A Quick How-To: Making Soup from Scratch
First, see what you have on hand (don't worry if your meat is frozen and you need a meal in an hour, it cooks quickly in boiling water!) I usually have the basics: boneless skinless chicken breasts, ground beef, potatoes, carrots, celery, chopped dried onion (fresh will taste better if sauteed first, or onion powder- if you even want onion), chicken & beef boullion cubes, base, or broth (check to make sure yours are GF/DF), and rice.
Second, put your meat into a large stock pot and cover it with water (for our family of 6 I use 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1.5 lbs ground beef)- let's say about 3-4 quarts, if you're the measuring type. If you want to chop it into small pieces now, go for it, but if it's still frozen solid, don't fret, ground beef falls apart in the pot and chicken is easily poked with a fork and pulled out to be chopped after it is cooked through. If you're in a rush, like I am usually, don't be scared to crank it up on high to bring it to a rolling boil.
You'll want to put in some chicken or beef bouillon (or granules or base, as longs as it's GF/DF) right away also. If you don't have any, don't fret, you could use stock/broth if you have some on hand, or just sprinkle in salt (I would suggest starting with 1 Tablespoon- yes, soup is by nature quite salty). A rule of thumb is roughly one bouillon cube (=1 tsp. granules per 2 cups of water, you can always add more later). If you're using hamburger, it's also delicious to use some GF dry onion soup mix (start with 1/2 cup if you used the recipe from the link) and then you can omit bouillon/broth/stock/onions/salt.
While that's starting to heat up, chop your veggies in the order of what takes the longest to cook & toss them in as soon as they're chopped- so start with carrots, sweet potatoes, and/or turnips if you have them. (I don't suggest using both carrots and sweet potatoes in the same soup/stew as this can turn out a very sweet soup, which you may or may not have expected). Then toss in your dried minced onion or your sauteed onion if you want any. I don't often use onion in my chicken-based soups, but always use it in my hamburger/beef based soups. To each his own. How much to add? Up to you. The great thing about soups (and stir-fries) are that they are very forgiving and very customizable. If you're using fresh onion, start with less than you think you'll need. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't remove the taste that's cooked into your broth.
Other veggies: Put in chopped celery if you have some (by the way, if you buy celery, take it out of the plastic bag it comes in and double wrap it in tin foil, being careful to "seal" the edges/seams well, it will stay crisp for weeks in the drawer of your fridge, no kidding, it really does. Otherwise, if you find rubbery celery that's not gone bad but not crisp enough for other uses, just chop it up and throw it in your freezer to use in your next soup.) Otherwise, adding 1 tsp. of celery salt (see, there's a good reason we didn't add too much salt to start off with) will add a lot to your soup (and help if you have finicky eaters who don't want to eat cooked celery).
When your meat is done (if necessary), tear it to shreds with two forks or remove it, chop it with a knife, and return it to the soup.
Rice (wild, brown or white) , white potatoes, or GF noodles, or none of the above? Your choice, and they all have different cooking times, so you have to decide which one you want for your starch, if you want any of them. If you're going low-carb or low calorie, subbing turnips for potato in soups can be helpful. You will want to add your starch after the meat is fully cooked. This ensures your noodles or potatoes won't fall apart or become gummy while your meat is still trying to cook.
Time estimates: If you are using white potatoes, plan on them taking only 10 minutes of boiling/simmering to be cooked fully through when chopped into adult-bite size pieces (quarter a small potato, cut one larger than your fist into 6-8 chunks). If you are throwing in canned or frozen veggies of any kind, add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking (in other words, after your meat is thoroughly done).
Soup is a throw in as you go- while the meat is cooking in broth, you're throwing in those hard root veggies and/or sauteeing onion to toss in. Once they're in, you're shredding up the cooked meat, adding celery and prepping your starch. After all ingredients are cooked, taste the broth to adjust the seasonings, adding more salt, broth/buillioun/base, etc. as desired.
Seasonings/Combinations: Here are our most "basic" go-to soups:
Ground beef, GF onion soup mix, carrots & potatoes
Chicken breast,chicken bouillon, carrots, celery, rice, thyme, sage, a little rosemary (or "poultry seasoning" but we like ours heavier on the thyme since poultry seasoning tends to be quite sweet)
Ham, chicken base, canned butter beans, canned black beans, carrots, celery (spices to taste)
My new favorite: chicken, chicken boullion, carrots, wild rice, celery & a sprinkle of curry powder
If you happen to have the time and ingredients, here is a great GF/DF/EF cornbread recipe that is sure to compliment any soup (it is based off a recipe I found online and adapted, but for the life of me, I cannot locate the original recipe to link it back, my apologies! but, nonetheless, here is my version):
EASY GF VEGAN CORNBREAD
(not terribly crumbly, more of a "cake-like" but not overly sweet)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly grease an 8"x8" pan
Mix together:
1 c. Bob's Redmill (all purpose mix) Gluten Free Flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
Once dry ingredients are mixed, in a separate bowl, mix:
4 Tablespoons water
1 cup original almond milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
(I'm sure another oil would work, I just haven't tried it)
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mix just enough to combine & pour into prepared pan. Bake immediately fro 20 minutes. (Many egg-replacers, including just using higher amounts of baking powder, don't rise as well if they sit too long before being heated/cooked.)
