One of our goals for this year {I stray from using the word “resolution” – more on that another time} was to cook more at home. With our hectic travel schedules and late nights at the office, it became all too easy to pick up Chipotle or pre-made meals from Central Market on the way home. The food was healthy enough, but our sodium intake was soaring and not having food in the house when we were home led us to rely a little too heavily on sugary snacks and protein bars on the weekend.
The one downside of all that cooking – we inevitably have some leftover vegetables in the fridge, canned goods that we accidentally bought two of, and meat in the freezer that we keep forgetting is there. Enter leftover soup. It’s a standard base made of things we typically have in the pantry, mixed with extras from meals earlier that week. Each ladle {I ate 2 per meal} was 3f/17c/12p for our version, which included added veggies and pasta.
We measure this soup in ladles. That enables me to decide how many ladles I want (2-3) and C to decide how many he wants. As I cook, I add each ingredient into the recipe function on MyFitnessPal, then figure out how many ladles it made as I move it into containers for storage. I put that in as the “servings” and dish out however many I want.
Leftover Soup
Ingredients
Base Ingredients
- 2 lbs lean ground beef or italian turkey sausage
- 3 cloves garlic or FlavorGod’s Garlic Lovers seasoning to taste
- 1/4 c fresh chopped basil {dried will work in smaller quantity}
- 1-2 cans diced tomatoes drained{Rotel for extra heat}
- 1 12 oz can tomato sauce {or leftover pasta sauce}
- 8 c chicken broth + more for reheating later
- 4-8 oz pasta – either broken lasagna noodles or small pasta like ziti or shells
Add ins
- Other meat to swap for ground beef. This week we used 1 lb ground beef and 1 packaged of diced spicy jalapeno sausage that we had in the freezer.
- Any leftover veggies. We used 2 carrots 1 stalk celery, 1 red bell pepper, 1/2 onion, about 12 cherry tomatoes, and 4 oz mushrooms, all diced. Anything you might put in a minestrone soup would be good, though – zucchini, squash, eggplant…
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste {for a thicker tomato soup}
- Cottage cheese ricotta, or mozzarella
Instructions
- Spray cooking spray in a dutch oven or large stockpot. Brown meat over medium heat. Drain and set aside.
- Sautee veggies fresh veggies {excluding tomatoes} over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt + pepper + garlic powder {we use FlavorGod’s Garlic Lovers but you could also use fresh garlic} + basil.
- Add tomato paste, if using and stir until darkened, about 2 min.
- Add browned meat, tomatoes and tomato sauce, and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Uncover and cook until slightly reduced, about 5 min. Add uncooked pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked, about 15 min. To cut down on total cook time, cook the pasta while you cook meat and veggies, and add in fully cooked.
- Stir in cottage cheese, if using, and simmer 2 more minutes. Serve with ricotta or mozzarella on top, if using.