I would suggest PA Dutch Chicken Corn Soup, delicious, easy, and this recipe makes a lot of soup!

PA Dutch Chicken Corn Soup

1 3-4 lb. chicken
1 onion chopped
1 rib celery w/ leaves, chopped
4 qts. water
2 cups or more fresh corn off cob or 1 10 oz. package frozen corn
2 hard boiled eggs
salt and pepper

dumplings:
1 cup flour
1 egg
milk to make a soft dough to roll out, cut small dumplings 1/2 inch or so in size (not large dumplings)

Cook chicken, onion, celery, s&p, in water until done. Remove, cool and take meat from skin and bones. Add corn to pot and simmer. Add in dumplings and simmer until done. Return chicken to pot and add chopped eggs. Serve hot garnished with parsley if desired.

Enjoy!
Teresa

I'm holding my 2nd annual soup swap on national soup swap day which is January 25, 2014. I started planning it now as people were already asking about it.

I have everyone tell me ahead of time what they are bringing and I share that with the others. So far the soups are pasta fagoili, chicken chowder, cauliflower, italian veg., lentil, mexican meatball. Last year we had chicken noodle, stuffed pepper, potato, black bean, can't remember the rest.

I suggest to my guests that they try a recipe first to make sure it freezes well. I have everyone bring the soup already frozen in 1qt containers. One person used a ziplock bag but one bag got punctured so for this year I suggested double bag if you really want to bag it. If not use (non returned) disposable plastic containers.

I love soup swaps! I wish others would have them and invite me.

Here is another one I can vouch for; my friend Cathy brings it whenever we have a Soup Lunch charity fundraiser here at my office.

Pizza Soup

1 lb Hot Italian Sausage
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
4 oz Pepperoni slices, cut into small pieces or mini pepperoni slices
1 can Rotel 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes with Chilies
1 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes
1 15 oz can Dark Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can Light Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 16 oz can/jar Pizza Sauce
4 t Chili Powder
1/8 t Pepper
1/2 t salt

1.Brown sausage with garlic and onion.
2.Drain well and place in crock pot.
3.Add remaining ingredients and stir.
4.Cook on low for 4-6 hours or simmer in pot on stove one hour.

Teresa

I don't think I've posted this one before but have made it many times. It's a hearty soup great for cold weather and is fine for freezing.

IRISH BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP - 8 servings

2 Tbs. vegetable oil or bacon grease
2 lbs. trimmed beef chuck, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
Salt and pepper
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 small head of green cabbage, cut into 3/4 inch chunks (about 4 cups)
1 (16 oz.) can stewed tomatoes with their juice
2/3 cup dried green split peas
2/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained (not quick-cooking kind)
10 cups beef stock, preferably homemade + extra if needed
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds

In a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven or stew pot, heat fat until sizzling. Lightly season beef cubes with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until meat is browned and seared on all sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.

To the drippings in the pot, add onions, garlic, parsnips, turnips and cabbage. Cook the vegetables over medium heat until they begin to lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Return the meat and any juices to the pan.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat, covered, for 2 to 3 hours. Be sure to check the soup every now and then and stir to prevent sticking and add more beef broth if needed. Adjust seasonings with additional salt and pepper if needed.

I think it is a good idea to use qrt deli containers and bring already frozen.
I'm assembling soup today for tonights dinner and the freezer. It is our 'liquid gold' so i would never swap it, lol. It is a hearty chicken and sausage soup with harvest veggies and greens, wild rice and beans. But also very brothy.
Always a slight variation using what i have, so no recipe. Starts with two roasted chickens, 1/2 for dinner that night, then picked off meat and stock made.
Rice is made and chilled in fridge, greens and parsley washed and prepped yesterday. Sausage is cooked, cut into small meatball size and chilled.

A good basic trick to freezing soups is to make your basic saute veggies, onion, clelery, carrot, small diced potato, chopped tomato, some herbs...add stock and simmer.

