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STOP! Before you hit ‘Jump to Recipe’ check ‘Skip to the Good Bit‘ below. I may answer a query you have about this recipe.
I’ve been working on this Free From Homemade Soup Collection for a while now and think I’ve nailed it. This post is the ultimate guide to making homemade soups. It covers what stock cubes are Coeliac safe and which are vegan. It discusses the best ways to keep soup when you make it in batches. I cover the topic of how to thicken soups and get the best flavour out of your ingredients. And I also have a section on what equipment you’ll need to start your very own homemade soup production line!
Skip to the good bit
- Memories of home made soup and how to make your own
- Adaptable portion sizes
- What are the best gluten free shop bought stocks?
- How do you thicken a homemade soup?
- Useful kitchen equipment and utensils for making soup
- Best ways to store homemade soup
- Is making free from homemade soup cheaper than shop bought?
- Mulligatawny Soup (just like Heinz)
- Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Garlic Soup Recipe
- Leftover Roast Chicken Soup Recipe
- Dairy Free Cream of Carrot and Coriander Soup Recipe
- Smoky Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
- Roasted Parsnip Soup Recipe
- Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Garlic Soup Recipe
- Creamy Curry Soup Recipe
Memories of home made soup and how to make your own
I’m a big fan of soup, us three girls grew up on what we fondly nicknamed ‘gruel’. It was a simple chicken soup made with the carcass of a chicken, boiled, picked, strained and then packed with any veg available, blended, chicken meat thrown back in, seasoned and tah-dah; Gruel!
It didn’t seem to matter what mum put in that soup it always tasted the same, thick, hearty, delicious warming chicken (gruel) soup.
Homemade stock ingredients – chicken stock
- 1 chicken carcass or chicken wings/drumsticks
- 1 white onion – simply peel and cut into quarters
- 1 carrot – roughly chopped, no need to peel
- 1 stick celery – roughly chopped
- peppercorns (just throw a few into the pot)
- 1 tbsp salt
- enough water to cover the chicken and vegetables (approx 1.5-2ltrs)
To make the stock, you simply boil the bones and added vegetables for a good couple of hours. Once you’ve done this, pick any meat off the bones, discard the bone and gristle and inedible bits and blitz the whole lot up with a hand blender.
You can add herbs to the stock during the boiling process but if you pan to use this stock for all manner of soups I’d recommend you don’t so you can add those flavours later.
Homemade stock ingredients – vegetable stock
- 1 white onion – simply peel and cut into quarters
- 1 carrot – roughly chopped, no need to peel
- 1 stick celery – roughly chopped
- peppercorns (just throw a few into the pot)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1tsp onion powder
- 1tsp garlic powder
- enough water to cover the vegetables (approx 1.5-2ltrs)
The reason for adding the garlic and onion powders to the vegetable stick is to increase the umami flavours. Vegetable stock can be quite bland otherwise.
Adaptable portion sizes
The great thing about my recipes is that you can adapt the portion sizes. If you look at the recipe card you’ll see you can select 0.5x, 1x, 2x ,3x. Every recipe is automatically set at 1x and most of my soup recipes are aimed at feeding two people. However, if you’re a bigger family simply choose 2x or if you’re making soup for one click 0.5x.
So let’s get into it and learn everything there is to learn about making soup at home for soup-lovers like myself.
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What are the best gluten free shop bought stocks?
When making Free From Homemade Soup you need to consider what ingredients you are avoiding and if you have a preference over liquid stocks, cubed stocks or jelly stocks?
I always use Knorr Stock Pots as they clearly state on pack that they are gluten free. But there are other versions of stock by Knorr that are also gluten free. I find the stock pots are often on multi-buy special offer so only buy them when this is the case.
In the images below you can see they come in various flavours too depending on the type of soup your making.
NOTE: Knorr gravy pots are NOT gluten free.
Other stock pots are OXO who now have gluten free stock pots (not cubes, these are not currently gluten free).
What stocks are vegetarian or vegan?
If you are looking specifically for a stock that is not just gluten free but also vegetarian or vegan then Kallo do gluten free stock cubes and granules. In addition to this Marigold make gluten free and vegan Bouillon.
How do you thicken a homemade soup?
Usually a shop bought soup would use cornflour (corn starch) or wheat as a thickener. Obviously Coeliac diets have to avoid wheat but there are many other ways you can naturally thicken soups without having to any grains at all.
In the Free From Homemade Soups in this recipe collection I use three different methods to thicken the soups and I’ll share each with you now.
