20 unusual ways to save money: Eat soup
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Shopping
I'm eating leftover take-out wonton soup as I write this blog post about saving money by eating soup. Typical amount an office worker spends on lunch: $6.60. Cost of my soup: $1.50. When I make soup from scratch, the cost per-portion is even less than that. I can dole out huge portions filled with vegetables, proteins and other amazing nutrients for virtually pennies a serving. I can go gourmet, ethnic or homey, all using the same basic ingredients twisted up different ways. I can do a fast soup in 15 minutes or a slow soup that takes a whole day. I can make soup so many ways that I could serve it every day for every meal and not run out of ideas for a long while. Even buying soup from a store or a restaurant is cheaper than buying other foods.
Oh, how many ways can I tout the cost-saving benefits of soup? Here are just 10.
1. Broth soups are filling and low in calorie, so much so they they are often touted as a dieting solution. See: the Good Housekeeping amazing soup diet, for just one. If you weigh less, you'll be healthier, spend less on doctor visits and medicines and you'll work more efficiently.
2. Soups freeze and thaw extremely well. You can make a huge batch (saving by buying ingredients in bulk and using less electricity to cook) and stock up your freezer, pulling out a few portions on a busy night and saving on that take-out bill.
3. Soups take care of leftovers, so you won't waste any food. Just throw whatever you have in the pot, and it will just incorporate into the mix, like leftover rice, a few stray vegetables or half a chicken breast.
4. Soups make cheap vegetables and meats taste great. Turnips? Beets? Whole Carrots? Stew beef? These are all things your family might sniff at on a plate, but in a bowl of soupy goodness? They're flavorful and fun.
5. Beans. Beans. Beans. Beans are good and cheap on a plate as well, but in soups they are even better. You can throw various kinds of beans into any soup, and beans make a good soup all on their own.
6. You can even eat soup for breakfast! Try this bacon and egg soup.
7. You can even eat soup for dessert! Chilled fruit soups make a wonderful sweet snack. Try some of these recipes.
8. Soup provides a thousand more uses for roast chicken. Take one roaster chicken, cook it, use the bones to make stock, then use the leftover meat to make various kinds of soup. You'll have a week full of complete, nutritious meals for pennies.
9 Try some unusual grains -- barley, quinoa, brown rice and couscous are all relatively inexpensive, but some of these are hard to season on their own and are a little nutty for the palates of most kids. But cook them in broth and you've got a winner almost all the time.
10. Soup is a great office lunch. Just grab a container and go. There's nothing to prepare in the morning, so you can just tuck a bowl of soup into your bag and head out for the day. You can even take a frozen container with you, and it will mostly thaw by lunch so all you have to do is stick it in the microwave for a few minutes. No more excuses about not having enough time to make lunch so you have to buy!
Got a favorite soup recipe? Share it with us below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-17-2008 @ 2:54AM
DCDiva said...
I want the recipe of the bowl of soup pictured in this post! It looks delish! I've been stocking up on soups lately too because as the temperature cools I crave comfort food and I'm a lazy cook:) Some really great ideas in this post that even a non-cook such as moi can try and not mess up!
DCDiva
www.fantastictoe.com/dcdiva
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12-25-2008 @ 9:15PM
Susan said...
Your comment about the luscious-looking soup reminded me of something I used to make: free soup. I would drain leftovers of all types and put them in a freezer-lock bag in the refrigerator. When I had a gallon bag full, I'd start a pot of soup. I might have to add a can or two of something to round it out and make sure I had all the food groups covered, but it essentially cost me nothing other than the cost of the electricity on the stove. You'd be surprised at how good free soup is! Try it. It's great on a cold, winter day.
12-17-2008 @ 6:20AM
steph said...
Miss Stephanie’s Vegetable Beef Soup
(can also be made with chicken or vegetarian)
12+ servings for $10 or less
this is the lazy version of the soup using frozen veggies
you may save more money buy cutting up fresh veggies from the produce store
**use generic everything for this if you can**
Ingredients:
2 cans generic tomato soup
1 can generic diced tomatoes with onion/celery (with juice)
1 can or 2 cans of water
1 or 2 bags frozen veg soup mix veggies
add
1 bag frozen “Cajun gumbo”mix veggies if you like okra
Ground Beef ( 1-1/2 to 2 lbs ground beef, cheapest variety I can find, but drain off ALL grease after cooking)
1 big potato chopped up, or several baby new potatoes cut in quarters
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced bell pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 TB olive oil
1 Tsp bacon grease if you have it & you like it
About 2 dashes each of:
Seasoned salt
Italian Seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
1 whole bay leaf (don’t break it, don’t eat it!)
