Follow our step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe for making this hearty Vegetable Beef Soup.  Nothing seems to satisfy the tummy and the “soul” on a cold day better than a bowl of warm soup.  Add some saltine crackers, a sandwich of choice and, you’ve got a meal that will have you all warm and cozy in no time.

Southern Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe:

This past weekend, we experienced a brief respite from the cold weather of the past several weeks.  Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday climbed back up to around 72 degrees and had folks back in shorts.  This evening, as I write this, only 4 days later, I’m switching between writing and watching the weather forecast for our area.  You see, at this moment, the weather forecasters are calling for SNOW.  It’s expected to reach us around 10:00pm this evening and, they say we could see anywhere from 1 to 3 inches…or more.

This may not be a big deal for those of you further North but, where I live, any call for snow is a call to hunker down.  We’ve had rain all day today and the temperature will drop to just below freezing before sunrise on Friday morning.  We’re more concerned about the “ice” than the snow.  Even a thin sheet of ice on the highway can cause some serious driving and walking conditions around these parts.  We always hear our officials telling us that if we don’t have to be out…don’t go out.  Yet, the biggest majority will not heed the warning.  I’m getting old now….I will listen closely.  It’s true what they say about “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”  I speak from experience…trust me.

I’d been wanting some Vegetable Beef Soup for a couple of weeks.  It just turned off too warm to actually make it though.  So, when the temperatures were forecast to drop back down at the first of this week, I headed out for some stew meat to add to the soup.  I actually made this on Monday and enjoyed a good deal of it.  The remainder, went into the freezer for another “cold” day.  Looks like I need to get out another carton.  Cold winter weather is fast approaching.

I made this soup using a 2lb. bag of frozen Mixed Vegetables.  It’s not very “soupy” but you could easily add a little more liquid if you desire.  It’s just a good, hearty soup, filled with vegetables and, it’s perfect for a snowy day…anywhere.  You’ll need a big pot but that’s OK.  The good part is that you can have some now….and….some for later.  And, it’s really, really good.  Ready to give it a try?  OK then….Let’s Get Cooking!

Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

You’ll also need a can of Tomato Sauce.  I’ve included it in the printable recipe below but, I somehow managed to leave it out of the photo.  I must apologize for that.  I’ve also mentioned some Texas Pete Hot Sauce….that’s optional though.

I purchased a package of “Beef for Stew” as they call it.  It’s already cut into chunks but I didn’t want anything quite that big so, I chopped each piece into smaller pieces.  You could use sirloin, chuck or, even hamburger if you prefer.  Whatever is on sale is the way I figure.

I used about 4 small potatoes.  I washed them, sliced them, cut them into strips, then into small diced portions.  Yes, I left the skins on.  I like that “rustic” look.  It just makes the soup all the more “hearty,” I think.  If you don’t like them, no problem, just peel them off.  It’s your soup.

I chopped up one medium sized onion.  You can do this as you go along through the process.  I just went ahead and prepped the items needed so they would be ready for their photo debut.

You’ll need a good sized stock pot to make this.  Place it on your stove and set the heat to about Medium.  Add the butter as it begins to warm up.

Add the beef on top of the butter.

Once you get to this point, you could go ahead and dice up your potatoes and onions if you haven’t done so already.  We’re going to brown the beef a little and this will take a few minutes.  Don’t brown it too fast or let it burn.

Brown the beef on all sides, stirring it once the bottom starts to brown a bit.  Stir it often so it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Toss in the onions.

Let the onions cook for a couple of minutes.  Stir them around as you go.

Add the potatoes.

Add the mixed vegetables.  Again, I’m using a 2lb. bag of frozen Mixed Vegetables.  Soup is a great way to use up any leftover vegetables you have.  If you have space in your freezer, designate a container for keeping leftover vegetables.  Then, as you have leftovers from a meal, add them into the container.  Once you’ve got a bunch of various vegetables saved up….make soup.  Waste Not – Want Not.  Right?

Add the crushed tomatoes.

Here again, a quart jar of “canned tomatoes” from the pantry would have been great.  I’m talking about some fresh tomatoes you might have “jarred up” over the summer.  I did have a jar but opted to go with the store bought canned variety.

Give it all a good stir.

Add the sugar.

Add the Black Pepper.

Add the salt.  We’ll start out with a teaspoon.  You’ll certainly want to taste this after it’s cooked and adjust the salt to your own taste.  I added more to mine towards the end.  Better to go slow and add it as you go than to add too much.

Add the beef broth.

Add the tomato sauce.

Give it all a good stir.  Then, cover the pot with a lid.  Reduce the heat down to a Medium-Low.  The soup will need to cook at just a low simmer for the duration.

It took me just over 3 hours to cook this pot of Vegetable Beef Soup.  I checked it about every 30 minutes or so, stirring it each time.  You just need to let it cook until the potatoes are tender.  If you keep a lid on the pot and let it cook slowly, you shouldn’t have to worry about the amount of liquid in the soup.  I like mine thick and hearty.  If you prefer a little more “soup” in your soup….just add another cup of beef broth.