Root based vegetables
Root based vegetables tend to have more starch and or fibre in them. therefore they act as natural thickeners. It’s a bit like when you add potatoes to a Gluten Free Beef Stew, the potatoes cook and absorb the liquid but at the same time break down and thicken the juices. Great vegetables for thickening soups are;
- potatoes
- sweet potatoes
- parsnips
- swede
- carrots
- turnips
Cheese or cream
Obviously, if you are avoiding dairy like myself then you’ll be wanting to add plant based cheeses and creams but the same principle applies. If you add a cheese or cream to a soup it tends to thicken the soup. Whilst this is only ever so slightly, it certainly makes any soup fuller bodied, and who doesn’t love a cream of ‘…’ soup.
Reduction
This method of thickening soup seems to be quite obvious but how often do we really use this cooking method to it’s full potential? Have you ever left a curry or ragu on the stove for a little longer than planned and come back to it thickened and intense in both flavour and colour? Well this form of cooking does exactly that. Intensifies the flavour as it concentrates.
If you can bear to give you soup a good rapid simmer (making sure not to burn the bottom of the pan) then the liquid will thicken and improve in flavour. if you’ve gone too far and reduced too much, no bother, simply add a splash of boiled water or whack in some cream to loosen it to your desired consistency.
Useful kitchen equipment and utensils for making soup
I’ve added some of my favourite kitchen appliances and utensils here. There are obviously more utensils you’d need such as measuring spoons and scales but these are all items that I’d rather not be without when making homemade soups. I have all the items listed myself so can vouch for the quality, the only one I do not have is the soup maker but have on good authority that they are great if you have the room in your cupboard to store one.
Storage
1ltr Jars (2 large servings)
500ml Jars (1 large serving)
250ml Jars (1 small serving)
Soup Containers (selection)
Best ways to store homemade soup
I think people fall into two categories, those who batch cook and store in jars and those who batch cook and store in Tupperware. Hands up, I’m the latter but these days my freezer spaces seems to be very limited and the pro’s to storing foods in glass jars (that have been properly sterilised) is that you can keep them in cupboards or outbuildings for up to 3 months!
If, like me you’re a bit of a Tupperware Queen, then you can buy perfect portion-sized containers and portion your homemade soup ready for the next day or freeze to keep for longer. Generally, homemade soup will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and freeze for 3 months.
On the other hand, if you’re leaning towards storing in jars then the next section is for you.
What’s the best way to sterilise jars – oven or water bath?
In all of my homemade soup recipes I’ve added the handy box below to tell you the quickest and simplest way to sterilise jars.
How to sterilise jars for your individual soup portions
Wash your jars* and the lids in hot soapy water, but do not dry them. Instead, leave them to stand upside down on a roasting tray while they’re still wet.
Pop the tray of clean, wet jars and lids in to a preheated oven at 160-180ºC for about 15 mins.
Using a funnel pour your soup into the jars. Be very careful not to touch or get any of the mixture onto the rim of the jars as this could introduce bacteria.
Ideally you want to fill the jars not quite to the top, leave about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) gap at the top between the soup and the lid.
While everything is still hot, secure the lids tightly.
Once in sterilised jars like this your soups should keep for about 1 month in the fridge probably longer.
*you could easily use 500g jam or cooking sauce jars
If you’re up for more of a challenge and plan to take your glass jar sterilisation very seriously indeed you can adopt the water bath method.
This method is illustrated beautifully here on the Kilner website in their article How to sterilise jam jars.
Step 1 – Check Jars For Chips Or Cracks
The first process of sterilisation is to check the jars or bottles thoroughly for damage such as cracks, breaks, and chips. If you find any of your jars or bottles are damaged you must discard them.
It is important that you only sterilise your jars, bottles and lids or seals a short time before you are ready to fill them to ensure they remain warm for the filling process.
Step 2 – Wash Your Jars
To remove any initial dirt of grime, wash your jars in warm soapy water and leave to dry.
Step 3 – Prepare The Waterbath
Remove the lids or rubber seals from your jars and put to one side. Place a heat resistant plate upside down in the bottom of your Kilner® Preserving Pan then place the jars inside.
Step 4 – Sterilise Your Jars With Boiling Water
Fill the pan with cold water until the jars are covered. Bring to the boil and keep at the maximum temperature for 10 minutes, turn the heat off and cover the pan to keep the jars warm until you are ready to fill them.
Do not attempt to sterilise your Kilner® Bottles and Kilner® Jars by pouring boiling water into them.
Step 5 – Sterilise Your Lids
Place vacuum seal lids or rubber seals in a small pan and fill with 4 inches of cold water, heat and simmer at 82 degrees for 10 minutes, turn the heat off and cover the pan until you are ready to seal the jars.
Step 6 – Leave Jars To Dry
Use your tongs to remove the jars, seals and lids from the boiling water. Place these on a clean jay cloth and leave them to dry. Your jars are now sterilised and ready to be filled!