Second, put your meat into a large stock pot and cover it with water (for our family of 6 I use 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1.5 lbs ground beef)- let's say about 3-4 quarts, if you're the measuring type. If you want to chop it into small pieces now, go for it, but if it's still frozen solid, don't fret, ground beef falls apart in the pot and chicken is easily poked with a fork and pulled out to be chopped after it is cooked through. If you're in a rush, like I am usually, don't be scared to crank it up on high to bring it to a rolling boil.
You'll want to put in some chicken or beef bouillon (or granules or base, as longs as it's GF/DF) right away also. If you don't have any, don't fret, you could use stock/broth if you have some on hand, or just sprinkle in salt (I would suggest starting with 1 Tablespoon- yes, soup is by nature quite salty). A rule of thumb is roughly one bouillon cube (=1 tsp. granules per 2 cups of water, you can always add more later). If you're using hamburger, it's also delicious to use some GF dry onion soup mix (start with 1/2 cup if you used the recipe from the link) and then you can omit bouillon/broth/stock/onions/salt.
While that's starting to heat up, chop your veggies in the order of what takes the longest to cook & toss them in as soon as they're chopped- so start with carrots, sweet potatoes, and/or turnips if you have them. (I don't suggest using both carrots and sweet potatoes in the same soup/stew as this can turn out a very sweet soup, which you may or may not have expected). Then toss in your dried minced onion or your sauteed onion if you want any. I don't often use onion in my chicken-based soups, but always use it in my hamburger/beef based soups. To each his own. How much to add? Up to you. The great thing about soups (and stir-fries) are that they are very forgiving and very customizable. If you're using fresh onion, start with less than you think you'll need. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't remove the taste that's cooked into your broth.
Other veggies: Put in chopped celery if you have some (by the way, if you buy celery, take it out of the plastic bag it comes in and double wrap it in tin foil, being careful to "seal" the edges/seams well, it will stay crisp for weeks in the drawer of your fridge, no kidding, it really does. Otherwise, if you find rubbery celery that's not gone bad but not crisp enough for other uses, just chop it up and throw it in your freezer to use in your next soup.) Otherwise, adding 1 tsp. of celery salt (see, there's a good reason we didn't add too much salt to start off with) will add a lot to your soup (and help if you have finicky eaters who don't want to eat cooked celery).
When your meat is done (if necessary), tear it to shreds with two forks or remove it, chop it with a knife, and return it to the soup.
Rice (wild, brown or white) , white potatoes, or GF noodles, or none of the above? Your choice, and they all have different cooking times, so you have to decide which one you want for your starch, if you want any of them. If you're going low-carb or low calorie, subbing turnips for potato in soups can be helpful. You will want to add your starch after the meat is fully cooked. This ensures your noodles or potatoes won't fall apart or become gummy while your meat is still trying to cook.
Time estimates: If you are using white potatoes, plan on them taking only 10 minutes of boiling/simmering to be cooked fully through when chopped into adult-bite size pieces (quarter a small potato, cut one larger than your fist into 6-8 chunks). If you are throwing in canned or frozen veggies of any kind, add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking (in other words, after your meat is thoroughly done).
Soup is a throw in as you go- while the meat is cooking in broth, you're throwing in those hard root veggies and/or sauteeing onion to toss in. Once they're in, you're shredding up the cooked meat, adding celery and prepping your starch. After all ingredients are cooked, taste the broth to adjust the seasonings, adding more salt, broth/buillioun/base, etc. as desired.
Seasonings/Combinations: Here are our most "basic" go-to soups:
Ground beef, GF onion soup mix, carrots & potatoes
Chicken breast,chicken bouillon, carrots, celery, rice, thyme, sage, a little rosemary (or "poultry seasoning" but we like ours heavier on the thyme since poultry seasoning tends to be quite sweet)
Ham, chicken base, canned butter beans, canned black beans, carrots, celery (spices to taste)
My new favorite: chicken, chicken boullion, carrots, wild rice, celery & a sprinkle of curry powder
If you happen to have the time and ingredients, here is a great GF/DF/EF cornbread recipe that is sure to compliment any soup (it is based off a recipe I found online and adapted, but for the life of me, I cannot locate the original recipe to link it back, my apologies! but, nonetheless, here is my version):
EASY GF VEGAN CORNBREAD
(not terribly crumbly, more of a "cake-like" but not overly sweet)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly grease an 8"x8" pan
Mix together:
1 c. Bob's Redmill (all purpose mix) Gluten Free Flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
Once dry ingredients are mixed, in a separate bowl, mix:
4 Tablespoons water
1 cup original almond milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
(I'm sure another oil would work, I just haven't tried it)
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mix just enough to combine & pour into prepared pan. Bake immediately fro 20 minutes. (Many egg-replacers, including just using higher amounts of baking powder, don't rise as well if they sit too long before being heated/cooked.)