Once the potatoes are tender, you’re good.

Serve the soup good and warm along with some saltine crackers and your favorite sandwich.  It’s sooo good…and really warms the soul.

I like to crumble my crackers into the soup itself.  A grilled cheese sandwich is good too.  Also, I didn’t show it but, I added about a teaspoon of Texas Pete Hot Sauce into the pot.  That’s a personal preference.  If the whole family doesn’t enjoy it, just add it to your own bowl and stir it in good.  It just adds a little “oomph” to it I think.

I had this Vegetable Beef Soup on Monday, then placed the remainder into serving sized containers.  I popped those in the freezer but….with this forecast for snow tonight….I think I’ll go ahead and pull one out.  It looks like it’s going to be good weather for some tasty soup.  Enjoy!

Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to make our delicious, and hearty, Brunswick Stew. We’re combining Chicken, Pork BBQ, and some of our favorite vegetables, to make this stew from scratch.  Brunswick Stew is a traditional side dish served in barbecue restaurants throughout the South, but it’s great as a main course of its very own.  Just add saltine crackers or bread.  Printable recipe included.

Brunswick Stew Recipe:

Let me just start out by saying this recipe is MY version of Brunswick Stew.  You’ll literally find hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to prepare Brunswick Stew, if you start searching for a recipe.  It seems there is pretty much no right or wrong way to make it.  It just depends on who you ask.

Let me also say that both Brunswick, Georgia -and- Brunswick, Virginia, lay claim to being the home of Brunswick Stew.  Well, we also have a Brunswick, North Carolina, but they haven’t gotten into the foray just yet.  So, I’ll not try to convince you that this is a North Carolina original, other than the fact that I was born and raised here in North Carolina.

The only thing that is really consistent about good Brunswick Stew, is that it’s tomato based and THICK.  It’s different from vegetable soup in that it contains meat, and it’s always made thicker than soup.  Quite often, it’s made from leftovers, which is probably why there isn’t any one recipe that is considered to be the original, or authentic.

Brunswick Stew is often served as a side dish at many of the barbecue restaurants throughout the South.  The recipe probably varies at each and everyone of them, but as mentioned, it’s always thick and hearty.  You can even order it by itself if that’s your preference.  Served with Hushpuppies, Saltine Crackers, or just plain Sunbeam Bread, it will warm you up real good on a cold winter day.

Back in our own restaurant days, we would save leftover vegetables at the end of the day and freeze them.  As long as they hadn’t been over cooked by then, they would be stored in a large container as a base for making soup or stew later.  Leftover fried chicken, could be picked off the bones and frozen as well.  And of course, pork barbecue often ended up being saved for including in the recipe.

Because of what you had on hand, on the day you decided to make Brunswick Stew, the ingredient list was often different from one batch to the next.  But, you knew what went in “your” Brunswick Stew, so you tried to make it the same.

My cousin Curtis, cooks up a great big pot of Brunswick Stew at his home once or twice a year.  It’s his own special recipe, (which he has YET to share with me) and invites family and friends over for an evening of food and fellowship, usually outdoors around a big fire.  He has a long wooden paddle that he stirs that great big pot with, and lets “his” Stew cook for hours, until it’s just right.

So, I’m going to share with you the way that I like to make it here at home.  Most of the time I’m using frozen vegetables, and I pretty much always make it the same.  I like it with beans, corn, and potatoes, along with chicken and pork barbecue.  It freezes well, so I make up a big pot, enjoy some for supper, then freeze the rest for later.  I do hope you’ll like it.

I highly suggest you just take our basic recipe, and make it your own, by adding the vegetables you have and like.  Just remember, it’s got to be tomato based, and it HAS to be thick, not like soup. Ready to give it a try?  Alright then, Let’s Get Cooking!

Brunswick Stew:  You’ll need these ingredients.

I know it looks like a lot of stuff, but you’ll only need a small part of the vegetables shown.  Save the rest for later.

Most packaged whole chickens, come with a packet of “giblets” packed inside the bird.  This includes various parts like the heart, liver, gizzard, and neck.  Don’t throw them away.  They make great “Giblet Gravy,” or can be used when making chicken stock.  If you don’t intend to use them right away, label and freeze them for later.  Either way, just make sure you remove them from the chicken.

Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water.  Be sure to look the chicken over good for any pin feathers that might not have been removed when the bird was processed.  They usually pull out pretty easily.  Be sure to check the neck cavity and rinse that out.

You could cut up the chicken at this point if desired.  I just pulled out the enameled canning pot and placed the whole chicken inside.  Any large pot will work.  Cover the bird with water and place it on the stove.

I start out on High heat and let the water come up to a rolling boil.  Then, I reduce the heat down to Medium and let the bird cook at a low boil for about one hour, or until it’s done, checking it about every 15 minutes or so.  You want to make sure you have enough water in the pot to cover it and keep it submerged while it cooks.  You might also want to turn it after about 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot when its done, and place it in a colander to let it cool.  Once it cools enough to handle, we’ll pick the meat off the bones, but for now, lets get to work on the vegetables.