Line up your freezer containers when your 'stock' base soup is off heat and resting.
Add cold ingredients, already cooked, in equal portions to each container, stuff in chopped un-cooked greens, parsley, fresh herbs, cooked and chilled rice and beans...laddle your warm, not too hot, soup broth to cover. Your greens will soften a bit. All your containers will have equal amounts. Freezes great and everything is cooked but not over-cooked and mushy. Re-heating will cook everything perfectly. A good restaurant chef will assemble ingredients last minute into a good veg soup base.

I'm still debating about adding a bit of potato and roasted corn, but might just make two different soups and stick blend some of the base stock with corn for a chowder. And no meat.
We had our last qrt of summer corn chowder last weekend and it was delish. Maybe i'll roast one of those strange squash/pumpkins for the chowder...
I just blend half for richness and leave half for chunky.

Pureed soups are good and a bit easier, but when it is cold and the power is out, or the flu or feeling just blah, i reach for a warm broth, meaty veggies, a meal in a bowl with toasted bread slices. Purees are not my first choice when i dig in the freezer in late January. (-i need to make a pot of chili to freeze, lol.)

That was not much help, haha. Not even a recipe. Oh well. I suppose the point was...if you choose a meaty soup, freeze with some fresh ingredients in the containers so it re-heats well.

Elephant's Deli Mama Leone soup is a favorite here.

You can taste a cup at the nearest Elephants to see if you'd like it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe

If you want something different, what about Philly cheesesteak soup?

Saute strips of sandwich steak (tissue thin sliced round), onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, until tender. Add equal parts of medium white sauce and chicken broth. Season to taste. Just before serving, stir in your favorite cheese for a cheesesteak (american, provolone or the traditional Whiz). Serve with Garlic toasted Italian bread to float in the soup.

This soup has a lot of ingredients, but it is really easy and freezes well:

Minestrone Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced white onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1/3 cup minced celery (about 1 stalk)
2 chopped zucchinis, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
2 cups water or vegetable broth
3/4 tsp salt (if broth is not salty)
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (or whole tomatoes puréed in can)
1/4 cup carrots, shredded
2-4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 to 1 1/2 cups water or vegetable soup broth
3/4 tsp salt (if broth is not salted)
2/3 cup small shell pasta (orecchiette, or similar)
1-3/4 cups cooked red kidney beans, drained*
1-3/4 cups cooked small white beans or great northern beans, drained*
2 cups fresh or frozen baby spinach (optional)
2 tbsp tomato paste or 1 tbsp tomato powder
salt, to taste, if needed

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.

Sauté onion and celery in the oil for 4-5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the zucchini and garlic and sauté a couple of minutes more.

Add vegetable broth to pot, plus tomatoes, carrot, and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Add additional 1 cup hot water/vegetable broth (more, if needed), pasta, beans, spinach leaves (if desired), and tomato paste, and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Less water will be needed if the spinach is used. Add salt to taste, if you are not using soup base. Use more parsley if you are not adding spinach.

*Note: I use 7/8 cup of each dried bean to yield the amount needed and cook the beans earlier in the day or the day before in plain water with a couple of bay leaves. Lately I have been using the pressure cooker to cook them, which is really fast. Alternatively, canned beans can be used (14 oz can each), drained and rinsed, but I have not tried this.

Lars

This post was edited by publickman on Wed, Nov 13, 13 at 15:09

This one is delicious and freezes very well.

Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup
Source: Harvest Forum (brokenbar)

2 sweet red peppers
6 cups tomatoes, chopped (2 - 28 oz. cans, undrained)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cloves garlic
salt
pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
1 yellow Bell Pepper cut into rings (garnish)
Sour Cream (garnish)

Grill the peppers, turning frequently, until blackened all over. Peel off the skin. Gently wipe or scrape off any remaining black stuff from the outside. Cut open and discard seeds and white insides. Do not wash as this will flush away much of the flavour.

