#fall soup

Start with frying up some sort of oniony thing, if you have it.

You should always have some sort of oniony thing on hand. I had some bits of onion leftover from Meat-fest 2025. I diced it and fried it up. I started by heating a "neutral oil" (vegetable oil is what I had) over high heat, because I'm too impatient to heat it on medium heat. While the oil was heating up, I diced up the little bit of onion. Tossed it in the hot oil and gave it a stir. Turned off heating element and actually had to take the pot off the element because it was too hot and I really hate the taste of burnt onions. But if you like the taste of burnt onions then by all means, let them burn a bit. No problem.

*Note on oil: don't use olive oil to fry stuff up. Idk why recipes always tell you to fry stuff up in olive oil. If heated too high, olive oil is supposed to convert into some sort of toxins. Idk exactly, I'm not a chemist but look it up. You can add olive oil in later when it's just simmering, if you want. Or if you're more patient than me and just heating the oil up on medium heat.

Add more oniony things.

Alright so since I only had a tiny bit of leftover onion, I took the tiny bit of green onion I also had left over and sliced it up. But green onion we'll add in at the end as garnish, so I set it aside for now. I also have a ton of leeks, so I washed and sliced about a quarter of a leek (they are huge). But before adding in the leek...

Add other savoury stuff like garlic.

You could add whole cloves of garlic to the broth later, but I felt like simmering up some minced garlic with the onion (which, by the way, I had put back on the element at a slow simmer and was nice and translucent by now). I added one large clove, minced. If I had wanted ginger (which I could have since I do have some), I would have added it now too, grated (please, don't use powdered ginger 🤢, it does not taste the same).

Don't burn the garlic (unless you want to, that's fine), you just need to heat it to release its deliciousness (you will smell it). I then added the leeks. If I had had fresh celery stalks I would have sliced and added them now too (but you can just add these whole to the broth later too).

Add flour now if you want a thicker soup.

Don't add flour if you want a clear broth. But I like my soups hearty, so I always add a bit of flour and make a roux before adding liquid. Not too much. For the approximately 2 cups of liquid I ended up adding, I used about a level teaspoon of flour. I used whole wheat flour since that's what I have. You could probably sub other types of flour if you are gluten intolerant. Although if you're going to thicken with cornstarch then don't add that now, you'll add that later (mix the cornstarch with COLD liquid first, then pour into hot liquid while constantly stirring).

So if you're adding wheat flour, add it now and fry it up with the savoury stuff to brown it (you'll smell it; it should no longer have a "raw" smell). It doesn't take long at all, don't burn it. It'll probably stick to the bottom of the pot. (Don't use a non-stick pot, that ish is bad for you.) Don't worry about the sticking, that will unstick when you add the liquid.

Add some other stuff.

You could add liquid now, but I didn't. I had some red cabbage so I sliced a few bits of that and added it. Because cabbage takes a while to cook so I like to add it sooner than later. I was also going to add some green bell peppers at this point but after inspecting them I decided they were too far gone and tossed them in the compost bin. I had orange bell peppers but they are not appropriate for adding at this point in the soup-making process. I prefer them grilled anyway. Or raw in salad.

Add liquid.

I added cold tap water. Just a little bit at first, to scrape up the roux stuck to the pot bottom. Once the roux is all nicely mixed to a smooth paste you can add more water.

*Note: you could add store bought broth, I guess. I don't buy broth. I don't like the store bought stuff. Also, it's too easy and exceedingly cheap to make your own bone broth. If you have enough savoury things in your soup you do not need broth.

Add dried herbs.

This is the point at which I added a bit of dried parsley. Of course, fresh would be superior if you have it. For fresh, you could add it later on. I could've added any number of dried herbs here but kept it simple because I had a bit of "mystery meat juice" to use up. (More on mystery meat juice later.)

Add root vegetables.

So you've got savoury stuff and dried herbs and cabbage simmering away in a bit of water now (not too much water, you'll add more later). While that's doing its thing, wash and dice up your root vegetables. I love carrot and parsnip in my soups. So I added one small parsnip and half a large carrot (this was for about 3 servings/3 cups of soup). Other root vegetables I could have added if I had them could include: celery root, turnip, rutabaga.

Add whatever is left to add.

Nearly done the "work" part of this soup! Your root vegetables are now simmering as well, so you can now wash and chop whatever is left to add. You could add potato. I'm not a huge fan of potato in soups so I didn't. If you wanted to add that orange or red bell pepper, that could happen now too. I added a small tomato. I recommend adding a tomato as the acidity balances the sweetness of the root vegetables. You could add it whole, if you want to fish it out later and discard it. This is a good strategy if you don't like the seeds and/or skin in your soup.

Did I add anything else? 🤔 Ah yes...