Back in our restaurant days, we often used leftover vegetables to make the stew.  As long as they hadn’t been over cooked, they worked perfect for making Brunswick Stew.  Maybe you keep a bag in your freezer where you store leftovers.  It’s a great way to count those pennies and save on the grocery bill.

I’m just using some frozen Baby Lima Beans, since I don’t happen to have any leftovers.  Place them in a colander so you can rinse them.

Add the corn.

Rinse them under cold running water to remove any ice crystals and to help thaw them out a bit.

Place the rinsed vegetables in a large stock pot.

I like to rinse my potatoes before peeling and cutting them up.  I do this in the colander as well.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces.  Toss them into the pot with the beans and corn.

Add enough water to the vegetables to cover them by about 2 inches.

Place the pot over Medium-High heat on your stove and let it come up to a low boil.  REDUCE the heat down to Medium, and let the vegetables cook until they are tender.  The potatoes will be done before the beans and corn, but that’s OK.  Just let them cook until the beans are almost done.

Once the chicken has cooled, carefully pick the meat off the bones.  This can be a bit tedious, but it’s well worth the extra effort to pick through it carefully and make sure you remove any skin pieces and bones.  You don’t want someone to bite into a bone while enjoying your Brunswick Stew.  Shred the chicken into small bite size pieces.

I’m using some frozen Pork Barbecue leftover from one of our family pig pickings.  Back in the restaurant days, we would also freeze many of the unsold cooked meats at the end of the day.  You couldn’t just throw it away, that was your profit.  Most of the time, it ended up re-purposed in another dish, like soups, stews or pot pies.

This barbecue is already seasoned and adds some great flavor to the stew.  If you buy yours, make sure you get a good quality with some chunks of meat in it.  It will add good texture to the stew as well.

When the vegetables are about done, remove any excess liquid that you might have.  You only want just enough liquid to cover the tops of the vegetables.  Don’t throw the liquid you remove away just yet though.  We might still need it.

Add the Vinegar.

Add the Brown Sugar.

Add the Black Pepper.

Add the Salt.

Add the Butter.

Add the Hot Sauce.

If you’re thinking this is a lot of hot sauce and you might not like so much, feel free to cut back on it. I’m using Texas Pete® which is made here in North Carolina.  It’s not super hot so I can get away with adding a bit more.  Better to be safe, and start out with a little, if in doubt about what you might be using.  You can always add more as needed.  The sauce is added for flavor, not to make it hot to the taste.  Keep it kid friendly and you’ll be happy.  Actually, I ended up adding half a cup.  I don’t like spicy hot foods and this was still fine for my taste.

Add the Tomato Paste.

Add the Worcestershire Sauce.

Grab a big spoon and give it all a good stirring.

Add the chicken and bbq.

Stir it up again.

Finally, top it off with some Ketchup, then give it another stir.  Let the stew simmer over Medium heat, stirring often, until the chicken and barbecue meats are good and warm.  If its a bit dry looking, you can always add some of the cooking water that was removed earlier.  Or, you could add either more water, or maybe some chicken broth.

Brunswick Stew should be served thick, not watery like a vegetable soup.  We know the chicken and barbecue were already done when we added them to the pot, we just need to let it simmer until all the vegetables are good and tender.  Taste it to see if you think it needs anything else your family might enjoy.  That’s the thing with Brunswick Stew, you’re basically using leftovers, or what’s on hand, to make a hearty thick stew the family will enjoy.  Make it your own.

Brunswick Stew freezes well.  Let it cool completely, then place it in freezer containers and stack it in the freezer.  I froze these five containers to enjoy on the cold days ahead, but it’s good any time of the year.

Serve up a big bowl of Brunswick Stew with some saltine crackers, or a couple of slices of Sunbeam bread.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Deboned Chicken (from 1 whole cooked chicken, 3 lb.)
One pound of Prepared Southern Pork BBQ or 3 cups pulled pork
One pound bag of frozen corn
One pound bag of frozen lima beans
4 medium russet potatoes, washed, peeled and diced
One 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
Two small cans of tomato paste
4 cups of chicken broth
1 cup barbecue sauce
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper

Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this warm and filling Potato Soup. Made from scratch, using fresh potatoes, it’s a perfect soup for a cold winter night. Make it as creamy as you’d like. Printable recipe included.

Potato Soup Recipe:

When the temperature drops down to 12°F here in the South, that’s cold enough for me. Too cold to be more exact. I just don’t get along well with cold weather. At least we weren’t expecting any snow, so that was one good thing in our favor.

It’s nights like this that make me wish I still had a fireplace, or maybe even an old wood stove. I’ve lived in a few places that had fireplaces, and I like watching the fire when it gets really cold. It’s also something you can actually back-up-to and get warm when you feel chilled to the bone. Sadly, I don’t have one where I live now.

