, recipes, and lively prose. As the winter days continue to send chilly rains my way I find myself turning to Wintery Chicken and Pasta Soup, Carrot-Orange Soup with Toasted Cashew Garnish, and Scotch Broth.

• Sadly, the Soup and Bread Cookbook is out of print but it can be found for a good price at several online used book dealers.

Please share your favorites in the comments!

Related: Book Review 2010: Soup and Bread Cookbook by Martha Bayne

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