Add meat juice. Or miso paste.

Whenever I cook meat I generally save the juice in a small mason jar and freeze it (if I'm not using it to make a gravy). I tend to forget to label it so usually by the time I get around to using it, I no longer remember what meat it was from. I generally always use these leftover bits of meat juice in soups. It adds flavour. So this is what I use in lieu of store bought broth. If I have no meat juice, I often add a bit of miso paste instead. (Mix miso paste in a bit of COLD water first, then stir into soup.) If you are vegan, miso paste is a good staple to have around.

The bit of meat juice I had, I poured it through a sieve first and added just the clear broth to the soup. Discarded the rest.

Simmer.

Now let it simmer for at least 20 minutes. Walk away. Do your Wordle. Or wash up the chopping board and knife you used. Set the table. Whatever.

After 20 minutes, fish out a root veggie piece and test it for tenderness with a knife tip or fork. If it's too al denté, simmer for another 10 minutes. Repeat until root veggies are at the desired softness.

Almost forgot. I had some leftover cooked jasmine rice. I added it to the soup at this point as well.

Garnish and serve.

Remember the green onion I sliced up at the beginning? I put it in my soup bowl. Ladled the hot soup over it. Perfect.

I toasted up some bread with cheddar cheese to have with the soup. Also had some crackers. If I have no meat in the soup, I like to add beans for protein but I didn't have any on hand this time. So cheese on the side was a good way to add some protein to the meal.

You could always crack an egg into the hot soup if you like egg in soup (I'm not a fan). Or sprinkle some pumpkin seeds to garnish before serving.

Potato and chicken

Verdict: good, tried and true recipe with some adjustments from what my mom makes.

Chili

Verdict: good, but I made too many cost of living adjustments to the recipe and so it was not what I wanted. Ground beef and ground pork are not always interchangeable. Salt-free canned diced tomatoes are NOT it when the salt level in the recipe is based on salted canned tomatoes.

- 🌿🍲🐌🍄✨

this soup.. is a cure all. break up? bad day? lazy day? rainy day? stormy day? repressed all your feelings for too long and now they’re coming to the surface far too rapidly to get a grasp on and this was all you could manage to pour yourself into as some form of healing spellwork.. day? try this soup! aha

originally when i made this i was slugging around the kitchen throwing sh*t in the pot but i think i retained enough to slap a recipe together so here goes!

[ potato soup ]

• 2 medium yukon golds (or 3 small)

• salt

• thyme

• pepper

• 1/4 sm onion

• 2-3 cloves of garlic

• butter

• flour

• 1 tbs sour cream

• handful of sharp cheddar

[ steps ]

cube up and boil your potatoes in some salted water, throw some thyme and pepper in the water too, do the toothpick/fork thing and when it’s time to strain save maybe a cup of the liquid for later, throw the potatoes back into the pot a sec to sautee up with your onion and garlic and some butter for a sec, just enough to infuse the flavour

chuck it into a food processor or blender to get it smooth with about 2 tbs of butter or substitute and however much of that reserved liquid it takes to get it just smooth enough to blend nice

now! get your butter and flour and make a little roux real quick, just adds a nice texture and flavour density to the soup but you could omit, from here stir in your potato sludge and more liquid as needed to reach your desired consistency

This potato and leek fall soup recipe is the perfect food for our bellies on a chilly fall night. It is also known as Vichyssoise. It’s not even just in our top ten fall soup recipes, it’s in our top ten fall recipes ever. If you love potato soup, the leeks add the perfect amount of soft onion flavor without being overpowering. This recipe is also able to be completely vegan if you were looking for a perfect vegan fall soup recipe! 

You will need:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ pounds trimmed leeks, cleaned and cut into half moons

2 teaspoons kosher salt, and more to taste

1 ¼ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into small bits

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or more as needed to adjust thickness

1 cup heavy cream (or vegan creamer)

½ cup creme fraiche

1 pinch cayenne pepper

Chopped fresh chives for garnish

Step 1: Place butter, leeks and salt in soup on on medium high heat; cook until leeks begin to soften. Turn heat to medium or medium-low and cook until soft and almost mashed,  around 35 to 40 minutes.

Step 2 Add potatoes to the pot; add chicken broth. Allow the mixture to simmer slowly. Cook until potatoes are fork-soft and tender, about 30 minutes. Puree mixture in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender. Stir in creme fraiche and heavy cream.  Bring back up to heat over medium heat. Add cayenne pepper and more salt, if needed.

Step 3: Serve with a splash of creme fraiche and a sprinkle of chopped chives.

🍁 Did you make this recipe? Send us a picture over on our Facebook @ Facebook.com/recipes or our Instagram @Recipes . We would love to see what you create! 🍁

Check out our video tutorial for Potato Leek Soup!