Of course, they’re suggesting you purchase all their equipment to do so, including their Kilner Preserving Pan which isn’t cheap at just under £50 but you can also use it to make your soup in too so I guess it’s useful in that respect.
Is making free from homemade soup cheaper than shop bought?
if you are comparing any shop bought soup with free from homemade soup then the homemade version may come out slightly more expensive. But lets just break that down shall we?
Scan the shelves in the local supermarket and you’ll find that many cans of soup or even fresh soups in the chilled aisles, either have gluten in them or are may contains. The same goes for dairy, in fact, I’d say it’s more difficult to get a dairy free soup than a gluten free soup.
So by making your own homemade soups, you’re already onto a winner because you’re giving yourself a wider choice of flavours.
If you plan to make in bulk then this would be a more cost effective way to make soup. But I have these other tips to keep costs down;
- buy wonky or essential vegetables, its not a beauty contest when it comes to soup!
- only get stock cubes or pots when they’re on special offer, you save a fortune this way.
- microwave root vegetables to add to soup instead of roast (does impact flavour though).
- use leftovers to make soup, don’t throw away the uneaten veggies, save them.
- befriend someone with an allotment and be creative with any bounty they gift you!
Subscribe today!
Sign up to my Newsletter & receive THREE FREE Downloads!
Including my Gluten, Dairy & Egg Free eBook
Mulligatawny Soup (just like Heinz)
Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Garlic Soup Recipe
Leftover Roast Chicken Soup Recipe
Dairy Free Cream of Carrot and Coriander Soup Recipe
Smoky Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Roasted Parsnip Soup Recipe
Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Garlic Soup Recipe
Creamy Curry Soup Recipe
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*disclaimer: I use affiliate codes on my website, the vast majority are to Amazon. If you click on any of the links or images in the post and make a purchase my family will benefit from a small % of that purchase at no extra cost to you.
For full transparency, in 2020 I made my first £25, and in 2022 I reached my next £25 (Amazon don’t transfer the money until you reach £25). Recently I got paid a whopping £27.10 for 2023.
So to date I have made £78.58 since I first started the scheme in 2017. It won’t pay the bills, that’s for sure but it does help to pay for ingredients or little treats to cheer me up!
I love parsnips, my husband loves soup, and one of my daughters is a vegetarian, so this post will be very well received around here. Thank you!
Hat trick! I’m so pleased you’ve found the post useful, they really are soups at their most simple but who needs fancy soups when the stars are the humble ingredients.
I love the sound of the butternut squash soup. :D Everything looks good, though. ;) Thanks for sharing, Rebecca. x
Me too…in fact, I’m making it this week (yay!)
I am always happy to eat soup too and these sound delicious – I don’t know which one I’d choose to eat first! Maybe the curried parsnip! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Thank you for hosting as usual Corina, fab linky. These are all scrummy but I was craving my curried parsnip the other day…so guess what I’m having this week!
My Daughter loves soup and not had much since being diagnosed with coeliac. I will have to make her some of these :) Thanks for the recipes.
What a tasty looking soup selection! I’ll be saving some of these for winter!
The roast parsnip sounds a dream and so delicious! :) X X
I love the sound of the roast parsnip – delicious
Never actually baked my own bread but love to try
The roast parsnip sounds fabulous!
I love the smell of home made bread cooking and to top it off its gluten free so would help with my digestion thank you for the opportunity
I have been looking around your online shop, it’s brilliant, will have to try your bread mix. this is a fantastic prize
This looks amazing! Perfect for gluten sensitive tummies!
These soup recipes are lovely, will have to try a couple of them
lovely soups
These look great. I haven’t yet managed to bake a good gluten free roll.
i hate having soup with no bread but im not aloud gluton
what a fab selection of recipes – its like there is something for everyone! I know my family would enjoy x
Home made bread is the best!
Oh perfect that tomato and pepper one sounds amazing! Just bought a bread maker so I love experimenting right now … And I love soup ?
The soup recipe sounds really delicious
Great soup recipes. I’ve made Butternut Squash soup in the past, it’s filling but low in calories and fat. I’ve never thought to put smoked paprika in so going to give it a go, it will add extra flavour but not the calories…great!
Great prize, would come in handy for when my daughter visits.
sounds lovely
some lovely receipes
Love homemade bread, made to how i like it.
Great presented website – lovely recipes and ideas
Oh wow, so many different recipes , especially being a celiac as well.
This sounds wonderful as we are trying to cut down on the amount of gluten we eat ?