So, you start looking for ways to warm up.

I’m also coming off, or at least I think I am, a battle with the flu that has gone on for a couple of weeks. It’s the first really nasty bug I’ve had in a couple of years, and I’m thankful that at least now I’m on the recovering side of it.

With my first venture back to the North Carolina State Farmers Market over in Raleigh this past week, I picked up some local potatoes to make a batch of Potato Soup. I also picked up a few Sweet Potatoes that I’ll be baking very soon.

Mama didn’t make Potato Soup for us when I was growing up. I think the first time I tried it was when my wife brought home a big container of it from a local restaurant. She also had a big circular loaf of bread to make a bread bowl with, and quickly served it up to me while I was still at work. She had gone with a friend to a restaurant and loved the soup so much that she ordered a take-out for me to try. It was delicious and I’ve loved it ever since.

You’ll find numerous ways to make it in cookbooks and on the Internet. Some folks make a fully loaded version with various types of goodies added in, but I prefer the basic Potato Soup recipe that you’ll find here.

It’s super easy to make. You just dice up a few potatoes and onions, toss it in a sauce pot with some butter and milk… and stir.

You just need to keep the stirring part active, as you don’t want it to scorch or burn on you. Other than that, it’s really pretty simple and straight forward. I hope you’ll try it.

Throw another log or two on the fire if you have a fireplace, and let’s whip up a good, hearty soup, that is filling and satisfying to the soul. It’s guaranteed to warm you up, so if you’re ready, let’s get in the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking.

Potato Soup: You’ll need these ingredients.

You’ll need to wash and scrub the potatoes well, then peel them.

Cube the potatoes into about one half inch cubes. Set them aside for now.

Remove the outer skin from your onion, then dice it into small pieces.

Place a medium sauce pot over Medium heat on your stove top. Add the butter and let it begin to melt.

Add the diced onions to the sauce pot and stir them into the butter.

Let the onions cook, stirring often, until they are tender and translucent.

Add the potatoes to the onions and butter.

As you can see, my potatoes had started to turn brown. As it often happens, about the time I got the potatoes cut up, the phone rang. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with one of my fishing buddies and the potatoes were just sitting out on the cutting board.

If you think it will be awhile before you get to cook your potatoes after you’ve cubed them, place them in a bowl and cover them with water until needed. Drain the water off and then add them to the pot. This will keep them looking fresh much longer. It doesn’t hurt the taste, just keeps them from turning dark.

Add the Evaporated Milk next.

Please note that this is NOT the sweetened condensed milk, but regular evaporated milk in the can.

Add the Whole Milk.

Stir everything together well. The butter will float on top for awhile, but that’s okay.

Bring this mixture up just to the boiling point. You’ll need to keep stirring it while it heats up to make sure the milk doesn’t scorch or burn in the bottom of the pot. Watch for it to get to the point where it just starts to bubble a bit, then REDUCE the heat to around Medium-Low.

Let the soup continue to simmer, stirring often, for about 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Do not let the mixture burn. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir as well.

Once the soup begins to thicken, taste it to see if it needs salt. Add salt as desired.

Add a little Black Pepper if desired, all to your personal taste preferences.

You’ll need to taste a piece or two of the potatoes to be sure they are getting tender.

The mixture should begin to thicken after about 20-25 minutes.

I used my immersion blender to mash up some of the potatoes. You could do this with the back of a large spoon, or a potato masher if you don’t have the hand blender. Either way, mashing up some of the potatoes will vastly improve the flavor of the soup.

Use caution if you use a hand blender. It only takes a second or two to cut up some of the potatoes. Any longer and you’ll end up making mashed potatoes.

I like mine thick and creamy, but you don’t have to go that far.

Also, if the soup doesn’t appear thick enough for you, you can mix equal parts of flour and cold water together, about 2 Tablespoons of each, then stir this into the soup as a thickener. Just mix the flour and water to make a slurry, then pour it into the soup, stirring it in well. Let it simmer another couple of minutes to cook the flour a bit and thicken the soup.

Serve warm and Enjoy.

You can garnish the soup with some grated cheese, or perhaps some crumbled ham or bacon if desired.

Follow easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making this delicious Ham Bone Beans recipe.  Use that leftover ham bone, or ham hock, to make this creamy bean dish that can be served as a side dish or a main dish either one.  We’ll show you how to make it and we’ve got a printable recipe to go with it.

Ham-Bone Beans Recipe:

I finally found a way to use the leftover ham bone I’ve had in the freezer for the past couple of months.  I placed it there after I completed making the Baked Picnic Ham Recipe that I posted here on Taste of Southern some time back.  I’m glad I saved that bone.

I also had about half a package of dried Northern Beans leftover from making another recipe and had already sorted through the beans and placed them in soak when I decided to make Ham Bone Beans. Amazingly, for me, I even had some celery in the refrigerator.  I don’t normally have celery on hand around here.

