Delicious Frugal Soups (L to R):

Pasta Fagioli Soup from Shutterbean
Spicy Red and Black Bean Soup from My Recipes (photo courtesy of Cooking Light)
Disneyland’s Loaded Potato Soup from Six Sisters’ Stuff

I love fall for lots of reasons, one of which is all of the tasty soup options I can add to my menu plans!  I mean, when it is hot – no one wants soup.  But, when it is cold – bring on the steamy, warm bowl of soup!

A huge bonus to soup is that soup is generally pretty darn frugal.  You can use humble ingredients like rice, beans, pasta and root vegetables.  Meat is rarely the star, so you can make a little go a long way, or use none at all!  The accompaniments are just as frugal – a simple side salad, a loaf of bread, crackers.  Yummy!

Three of my favorite soups are listed above.

I make the Spicy Red and Black Bean soup a lot – it is great for lunches and even my carnivorous husband loves it without any meat at all!  That is amazing in itself, let me tell you.  Our family leaves out the chilis, because we are from Minnesota and hey, that is just too spicy for us around here.

I just recently discovered the Disneyland’s Loaded Potato Soup – delish!  I like that I can cook it up to where I add in the broth, then transfer it over to a slow cooker.  3-4 hours in the slow cooker ususally finishes cooking the potatoes, and then I add in the cream and let it warm up a few minutes before serving.  Divine!

When I go to Olive Garden, I always only get soup, salad and bread sticks, and Pasta e Fagoili is my favorite soup.  It makes a full meal!

And just to round it out – here is my absolute favorite soup – Creamy Wild Rice.  I love it with turkey or ham added in, but you can leave it out, if you prefer.  This recipe is a double batch, since we love to have extras, but if you want a bit less, you can halve the recipe.  Also, plan ahead to get the wild rice cooked, but the final preparation goes quickly after that.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

• 8 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 stick butter (8 Tablespoons)
• 2/3 cup flour
• 8 cups chicken broth (4 cans)
• 1 cup diced ham or turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups half and half

Bring water and salt to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 50-55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes; drain.

In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, melt butter. Saute carrots and onion for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and mix until well incorporated. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in meat, pepper and rice; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in half and half and heat through.

*****

So, grab your slippers, put a pot of soup on the stove and curl up with a good book – the chilly weather is here!