Puree peppers and tomatoes in a blender or food processor.
Strain out seeds. I use my own jars of tomato sauce that have no seeds.
Place pepper/tomato mixture in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients except butter.
Simmer uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes.
Remove from heat. Set pan in ice water and gradually whisk in butter.
Cool, cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day, heat gently, garnish with yellow bell pepper ring with a dollop of sour cream inside ring and serve. Note: This soup is quite mild.

My notes: I use canned roasted red pepper when I can't get fresh ones. It's worth the overnight wait, as the flavor improves 1000%. I quadruple this for a freezer batch.

All of the above soups sound very good!

We really like this soup. If my dh had to choose a fave, and he's thankful he doesn't because he loves his soups, this would be it. (My sister served it recently to a group of 20 people and 19 of them said it became instantly their all-time favorite soup.) It's wonderful the next day, too.

If we're eating it immediately, I often thicken with a little beurre manie; if it sits a bit first, the starch from the pasta thickens it enough. I usually use Swiss chard or kale, and often a lean ground pork instead of beef. So this is the gist of it:

Italian Wedding Soup

2 tablespoons oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp salt; pepper to taste
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried smallish pasta; if I use orzo, I use about 3/4 cup

1 pound fresh chopped or torn greens, chard/kale/spinach; I've even used mustard greens; I don't really measure this.

1 egg, beaten

In a pot, heat oil, carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies are tender. Add a little liquid if necessary.

While this cooks, make meatballs by combining meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg. Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to an easy boil.

Start rolling meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth.

When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer the soup several minutes and then add chard or green of your choice. Cook until it is wilted the way you like it.

At the very end, beat an egg with a fork and pour it in a thin steam (or through a fork) into the simmering soup.

Remove from heat.

It can easily be doubled or tripled.

Edited to add: I wasn't thinking about the freezer part of your request. Not sure this would freeze well. But it's really good for another time, maybe. :)

This post was edited by cooking2day on Wed, Nov 13, 13 at 9:33

I made Emeril Lagasse's Potato & Leek soup for a get-together last year and it was a big hit. I made subtle adjustments for my tastes and I didn't puree it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato & Leek soup

I created a soup cookbook for cooking forum people some years back using my favorite and many of the favorites here. If you like, I could send it to you, if I had your email.
Sherry

Here are a couple from my collection that would freeze well. I do a Soup party and bonfire every fall so I have made a bazillion different soup recipes!

Tomato Basil Soup
(Inspired by Carol’s Restaurant, Blaine MN)

1 Tsp olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 28oz can Muir Glen Whole peeled tomatoes
1 28oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Basil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Pepper
2 tsp sugar
1-1/2 c chicken stock
2 T tomato paste
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
1/3 c fresh grated parmesan
2T dry red wine

Heat olive oil in large dutch oven, saute onion 1 minute or until tender.
With fingers, squish whole tomatoes until chunky. Add both cans of tomatoes to onions, bring to a simmer. Add salt, pepper, sugar, chicken stock and tomato paste. Simmer for 7-10 minutes. Add basil, parmesan and wine, cook until heated through.

Hearty Harvest Soup
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces Fresh Italian Sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 cans (14.5 ounce each) Chicken Broth
1 can (14.5 ounce) Diced Tomatoes with
Roasted Garlic, undrained
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
1 bag (9 ounces) baby spinach leaves

Directions

1.Brown sausage with onions in large saucepan over
medium-high heat, stirring frequently to crumble
sausage; drain.
2.Add broth, tomatoes with their liquid and the
beans; mix well. Cook 5 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
3.Stir in spinach; cover saucepan with lid. Cook 5
minutes, or just until spinach is wilted, stirring
occasionally.

Sherried Brie and Mushroom Soup
Makes 8 cups

1 pound Brie cheese
2 cups dry sherry
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 3/4 cups half and half
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim the rind from the brie and then roughly tear it into 2-inch pieces. (It is easy to trim if you first place the cheese in the freezer for 30 minutes or until it is sufficiently hard.) Set aside.
In a small saucepan, reduce the sherry over medium-high heat to 1 cup. Set aside.

in a medium stockpot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the mushrooms, shallots, and lemon juice and cook for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, add the flour, and stir until the flour is fully incorporated.