The beans had soaked over night and I was just going to cook them up with a ham hock when I spotted the ham bone in the freezer.  That’s when I sat down and put this recipe on paper and began taking pictures of the process.  It wasn’t my original plan but isn’t it neat how some things just happen that way?

It’s really a simple recipe and the end product turned out to be absolutely delicious.  I added a little mixture of flour and water towards the end to thicken up the broth and that just turned the recipe into a creamy, almost soup like texture.  Originally, I figured it would be just a good side dish but, after making some hoe cakes, I turned it into a main dish for my supper.

You can use a leftover ham bone if you have one, or ham hocks if you have those.  Just make it a bit meaty and dig in.  Are you ready to give it a try?  Alright then… Let’s Get Cooking!

Ham-Bone Beans Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

OK, I’m jumping into this recipe a little further than usual.

So, to catch up a bit, you will need to sort through your dry Northern Beans to remove any bad beans, stones, or any other foreign items that might have ended up in the bag.  Beans are harvested mechanically these days and they are not washed prior to being packaged.  You need to check them for foreign objects before proceeding with any recipe.

The photo above is where they were after soaking overnight in water.  Now, let’s move on with the recipe and use up some leftovers.

After soaking the beans overnight, drain them in a colander, and then rinse them under cold running water for a couple of minutes.  Stir the beans around to help remove any dirt or dust that might be on the beans.

Place your ham bone or ham hocks in a large sauce pan.  This one had been in the freezer for awhile but it’s fully cooked.  I just added it to the pot as I knew it would warm up sufficiently by the time the beans were complete.

Add the rinsed and drained beans to the pot.

Add enough water to the sauce pot to cover the ham bone and beans with about three inches of water.  Place the pot over Medium Heat on your stove top and let it come to a low boil.  We’re going to let the beans cook, uncovered, for one hour before we add our seasonings and other items. You’ll need to stir them about every 20 minutes as they cook and to just keep an eye on them.

After about an hour, remove the ham bone or ham hocks, set them aside, and let them begin to cool.

As the beans near having cooked for about an hour, chop up the onions.

Then, chop the celery into small pieces.

Add the chopped Onions and chopped Celery to the cooking pot of beans.

Add the Sugar.

Add the Salt.

Add the Black Pepper.

Remove all the meat you can from the bone once it has cooled enough to where you can handle it without burning yourself.  Place the meat back in the pot and allow the beans to continue to cook until they are done.  You’ll need to taste the beans in order to be sure they are soft and tender to your liking.  You’ll also want to taste them to see if they need more Salt or Pepper.

Mix two Tablespoons of Flour with enough COLD water to make a slurry.  Stir it until all the large lumps have dissolved.

Add the Flour and Water mixture to the pot of beans and stir it in well.  Let the beans continue to cook for a few minutes longer and it should thicken up into a nice and creamy broth.  This will really depend on how much liquid you have remaining after the beans have cooked down.  Adding the thickener is optional by the way.  If you don’t want it to be creamy, just serve them as they are.  It’s up to you.

Serve the beans while warm and… Enjoy!

Follow our complete, step-by-step, recipe to make this delicious home made soup. I hope you’re saving those ham bones from your holiday hams, its just what you need for this soup. Ham hocks can be used instead though if need be.

Ham Bone Soup recipe.

You ARE saving those ham bones leftover from your holiday hams… right?

If you are, here’s a great way to turn them into a delicious pot of homemade soup. Ham Bones are a perfect seasoning for this.

We’ve already seen two snowfalls here in the heart of Carolina in this first month of 2018. And, nothing makes a cold day, or a snowy super-cold day, any better than a bowl of hot homemade soup.

The nice thing about this (and most soups) is that you get the chance to use up those leftovers you have lingering around in your refrigerator. You can even mix those with fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, or even frozen vegetables. It doesn’t even matter if some of them have already been cooked.

When the snow cleared away, I was ready to get outside after being “snowed in” for most of the week. We went from below freezing temperatures to near 70F temperatures in just a matter of a day or two, so it was the perfect chance to visit the North Carolina State Farmers Market over in Raleigh.

That’s where I purchased the red potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and onion. I had a bag of frozen butter beans that had been in the freezer for awhile, and decided to use some canned tomatoes.

As for the ham bone, it was leftover from the Corned Ham recipe that I prepared recently. I’d trimmed it down pretty good, but it still had a little meat left on it, so I wrapped it in plastic wrap and foil and stuck it in the freezer so I could make soup later on.

If you don’t have a ham bone tucked away somewhere, a smoked ham hock, even smoked turkey legs will work. Just change things around, use what you have, and make this recipe your own.

Either way, it makes for a mighty tasty meal on a really cold winters day. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Ready to get started? Shovel the snow out of the way, head for the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking.

Ham Bone Soup, you’ll need these ingredients.

These are just the vegetables that I’m using. The really neat thing about this type of soup is that you use what you have on hand for the most part. It’s a great way to take advantage of leftover vegetables if your refrigerator is getting full.

I purchased fresh vegetables for most of the recipe, but used frozen butter beans and canned tomatoes as pictured above.