My partner loves making bread, would love to give this one a try, thanks for sharing
Mmm those recipes look yummy, especially the parsnip soup! Perfect giveaway having got a coeliac daughter so we have to cook and eat gluten free
we love home made bread and soup – we make both weekly – would love to try these bread mixes
I am new to making bread and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, I think this is a good place to start.
thank you for such fabulous ideas – they always inspire me
Your soup recipes look delicious and don’t look complicated to make, either. Also, I like the sound of the gluten-free bread mixes from Grass Roots Bakery. I have been following a gluten-free and vegan diet for some years now and the amount of gluten-free bread on sale in supermarkets which contain egg, and thus is unsuitable for vegans, is significantly high so making your own is another option.
Love baking
Yum, so many great soup ideas and those bread rolls look amazing!
” am a hamster stuck in a wheel, a tired, unkempt hamster devoid of nutritional value to its diet leaving it sluggish, spotty, damaged nails and the return of the dreaded reflux.” Erm, are you in my head? This is just how I feel. All I’ve been eating recently has been on the beige side… These soups look absolutely perfect! I would definitely go for the roasted tomato and pepper one first. I used to make tomato soup all the time, but like your gruel, no one other than me will touch it (annoying!). The broccoli and vegan stilton one also sounds right up my street! You crack me up by the way!
Oh darling, we’ll be hamsters together for company better still, lets rock this looking after #1 and have all the energy we need for our little ones xx
A great giveaway
I regularly cook different food for myself as I want to eat vegan and my kids would prefer to eat chicken nuggets and chips with a side of pizza! Sometimes you’ve just got to compromise and put your own needs first. Love the sound of these soups.
Do you know what? I could kiss you for this comment! I KNOW it’s not just my family but when faced with the perfect brigade on social media you do end up beat yourself up about it….and if I don;t look after myself and get poorly it all goes to s@#t! xxx
Love these soups! So delicious…though I don’t think I could ever bring myself to make soup just for one. I am a big batch girl when it comes to soups. I like to make an enormous vat and then decant into every Tupperware in the house and jam pack them into the freezer :-D Eb x
Haha, the freezers full of Warburton Gluten Free Loaves…when they’re actually on the shelves in Sainsbury’s I buy them in bulk to avoid a disappointed Bethany come packed lunch time! Totally get what you’re saying, I batch cook for chilli, spag bol and curry …mostly chilli given it seems to be the only meal Lewis will eat right now! xxx
Thanks for the competition – sounds great!
When I think of a hearty and filling meal, this is the type of food I want. Can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Kimberly, it’s definitely hearty and so so simple too
great giveaway, thanks for the chance
I do try to steer clear of gluten and feel better for it.
I adore soup, love these free from options and your pics as usual are amazing x
Oh thank you so much Vicki, I’ve been taking tips from Mel Knibb,she’s very proud. And I’m pleased to say I’m doing a good job at sticking to the healthier diet too x
Oh I got a big packet of parsnips that needs to be used up, and I have never had parsnip soup…. I shall also be giving the broccoli and Stilton soup a try, any excuse to buy some Violife ? #freefromfridays
Oh Chloe, parsnip soup is lovely! Glad your going to give it a go xx
I love the sound of all these soups! I am a big fan of soup in winter and eat it a lot. I also try to get my children to eat it but one of them always refuses. The other one doesn’t follow a pattern -It depends on his mood! Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice
Oh blimey Corina, that’s my life in a nutshell!! Hopefully they’ll sort their tastebuds out in their teens!
hope im lucky, thank you x
Good luck Laura x
I really hope you’ve been sticking to this hon. Soups are so full of goodness and so ridiculously easy to make, as you’ve proved with these fabulous recipes. Gorgeous photos too. Look after you mama xxx
Thank you darling, I’m trying my very best…it’s not always easy as you know only too well xxx
I love homemade bread. Gluten free is an added bonus.
I was diagnosed coeliac 24 years ago and we’ve come a long way since those dry, curled up tiny loaves that you could only get in a health food shop! The bread looks great, as does the soup, my soup maker might be my favourite kitchen item x
You’ve got to love a good soup…ooh soup maker that’s a gadget I don’t have but I feel I should haha
i would love to make my own gluten free bread, this sounds lovely x
It really is, I’m ever so impressed and believe me, my bread making skills leave a lot to be desired.
What a great idea soup for one. I have always tended to batch bake soup and freeze in single portions but I don’t always have enough space. Now problem solved. Thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare.
My sister a recently diagnosed celiac will be interested in those bread mixes
Thank you Jacqui, sad about your sister but free from foods are so much better these days, key is to eat naturally :-)
Delightful always SPOILING US with your treats
Aw Margaret, thank you for the recognition, I just love to give pressies xxx
This sounds great as I cannot eat gluten!
Perfect! …erm, I mean that in the nicest way! Hahaha