Return the mixture to heat and add the beef broth and reserved sherry. Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the trimmed Brie, stirring until the cheese has melted. Add the half and half and pepper and continue to simmer without boiling for 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle the soup into separate bowls and garnish each with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the chives.

Mushroom, Barley and Beef Soup
From "Living the GI Diet" by Rick Gallop
4-6 servings

1 T canola oil
8oz lean ground beef (I used a small piece of a beef roast and cut it into small cubes).
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1T fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
2 T tomato paste
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 c beef broth (low-fat, low-sodium)
3 c water
1/2 c barley
1 bay leaf
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained & rinsed

Heat oil in large deep pot over medium high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring, until no longer pink. Reduce heat to medium and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, fo 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, carrot, celery and thyme and cook until all the liquid has evaporated from the mushrooms, about 15 minutes.

Add tomato paste, vinegar, salt & pepper, stir to coat vegetables.Add the broth, water, barley and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the barley is tender, about 45 minutes. Add the beans and heat through. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Chicken option: You can use ground chicken or turkey for the beef and use chicken broth instead of beef broth.

Linda

When you have a soup exchange, what type of bowls do you use? Do you have small cups, or something special to put them in?

livvyandbella, Are you doing a soup exchange with soup tasting or not? Last time I had everyone taste the soups. I gave everyone a regular soup bowl and they helped themselves. You could buy small disposable cups for soup. This time we are not tasting as there will be 8 - 12 people. You could still do it with that amount of people but my guests don't want to make and bring more than 6 qts. More would be needed for tasting and my guests said they would rather have more soup to exchange instead of tasting. Sorry for the long answer.

edited for spelling

This post was edited by debrak2008 on Tue, Nov 19, 13 at 7:17

For my party I bought dollar store little tiny refrigerator bowls. They use those for tasting, then use a regular bowl for the soup they decide they want. However, usually most of my friends eat bowls of 2 or 3 soups. AND I always buy quart freezer screw on top containers and they each get to take 1-2 quarts home of their favorite.

Just thinking of having a soup exchange-tasting. If I do, I don't have enough bowls, so I wondered what size to use.
Thanks for you information.

Love mulligatawny.

I also love stuffed cabbage but hate making it, so I make stuffed cabbage soup instead. Saute onion and bacon. Add chunks of cut up pork and brown. Then I add beef broth, shredded cabbage, cooked rice, a can of diced tomatoes and dill weed. S&P to taste, and simmer until cabbage is tender.

Red bean and sausage soups are good, and I prefer to use the dried pink beans instead of kidney beans.

livvy, one thing I did not think of ahead of time at my last party was how to heat up all the soups for tasting. We had five soups so I had 4 pots going on the stove and then used the microwave for the 5th soup.

This is reeeeaally late but I want to thank everyone who responded to my initial post! I'd completely forgotten about it obviously, and only now discovered it (in the warm season when no one's making soup)! But it's a great thread to have that perhaps we can each keep adding to over time - though there are probably several other ones out there like it!

These all sound so yummy (maybe I won't be able to wait till Fall)! And I appreciate all the storage suggestions too. I feel so bad about forgetting about this thread! I need to figure out how to get email alerts when I get a response however I'm a bit jaded about using the email I regularly use because I'm worried about viruses and spam. Anyway, I see there's a "check here if you would like post replies" box now so I'll be sure to do that now!!

theresse, keep in mind that the "check this box for replies" doesn't always work so don't depend on it. I find it so unreliable I don't bother with it anymore.

My most recent soup was posted on the latest What's For Dinner Thread. The Mulligatawny Soup was delish!

Here's a photo, and a link to the recipe is below the photo.

Smiles,
Sooz

Here is a link that might be useful: Mulligatawny Soup from Lise P.