The ham bone is from my Corned Ham recipe posted elsewhere here on Taste of Southern. The ham wasn’t a smoked ham, so it has a bit of a different flavor just because of that. The leftover ham bone from your holiday hams will work great.

You’ll need to have a thawed out ham bone of course. I took mine out of the freezer the day before I started this recipe.

Place the ham bone in a large Dutch Oven style pot, one with a lid.

Cover the ham bone with water.

Place the lid on the pot.

Place the pot over Medium heat on your stove top and let it come up to a low rolling boil. Once it starts to boil, set your timer and let it boil for one full hour.

We’re using the bone and meat to make a broth for our soup.

Wash your vegetables while the ham bone is boiling.

I just rinsed mine under cold running water and let them drain in the colander.

Use a sharp knife to dice up the carrots. Place them in a large mixing bowl.

Dice the celery, place it in the mixing bowl.

Cube up the red potatoes. I prefer smaller pieces as they will cook quicker.

You need to keep all the vegetable pieces similar in size so they cook evenly. Place the potatoes in your bowl with the other veggies.

Dice the onions, cry a bit, and then add them to the vegetable bowl.

Slice half the cabbage up into small bite sized pieces.

I’m only using half of the small cabbage. You could of course use more if desired. Just be sure to cut out the hard center core and discard that.

Add the cabbage pieces to your other vegetables in the bowl. Just set the bowl aside until needed.

After the ham bone has boiled for an hour, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool.

Once it’s cooled, we’ll pull off the remaining meat that’s on the bone. A lot of the meat just fell off the bone when I went to pick it up. Smile.

Add all the vegetables to the pot of broth.

I had just a little over half a pot of liquid once I removed the bone. You might have more or less, depending on how you started. There isn’t really a right or wrong amount.

I added about a cup of frozen butter beans at this point. They had been in the freezer for a good while so I figured it best that I go ahead and use them.

You could add about any leftover vegetables that you might have on hand from a previous meal. If they’re cooked, that’s fine. It just reduces the cooking time for the soup. Make it your own, use whatever you like and have on hand.

Next, I added the canned tomatoes. I wanted a little tomato in my soup, but it’s still not like my Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup that I posted some time back. Pork gives it a different flavor all together.

And of course, you’ve got to have a little sugar. I’ve mentioned it before, but Mama always added a little bit of sugar to her vegetables. It’s just a habit that I’ve picked up on but it does always seem to help.

Add the black pepper.

I’m not adding salt until after the soup has cooked. My ham bone came from my Corned Ham recipe as mentioned previously. Since I had packed a bunch of salt down near the bones while making the corned ham, I’m not sure how much salt might already be in the ham bone. You can always add it if needed, but it’s difficult to recover if it’s too salty.

Grab a big spoon and stir everything up really good.

Now that the ham bone has cooled, pick the remaining meat off the bone. I didn’t have a lot as I had trimmed the ham pretty close when I was cutting it off the bone originally.

Add the meat to the pot of vegetables and give it another good stir.

Bring the pot back up to a low boil and let it simmer until all the vegetables are tender.

Since I had a good amount of liquid covering my vegetables, I decided to leave the lid off the pot this time around so some of the broth could evaporate away. You can place the lid back on yours if you prefer.

You’ll also need to taste the potatoes, carrots and other vegetables as they cook to make sure they all are tender. Mine took another hour to cook, uncovered, before the potatoes and carrots were tender.

At this point, taste your soup to see if it needs any more seasonings like salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

A delicious soup made with potatoes and a leftover ham bone. Perfect for a cold winters night supper and easy to make.

It’s the middle of January (2020) and the weather here in the heart of North Carolina has been on a roller coaster for the past week or so. Interesting start to the New Year as far as the weather is concerned that’s for sure.

We’ve seen days in the mid 70’s, warm enough for t-shirts and shorts. Then, the next day we’re down in the 50’s with temps at night dropping below freezing. It’s hard to know how to dress and prepare.

But, this week is going to be cold all week, so it was the perfect time to use up that leftover ham bone I’ve had wrapped in aluminum foil in the refrigerator. I recently cooked another ham shank and saved some meat on the bone so I could use it to make this soup.

We’ve already posted a recipe for Potato Soup, and one for Ham Bone Soup, here on Taste of Southern. You might want to check those out as well.

Soup is perfect for a cold night in Carolina. And, this old Southern boy loves his potatoes, so what better way to make soup than with potatoes? I hope you’ll give our recipe a try and that you’ll leave us a Comment in the section at the end of this recipe to let me know how it turns out for you.

I enjoyed a bowl or two right after I made it. The rest is in the freezer for later. Smile

Ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Potato and Ham Bone Soup Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

I cooked another Baked Ham Shank with Brown Sugar Glaze over the holidays and I saved the bone. When I start slicing off the meat, I always leave a small amount of meat on the bone because I know I’ll be using the bone later in some type of recipe.

Let’s get started by dicing the carrot and the stalks of celery.

