A lot of people ask me about my soup recipes. Most of the time or actually almost ALL of the time there is no recipe. It’s soup. I throw in whatever I have.
Yesterday I made this amazing beef vegetable barley soup with a leftover prime rib roast I had in the fridge. I didn’t take any pictures along the way, but thought I would still share some of the things I did in case someone finds it useful.
In this case I used my Instant Pot. I sauteed some onions, garlic and celery first, right in the pot. When that was done, I added some chopped carrots, my left over prime rib roast which had a bone attached, some organic beef bouillon and a frozen leftover bag of whatever from the freezer. The whatever was the juices and veggies left from a prior roast I make in a slow cooker. I do not waste anything. I had bagged up that goodness and put in a plastic ziploc bag (you could use a glass jar to freeze as well) and I froze it for an occasion like this. It was perfect. I threw the whole thing into the Instant Pot frozen … after taking it out of the bag of course hee hee.
Saving and freezing leftover veggies, rice, meats and odds and ends are perfect for soup! Never waste anything even if it is a tiny amount! Even mashed potatoes…they are perfect for thickening a soup like pea soup.
I also added a small tetra container of store bought soup that was a beef barley soup. I made sure it was a brand that was high quality and low sodium (sometimes you have to cheat for the sake of time and ease). I then added salt and pepper, of course.
I put the Instant Pot on to the Stew setting and let it cook. When it was done I took out the beef pieces and shredded them… so tender! I added it back in to the soup and then served my delicious and amazing soup. Hubby loved it!
Then I stored the leftovers in these jars. You can see how the grease rises to the top once the soup has been stored in the fridge. This is perfect. You can then skim it off and toss it. The fat is great because while cooking the soup it ‘carries the flavor‘. Fat is a carrier so it helps to meld and mold the soup’s flavor but once cooled, it’s collected and contained and can be tossed.
Now here I am the next day after making the Beef Soup, with my turkey carcass from Thanksgiving this past weekend here in Canada, in the Instant Pot with onions, celery, carrots and spices to cook down to my turkey soup broth. Note: if you don’t have an Instant Pot no worries use a regular pot and get it boiling with all of your ingredients in there and then let it simmer for a couple of hours. Strain the stock and keep any bits of goodness for your soup like the onions, turkey pieces etc.
Now you can use this to make a batch of soup with fresh veggies, the rest or your leftovers, maybe a little bag of rice from your freezer and anything else that you want to throw in. It’s SOUP!
People seem to be more open minded to adding in various ingredients when it comes to making a salad. Soup is no different. Have fun with cooking. Get creative. Be resourceful. It’s fun! I hope you found this helpful.
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