Soup Season: Two Recipes We Make on Repeat During Soup Season
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Soup is the only dinner where I can start at five thirty, walk away, and still have something on the table by six thirty that everyone eats. From the first cold week in October until roughly March, we have soup at least once a week, usually twice.
Here are the two my family actually asks for, and then the equipment, because the truth is a good Dutch oven and an immersion blender changed soup for me more than any recipe did.
My Top Picks at a Glance
Best Dutch oven: Lodge enameled cast iron, 6 quart. Shop it here
Best splurge pot: Martha Stewart 7-quart enamel cast iron. Shop it here
Best budget pot: Amazon Basics enameled Dutch oven. Shop it here
Best blender: KitchenAid corded immersion blender. Shop it here
Best bowls: French onion crocks with handles. Shop it here
Recipe One: Creamy Tomato and White Bean
This is the weeknight one. Twenty five minutes start to finish, and it uses things I always have.
Soften one diced onion and four cloves of garlic in olive oil in the Dutch oven, about six minutes. Add one 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, one rinsed can of white beans, two cups of stock, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and a big pinch of salt. Simmer fifteen minutes.
Take it off the heat and blend it right in the pot with the immersion blender until it is mostly smooth but not perfectly so. Stir in a half cup of heavy cream and a handful of parmesan. Taste for salt, and add more than you think. Serve with bread for dragging through it.
The trick that makes it: blend only about three quarters of it. The bits of bean left whole are what keep it from tasting like canned soup.
Recipe Two: Sausage, Kale and Potato
The heartier Sunday one. It reheats better than anything else we make.
Brown a pound of Italian sausage in the pot and set it aside, leaving the fat. Cook one diced onion in that fat until soft, add four cloves of garlic for a minute, then add six cups of chicken stock and three cups of diced Yukon gold potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes give to a fork, about fifteen minutes.
Add the sausage back with a big bunch of chopped kale and one cup of heavy cream. Simmer five more minutes, until the kale softens but is still green. Black pepper, generously.
Make it a day ahead if you can. It is better on day two, which is the whole reason it is the Sunday one.
The Pot
You want enameled cast iron, five to seven quarts, with a lid. Cast iron holds heat evenly so the bottom does not scorch while you walk away, and the enamel means you can cook tomatoes in it without stripping seasoning. Six quarts feeds a family of five with leftovers.
Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 6 Quart
The one I recommend to everybody. Same performance as pots that cost four times as much, and the oyster white looks good enough to bring straight to the table.
Martha Stewart Gatwick 7-Quart Enamel Dutch Oven
A little larger and a little prettier. Seven quarts is the right size if you regularly cook for more than six or you want room to brown a whole chicken.
Amazon Basics Enameled Dutch Oven, 4.3 Quart
The starter pot. Smaller than I would choose as an only pot, but if you are cooking for two it is genuinely all you need and it is a third of the price.
The Tool That Changes Everything
An immersion blender means you never pour hot soup into a countertop blender again. No batches, no burns, no second thing to wash. If you make soup more than twice a winter it pays for itself in avoided cleanup alone.
KitchenAid Corded Immersion Blender
Variable speed, metal shaft so it handles heat, and heavy enough that it does not walk across the pot. Corded because cordless ones lose power right when you need it.
Shop the KitchenAid hand blender
5-in-1 Immersion Blender Set
The budget version, and it comes with a whisk and chopper attachment. More plastic, but it blends soup perfectly well.
Shop the immersion blender set
Stainless Soup Ladle, 13 Inch
Long enough to reach the bottom of a deep pot without dipping your knuckles in. A short ladle in a six quart pot is a daily small misery.
What You Serve It In
Soup in a cereal bowl is fine. Soup in a footed crock with handles feels like an occasion, and it costs about four dollars more per person, one time.
French Onion Soup Crocks With Handles
Twenty ounces, oven safe, stackable. The handles matter more than you think when the bowl is actually hot.
Embossed Ceramic Bowls, 26 oz
Wide and shallow, better for the chunky soups where you want to see what is in it. These double as pasta bowls the rest of the year.
Rattan Bread Basket Set of 3
Three sizes. Bread on the table is most of what makes soup feel like a real dinner rather than a thing you had because nobody wanted to cook.
Bread Warmer Basket With Stone
A terracotta stone you heat in the oven and tuck under the napkin. Rolls stay warm through the whole meal. This is the small hosting upgrade I use the most.
Glass Food Storage Containers
Soup doubles easily, so make a double batch and freeze half. Glass rather than plastic, because tomato soup stains plastic permanently and you will be annoyed about it every time.
Three Things That Make Any Soup Better
Salt in layers, not at the end. A pinch with the onions, a pinch with the stock, and then taste at the finish. Soup salted only at the end always tastes flat no matter how much you add.
Acid at the very end. A squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar off the heat wakes up everything. You will not taste lemon, you will just think the soup is better.
Freeze flat. Ladle into bags, lay them flat on a sheet pan until solid, then stand them up like files. You will fit three times as much in the same freezer space.
Soup Season FAQ
What size Dutch oven is best for soup?
Six quarts for a family of four to six. Five is fine for two or three, seven if you routinely cook for a crowd or want to double everything for the freezer.
Is enameled cast iron worth it?
For soup, yes. Even heat means you can simmer and walk away, and the enamel handles acidic ingredients that would strip a seasoned pan.
Can I use a regular blender instead of an immersion blender?
You can, but vent the lid and work in small batches. Hot liquid expands and a full sealed blender will blow the lid off. The immersion blender exists to prevent exactly this.
How long does homemade soup last?
Four days in the refrigerator, three months frozen. Cream-based soups can separate when frozen, so freeze those before adding the cream and stir it in when you reheat.
What do you serve with soup besides bread?
A sharp green salad. The acid cuts the richness and it makes the whole thing feel like a meal rather than a starter.
More Cozy Cooking
How to Make Charcuterie Cups Shop it here
A Recipe for Autumn Shop it here
Kitchen Gadgets You Can Get on Amazon Shop it here
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