And then, dice the onion.

You’ll need about a 5-quart heavy stock pot. Place it over Medium heat on your stove top. Once it gets warm, add the 3 Tablespoons of Butter.

Add the diced celery, carrots and onions.

Stirring often, cook the vegetables until they are tender. This will take about 8-10 minutes usually.

Add the ham bone to the pot.

If your ham bone has been frozen, you need to thaw it out in the refrigerator a day or so ahead of time before making your soup.

Add the 8 cups of water, which should cover, or nearly cover, the ham bone.

Increase the heat to Medium-High and bring the water to a boil. REDUCE the heat back to just below Medium.

SIMMER THE BONE FOR ONE HOUR

After one hour, remove the ham bone from the water and place it on a plate to cool.

Let the broth continue to simmer while you prepare the potatoes.

I leave the peel on the potatoes but you can peel yours if you prefer. Wash the potatoes then slice them in half, then slice each half again. Cut across the potato to cut it into about half inch or one inch cubes.

Just mark it up to getting older, but I’ve about stopped peeling potatoes when making most recipes. Even my mashed potatoes. It makes life much more simple. Smile. Besides, they add more flavor.

Place the potatoes in the pot of broth. Let this cook until the potatoes are fork tender. About 15 minutes. Stir it occasionally as it cooks.

Pull the meat from the ham bone once it’s cooled enough to handle. You can leave this in chunks or dice it up smaller. Your choice.

When the potatoes are done, use a slotted spoon to remove about half of them from the pot. Don’t worry about getting any carrot or onions along with the potatoes. We’re going to add this all back in shortly.

Use an Immersion Blender to cut up the vegetables left in the pot.

If you don’t have a blender, you could also use a potato masher to mash the potatoes.

Add the can of evaporated milk.

Place the vegetables you removed back in the pot.

Add the meat from the ham bone to the pot.

Stir everything together and let it heat back up. The canned milk will cool it down some so warm it back up but don’t let it get back to a simmer. Remove from heat. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed if desired.

Enjoy!

Serve the soup while it’s good and warm.

Cold winter evenings call for a hot bowl of delicious soup. Our Broccoli Cheddar Soup recipe is super easy and on the table in hardly any time at all.

Maybe it’s not snowing YET, but it’s getting cold right? Sweater weather calls for meals that can warm you up quick, and our Broccoli Cheddar Soup will do just that.

Sure, you love the Panera Bread version of this soup, but it’s so easy to make, by the time you’d get in the car and go pick up a quart, you could make your own at home. Besides, ours has more vegetables in it. Smile.

We’re using frozen broccoli but fresh would be great if you can find it. And, we’re going to grate our own cheddar cheese which only takes a couple of minutes and gives much better results than using the pre-shredded stuff you find in your local grocery store. They put some type of white powdery substance on the pre-shredded cheese to keep it from sticking together, and it just doesn’t melt as well as freshly grated.

This may not have been one of Mama’s soup recipes, but I’ve posted several others that are. Like her Homemade Vegetable Soup if you’re looking for something with even more vegetables in it. I’ll share the link at the end of this recipe for that one and several others.

This will make a good two quarts of soup, so you’ll have plenty for the family. It’s also a great soup to make and share with your friends when some special occasion calls for such. I do hope you’ll enjoy it.

Ready to give our soup a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll begin by prepping our vegetables first. You’ll need 1 cup or diced carrots and about half of a medium sized onion diced into small pieces. Set aside for now.

Grate the 8oz block of cheese and set it aside.

I always suggest that you grate your own cheese. It only takes a minute or two and you’ll get much better results than you would by using the pre-shredded cheese you can buy. The pre-shredded cheese has a white powdery substance on it that keeps it from melting as well.

Chop up the 16oz bag of frozen broccoli. Just give it a rough chop. I prefer to find some larger pieces of broccoli in my soup, but you might like it much smaller. Make it the way you prefer. Smile.

Place a large sauce pot over Medium heat on your stove top. Add the 4 Tablespoons of butter and let it begin to melt.

Add the diced onions. Stir them around and let them cook until tender. About 3 minutes or so.

Sprinkle 1/4th cup of Flour around the pot on top of the onions.

Constantly stir the flour into the onions for  2 minutes.

Gradually stir in the whole 12 ounce can of Evaporated Milk. Stir it constantly as you’re adding it to avoid any lumps from forming with the flour.

Gradually stir in the entire 32 ounce carton of chicken stock or broth.

Add the cup of diced carrots to the pot.

Add the 16 ounce package of chopped broccoli. You could use less if you like, but it is called Broccoli and Cheddar Soup you know. Smile.

Bring the soup to a low boil, then REDUCE the heat to Medium-Low. Let the soup mixture simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the carrots and broccoli are tender.

After the soup has cooked for about 20 minutes, TASTE it to see if it needs pepper and salt. I didn’t add any salt, but I did add 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. It’s entirely up to you and what you prefer.

TURN THE HEAT OFF UNDER THE POT.

