Pantry Soup

Nothing in the fridge?

Haven’t gone grocery shopping?

Need a quick meal?

Pantry Soup comin’ right up!

Pantry Soup

3/4 cup non-instant dry milk powder (or 1 + 1/3 cups instant dry milk powder)

4 tablespoons cornstarch

4 cups water or leftover vegetable cooking water

1  + 1/2 tablespoons chicken base (paste bouillon) or 3 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder (or use chicken broth instead of water)

1 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 cup of “main ingredient”: cooked veggies, pasta, rice, or chopped meat in any combination

Optional:

1/4 cup diced dried onion

1/4 cup dehydrated diced carrots, celery, bell pepper or other dried veggies

Reconstitute dehydrated onions, carrots (or other dried veggies) by adding hot water to cover.  Let stand for 15 minutes, until softened. Reserve water to use in recipe. Mix dry milk, cornstarch and spices in a saucepan. Whisk in 4 cups water, mixing until smooth. Add chicken base, stirring to dissolve.  Add reconstituted onions and carrots. Stir over low heat until soup thickens. Add the cup of “main ingredient” (cooked veggies, pasta, rice or meat) and let it simmer a moment to heat through.  Serves 4-6. Enjoy!

Note: “Better than Bouillon” is the best meat broth bouillon product I have found, with the least objectionable ingredients (sugar, salt). You can omit this ingredient and use canned chicken or beef broth for the liquid. Reserve cooking water when you cook veggies, label and pop it in the freezer. Add more each time you have some. Thaw to use for this recipe.

Soup Variations:

To make these variations, add this “main ingredient” in the soup recipe above.

Squash soup: Add 1 cup of pureed butternut squash

Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup: chopped chicken and cooked pasta

Turkey Rice Soup: chopped turkey and cooked brown rice

Herb Tomato Soup: add 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce in place of 3/4 cup of the water called for in the recipe

Broccoli Cheese Soup:  see recipe here.