Hot Sauce
***not mandatory- but if you can find on sale or generic
throw in 1 packet of Vegetable Soup “recipe and dip mix”
(2 packets cost $1.89- if you can find on sale it is worth it- it does add nice flavor)
Sauté diced onion, bell pepper and garlic in olive oil, until soft.
Set those aside and begin to sauté ground beef in the same pan (don’t rinse the olive oil or garlic flavor out of the pan). While the beef is cooking I get out my soup pot and put in tomato soup, canned tomatoes, water, Vegetable Soup / dip Mix, and bring to slow boil, stirring occasionally.
When beef is almost all brown add 1 dash each of Season Salt, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder. Then I add the onion, bell pepper and garlic that I sautéed earlier. (if you are going to add potato to your soup add chopped potato to this as well and sauté with the beef/onion/garlic/pepper) I let that all sauté until the beef is medium brown. By this time usually my Soup pot is almost to a boil –
Carefully drain off ALL of the grease from the beef. Add DRAINED beef to the soup pot and stir it up real good.
Do add 1 Tsp of bacon fat if you have any & you like it.
Bring to a boil –
Once soup is at a slow boil you can add your 2 - 3 bags of frozen veggies.
Add more of the seasonings listed to taste, + 1 dash hot sauce.
Stir it up real good and simmer for 20-30 minutes. It is ready when the potatoes are cooked through. This recipe should serve 12 (8 ounce) bowls of soup.
(This soup costs about $10 to make with the beef. If you want to make veggie soup without meat, then leave the beef out and it it is still delish, also good made with chicken)
Try Aldi stores, all Dollar stores, WalMart
Kroger also has great deals if you use your Kroger card!
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1-02-2009 @ 5:42PM
Sandy said...
Your soup recipe sounds delicious - I can't wait to try it! Like you, I love soup!
Sandy
12-18-2008 @ 12:09PM
Henry said...
Instant noodle soup
Boil about two cups of water, sprinkle some garlic power, black pepper and the favor pack. When the water starts to boil add the pack of noodles, cut up some onions, bell pepper, and any other vegies. Try to match the meat with the pack. Hopefully you have all the ingredients. The pack of noodles will cost about $0.18
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1-01-2009 @ 4:55PM
gloria cranford said...
Before cooking Ramen noodles in 2 cups of water, add 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables (frozen food section) and cook til tender (about 3 to 5 minutes, then add seasoning pkg.
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12-30-2008 @ 10:39AM
Joseph W. Edmonds said...
Soups are great, but how do we lower the sodium content of soups? I'm amazed at how much sodium they contain...at least when reading the soup can labels.
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12-31-2008 @ 3:03AM
Miriam said...
I have seen advertisements for low sodium soups, so some brands are working on that one.
Or you can just make it yourself. I used to think that making soup was hard, but it's surprisingly easy. I do use canned broth/stock or a bullion cube or powdered flavoring to start, but then I just add whatever vegetables and spices I feel like. Using garlic, onion, and your favorite herbs and spices can give you a flavorful soup without using a lot of salt.
1-01-2009 @ 12:51PM
Sandy said...
I also would like the recipe to the soup that is pictured. Looks like chicken in it and noodles of some kind. Looks yummy.
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1-03-2009 @ 10:31AM
Lisa R said...
We cook Ramen-type noodles with a bowl full of water, canned or frozen veggies, and just about 1/4 packet of seasoning. Cover this and cook in the microwave for 3 - 5 minutes on high, or till noodles are done. So quick, easy, inexpensive, nutritious, and so good! If a not-so-much-liquid dish is desired, just cover them with water and nuke for 3 minutes. This can be flavored with mayo or salad dressing (Miracle Whip-type or over- a- salad-type), add cheese, anything that you like instead of the flavor packet! The seasoning is where most of the sodium is, anyway.
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1-03-2009 @ 10:50AM
jancey matthews said...
What I did with my turkey leftovers. I cubed it and had some to put on fresh salads for a meal. Then mixed some cubed turkey with chopped celery, red onion & Hellmans lite mayo for turkey salad sandwiches. Then I put turkey bones into a large pot and filled half way with water and simmered until the rest of the meat fell off the bone. I discarded all the bones and put that rich stock and huge amount of meat into a clean pot. I added 1 sauteed onion, carrot and celery stalk and whatever pasta I could find in the pantry. That was the best turkey noodle soup ever! I will never throw away a leftover turkey carcass again! That $12 turkey made over 4 different meals. WOW what a bargain.
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