33 Cheap and Easy Soup Recipes | Orison Orchards (2024)

Are you looking for some cheap and easy soup recipes? Look no further!

You’re going to want to pin these fantastic recipes for later!

Soupis probably my families all-time favorite meal. I love that soup is incredibly easy to make, extremely inexpensive, and that it’s so nourishing and comforting! I also love that I can always make it ahead in my crockpot, for busy days when we’re all running around right up until dinner time. And my family loves all the delicious variety!

There are so many different varieties that we eat soup on a regular basis in our home all through the fall and winter, and we never grow tired of it. I usually serve it with bread or rolls to round out our meal and to really satiate my teenage boys, who seem to be bottomless pits of hunger! Homemade rolls or bread add only a few pennies per serving.

You can save even more time and money by making an extra large pot of soup and sending leftovers in thermos jugs for lunches the next day. Or make a double batch and freeze half of it for a crazy day, so you won’t be tempted to pick up takeout on the way home from work.

Soups are so easy to alter to your taste, budget and make them allergy friendly. I eat gluten-free and sugar-free to keep my autoimmune illness (hashimotos) in check. I don’t have the energy or desire to make separate meals for my family and for myself, but that’s no problem when I’m serving soup. I can always just take out a portion for myself before adding pasta, or I can just substitute a gluten-free thickener. That’s the beauty of homemade soup!

When we were young college students living on less than $10k a year, I made soupseveral times a weekand I made all of that soup meatless because our grocery budget was less than $100 a month for our family of four. Cheap and easy soup recipes really saved our finances during that lean time!

Luckily, our budget is nowhere near that tight now, but I still cook from scratch and we still eat a lot of soup, because I understand the power of budgeting. The less I spend on groceries, the more I can divert to my travel budget!

It really is amazing how much money you can save by eating at home and cooking from scratch. Cheap and easy soup recipes are the very biggest budget and time savers.

Here’s a quick assignment for you. Multiply the number of people in your family times ten, which is about what a cheap restaurant meal costs (if you don’t order a beverage, appetizer or dessert). Mutliply that by 90, which is approximately how many meals you eat each month. That is a low estimate of what it would cost you to to eat all of your meals out for a whole month — it doesn’t include snacks or extras or tips or anything. Crazy, huh?

Now multiply the number of people in your family times 90. That’s how much your grocery budget could be if you stick to meals that are less than $1 per serving. Yes, it’s ten times less than eating out! And that’s a conservative estimate.

Honestly, I regularly feed my family of 10 for less than $500 per month, and you’d be amazed at how well we eat.

Over half of these cheap and easy soup recipes cost less than 50 cents per serving.That should give you an idea of how much (or little) you could be spending on groceries, and a goal to shoot for.

Read: 15 Meals You Can Make for Pennies

To help you reduce your own grocery expenses I’ve assembled this list of 33 cheap and easy soup recipes from other bloggers. They each cost less than $1 per serving. Feed your family one of these nourishing, inexpensive soups once or twice a week, and I promise it will really help reduce your grocery budget.

Minestrone Soup (Orison Orchards) less than 68 cents a serving

Chicken Noodle Soup (Orison Orchards) less than 54 cents a serving

FAQs

Is it cheaper to make homemade soup? ›

Making your own soup takes time, but it gives you complete control over the ingredients and how you prepare them. Homemade soup can also save you money compared to canned soup. Cook a large batch of soup, then freeze small portions for meals that you can heat quickly.

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What can I add to soup to make it rich? ›

Add Cream: Let's get the obvious one out of the way.

Whether you use a few tablespoons or a few cups, cream gives soup a silky mouthfeel and rich flavor. You can definitely add milk or other dairy as well, though it will taste gradually less creamy as you go down in percent.

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What is the secret to soup? ›

7 Tips for Successful Soup Making

Use a Sturdy Pot. It is worth investing in a heavy pot with a thick bottom to use for making soup. ...
Sauté the Aromatics. ...
Start with Good Broth. ...
Cut Vegetables to the Right Size. ...
Stagger the Addition of Vegetables. ...
Keep Liquid at a Simmer. ...
Season Just Before Serving.

Oct 9, 2022

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What are 3 clear soups? ›

Clear soups include broth, hearty broth, and Consommé. Our clear soup course will guide you step by step, to succeed in making those delicious, rich flavors clear soups.

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What not to do when making soup? ›

Common mistakes with soups:

Using inferior stock. Most of my soups are based on good stocks usually made at home. ...
Not sautéing onions, celery and garlic before adding. ...
Adding ingredients in the wrong order. ...
Not adding umami. ...
Not garnishing. ...
Not tasting.

Feb 5, 2021

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Is soup enough to live on? ›

What Experts Say. "The concept of eating soup to lose weight has spanned decades, but experts say an all-soup diet lacks nutrients and is not sustainable. They do agree it can be smart to eat vegetable-packed soups for some meals, though, as these are filling, nutrient-dense, and low in calories."

What makes homemade soup taste better? ›

Use fresh, good quality ingredients like vegetables and herbs. Add a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice to your soup to make it taste better. Use a high-quality broth or stock as a base for your soup. Roast or caramelize your vegetables before adding them to your soup to bring out their natural sweetness.

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What gives soup depth of flavor? ›

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

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What is a watery soup called? ›

In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment.

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What is a thick soup called? ›

A potage is a category of thick soups, stews, or porridges, in some of which meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form a thick mush. Bisques are heavy cream soups traditionally prepared with shellfish, but can be made with any type of seafood or other base ingredients.

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What are the 4 main soups? ›

There are four main categories of soup: Thin, Thick, Cold and National. These types of soup are widely recognised in today's modern kitchen.

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Is soup the cheapest way to eat? ›

Soup is the best cozy meal on a warm day, plus, it's usually a cheap way to make a lot of food. Make a big batch for a dinner party, meal-prep lunches or even to stash away in the freezer for an emergency dinner.

Are soups a good way to save money? ›

We've managed to keep our dinner budget to about $2 per day for two people, but you can make the meal even less expensive if you are in a budget pinch by making your own soup. I saved even more money on our grocery budget this week when a friend gave me a turkey carcass to turn into turkey broth.

Are soup makers economical to run? ›

Indeed, soup makers are tailored for precision and convenience, often consuming less electricity due to their lower wattage and speedy cooking times. By combining both the cooking and blending processes in one insulated gadget, they retain heat more effectively and reduce the overall energy output.

How much should I charge for homemade soup? ›

And for most dishes, the formula goes, the food costs should be about 33 percent. So if the ingredients of the soup cost $1, charge the diner $3.