Turn the heat off under the pot and let the soup cool for about 5 minutes before adding the cheese. If the soup is too hot, the cheese will make the soup a bit grainy when you add it. It will still easily melt, so just be a bit patient and add it in after the 5 minutes have passed.

Gradually add the cheese and stir it into the soup.

Enjoy!

That’s it, you’re done. Now, just serve it up nice and warm, and forget about the snow today. Smile.

Nothing warms the soul any better than a bowl of homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s really simple, and so delicious on a cool Fall night or cold Winter’s day.

We’ve already experienced a few nights of cool Fall weather here in the heart of North Carolina. I even had to turn the heat on for a couple of days, but at the moment, we’re back under air conditioning.

I’m not a fan of cold weather at all any more. There, I said it.

In my much younger days, it didn’t bother me. But, here in my older years, boy has that made a big change. I don’t know how it happened, but it doesn’t take much for me to feel cold these days. Brrrr.

The only good thing about cold weather, is getting to enjoy a bowl of warm Chicken Noodle Soup. You know, the kind that warms your body and warms your soul all at the same time. There’s just something really comforting about this Chicken Noodle Soup. I hope you’ll agree.

This isn’t complicated at all. It goes together easily, and the recipe makes a large pot of soup. Enough to have for supper, and more than enough to have later. I even put some in the freezer for when it gets really cold around here.

Be sure to use a large stock pot, or a large Dutch oven pot when you make it. Did I mention it makes a large batch? Smile.

Mama always enjoyed making a big pot of soup whenever “snow” was in the forecast in my kid days. Maybe she knew I’d stay outside and play in it as long as she would let me, but knew I’d need something to warm me back up when I finally had to come inside. Oh the days of being young – and warmer. Smile.

Ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

Lets begin by prepping our vegetables. You’ll need 1 cup of sliced or diced carrots. I’m using baby carrots and just sliced them into pieces about 1/4 inch thick.

You’ll need 1 cup of diced celery.

And, you’ll need 1/2 cup of diced onions.

You’ll need to place a large stock pot over Medium heat on your stove top. Once it warms up, add 3 Tablespoons of Butter.

Place the carrots in the pot with the butter.

Add the celery.

And, add the onions.

Stir the vegetables around in the butter and let it all cook for FIVE minutes.

Add 1 carton (32oz) of the Chicken Broth and stir it into the vegetables.

Bring this mixture to a boil

While the broth is coming to a boil, grab a small bowl and add 1/4th cup of All-Purpose Flour to it.

Add 1 cup Evaporated Milk to the flour.

Use a fork to mix the milk and flour together, breaking up any large lumps of flour as you go.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Salt.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper.

Stir everything together. Don’t worry if you have small lumps of flour in the mixture. They should work themselves out later.

Gradually add the milk and flour mixture to the pot of boiling stock. Stir constantly as you add the mixture.

Add the chicken breasts to the pot. Let this cook at a low boil for about 15-20 minutes until the chicken breasts are done. They should reach an internal temperature of 165F degrees to be done.

By the way, I’m using this old cast iron Dutch Oven to cook my soup in. This was given to me back around 2011 by a close friend that I met while working in radio. Bobby W. was full of energy and loved to buy stuff and resell it all the time. He did that part time as he also had a full time job. We would sometimes fish together and later he even worked with us at the radio station for a short time.

The old pot wasn’t in really bad shape, and I just brought it home and placed it on the floor by the door. That’s where it stayed for about 9 years or so. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got it, cleaned it up and seasoned it, so this is the first thing I’ve cooked in it.

It’s very special to me because of the friend that gave it to me all those years ago. Sadly, he died about 2012. I hope he would be proud to know that I still have it, even if it did take me a long time to clean it up and use it. Smile.

When done, remove the chicken breasts from the pot of stock and place them on a plate to cool slightly.

When cool enough to handle, shred the breasts into small pieces.

While the breasts are cooling, add the bag (12oz) of Egg Noodles to the stock. Stir them around and let them cook for 8-10 minutes until slightly tender.

Now, add the shredded chicken to the pot of noodles.

I’m only adding 3 of the chicken breasts. I saved the other one to enjoy later. Stir everything together, then taste the soup mixture to see if you need to add more salt or pepper.

This was really thick and more like a chicken pasta dish, but it sure did taste good. You could certainly enjoy it this way if you like a hearty soup. I even considered freezing some of this as a base that I could add more broth to later, but opted to complete it while I was going.

Add more of the chicken broth as desired. You can make this as thick or as thin as you desire. As you can see, my pot is full after I added the biggest part of the second carton of broth.

If you think it needs it, you could even add a teaspoon of chicken granules to the soup to punch up a bit more of the chicken flavor. Granules or bouillon will work well.

Give everything another stir and turn the heat OFF.

Then, cover the pot and let it all rest for about 30 minutes so the flavors can meld together.

Enjoy!

Serve this up nice and warm. It makes sweater-weather almost something to look forward too. Smile.