Cream Soup - 6 Ways


I love experimenting in the kitchen. Especially if it's something that is going to save me time or money or both. Well okay, this one is probably not a time saver except that I don't have to run to the grocery store to buy it! Money saver, yes. I really don't mind spending a little extra time cooking something if I know what goes into it and it costs less than buying it.

Here is the Pinterest idea that got me to thinking about different ways I could make my own soup.


I took that recipe, did some more research and decided I wanted to make 5 types of cream soup. Here is what I came up with.

Base recipe:
6 cups instant (dry) milk
2 1/4 cups cornstarch
3/4 cup chicken bouillon granules
6 Tablespoons freeze dried minced onions
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 teaspoons dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

Flavors: (more info after the pictures)
1/2 cup freeze dried chicken
1/2 cup dehydrated onion
1/2 cup freeze dried mushrooms
1/2 cup freeze dried celery
1/2 cup freeze dried broccoli
*You could also use 1/2 cup freeze dried potato instead of one of the above. I was out of potato but would use it instead of onion.*

Mix the base recipe together.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the base recipe into a bowl. Mix in one of the flavors. Store in airtight container. I'm using a Lock N Lock container. I was going to use a canning jar but these will make it easier to measure right out of the container.
Chicken

Mushroom (I chopped the mushrooms up smaller.)

Celery

Broccoli

Onion

To make your soup measure 1/3 cup of the mix into 1 1/2 cups cold water in a sauce pan.

Whisk together. Cook on medium low heat until your flavor is tender and soup is thickened, about 10 minutes.
I didn't get a picture of the cooked soup. Silly me. My roommate came home for lunch about that time and ate the whole thing. It was really that good! It was gone before I realized I didn't get a picture.

Now, as far as the flavors go there are several options. My preference is THRIVE. I know the product and trust it for it's fresh flavor. I have tried other brands and they are so-so. In fact I believe in it so much that I became a consultant, and that is saying something. I'll leave it up to you to decide where to buy, but here is my suggestion if you want to make this and don't want to buy the biggest cans:

1 #10 can instant milk That is enough to make recipe 4 times.
1 Pouch each: onion, mushroom, potato, celery, broccoli. Enough to make recipe 3 times.
1 pantry can chicken. Enough to make recipe 10 times. (But has many other uses!)

I'm doing the math as I'm going along and I'm no mathematician so if you are one, don't shoot me!

The recipe makes the equivalent of 39 cans of 10 ounce soups. With the above ingredients you could make the recipe a full three times or 117 cans of soup. That's a LOT of soup! The cost of a can of cream of soup varies so I will try to use an average of $1.50 per can. That is a total cost of $175+ to buy all that soup. My suggestion would cost you around $70.00 with shipping. That's a savings of over $100! Okay, that math was for my own self to make sure it was cost effective. I am very pleased!! Oh wait, I didn't figure in the cost of the other ingredients but even if it added $10 or $20 it is still a huge savings.

The base recipe is in multiples of three so if you wanted to cut it down you should be able to do so easily. 

*For my overseas friends. I am not sure of the availability of freeze dried foods for you but I do hope there is something available.*

I have more ideas that I think I'm going to try with this. Cauliflower, cheese, tomato. Once these are all mixed up they will make such a nice quick lunch or quick additions to perk up other dishes. Which will you try?


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Comments

Julia P F said…
Wow... You might be Martha ( I LOVE her!). Also I love cream of celery soup (I didn't know anyone else who did except for my college roommate).
Robin said…
I love chocolate chip cookies too! I'm no Martha. I have to do my own housework :( Thanks for stopping, can't wait to read more of your posts.