I love veggie soup. Instead of cutting up cabbage I use the bagged cabbage for cole slaw in the produce section. I will use a combo of whatever I have fresh on hand and canned or frozen for the rest. I also use a combo of chicken broth and a can of tomato juice for the base.

Beef, celery, onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, green beans, corn, shoepeg corn, peas, lima beans (frozen), okra, cabbage, alphabet noodles, macaroni.

Beef bouillon, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, Worchestershire sauce, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, bay leaves, sugar.

I have never put cabbage in my veggie soup! I guess I never thought about it. I usually put beef, a bag of frozen mixed veggies, and an onion and barley in mine.

I start out with a big ole roast...then add potato's...all kinds of beans...corn, okra, carrots, onions, tomato's... lots of spices...and let that pot simmer on and on!!

I'm getting some ideas of things to add occasionally to my soup. For those of you who add things such as pasta or barley, do you cook these first, then add at the end? Or do you just toss them in at the beginning?

Shirley

I make a tortellini/vegetable soup that has become a family favorite. It starts with box of Swanson natural beef broth (no MSG!) I add crumbled and browned mild italian sausage, carrots, celery, diced tomatoes,tomato sauce, a bit of red wine, zucchini and cheese tortellini. Served with crusty bread and a salad, it makes quite a substantial meal. It also freezes very well.

Elisabeth

I use beef, tomatos carrots potatoes, lima beans green beans, cabbage, onions, corn and barley.
Those are the the things I almost always have in my pantry or freezer.
I start cooking with beef, then add potato and carrots and add softer cooking ingredients as I go. I add barley at least an hour before I think I want to eat.
My soup takes at least 4-5 hours start-to-finish on the stove.

I add the alphabet noodles and macaroni at the end (the last 30 minutes or so) so they don't get mushy.

I cook my soup (in a huge pot) for about 4 hours. Start out with beef (in cubes), onions, celery and tomatoes (and all spices). Simmer for 3 hours; add carrots and potatoes; simmer for another 1/2 hour; add canned and frozen veggies, cabbage and pasta; simmer for final 1/2 hour.

I start with either a roast that has a bone in or some beef shanks. Must have a bone to make a flavorful broth. After the meat is fall off the bone tender, I add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onion, and whatever else I feel like but everything is fresh, no canned or frozen vegetables.

Gadgets, I add barley and pasta directly to the soup unless I feel I don't have enough liquid. Then I pre-cook.

I think my vegetable soups taste better with a chicken stock base, and home made is much better than boxed or canned. But I don't always have home made available.

I love cabbage in vegetable soup. The only think I don't add is green peppers. I made a good soup with kale in it recently (you have to pre-boil and chop it).

These soups sound so good! The only soup I make is cabbage soup with hamburger, potatoes, carrots, onions, canned tomatoes, spices. It's so hearty and filling and good!

I don't eat meat. I start with a can of tomatoes and add barley and pasta (both uncooked), zucchini, celery, carrots, and whatever veggies I have in the freezer, garlic and lots of spices. I cook it in a crockpot or simmer it on low on the stove until everything is tender. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

In my cooking married time, I emptied the freezer for homemade vegetable soup.

Called it kitchen sink soup :o)

I start with cooking a chuck roast in water on the stovetop. When it's about done, I take it out, let it cool and cut into bite-sized pieces. In the beef broth that is left in the pot, I add V-8 juice, some chili powder and lots of diced potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Then I put the meat back in and let it simmer a while before adding the cabbage. I sure wish I had some right now!

Glenda, that sounds like my aunt's soup. She would save all the leftover vegetables in a Tupperware container in the freezer until she had enough for soup. Sometimes she'd use beef and sometimes chicken. It was always good!

Just a thought--this summer if you have extra veggies, carrots, onions or what ever--find out the correct way to freeze them, then in the winter you can make the soup using your frozen vegetables, not the can and/or frozens ones with too much sodium.. You can even freeze vegetable broth and beef broth, for future use.

I've used this "recipe" for vegetable soup for years and the ingredients are never exactly the same. Depends a lot on what I have in my "soup bag" in the freezer. It's always the same through the addition of garlic powder, before you cook for 15 minutes, and then it just varies from one time to the next.

Easy to cut in half by using one envelope of the onion soup mix. Freezes well, too.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Combine: 3 qts. boiling water
2 pkgs. Dried onion soup mix
Leftover roast beef, steak etc.
Let boil 25-30 min. then add:
1 16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 16 oz. can tomatoes, cut up
1 teas. ea. dried marjoram, basil, pepper and
parsley flakes
1 T. salt, 1 T celery flakes or 2 or more large
stalks celery (cut up) the more the better.
2 bay leaves and 1/2 teas. garlic powder

Let this cook 15 min. then add:
1 lg. bag frozen mixed veg.
1 box frozen cut okra
This is where you can get creative with whatever you may have in your freezer. Let all cook, covered, 2 -3 hrs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Note: I keep bits of leftover veg., roast beef, etc. in a zip-loc bag in the freezer so what I add depends on my "soup bag' and is never quite the same but always good.

I don't really have a recipe, but this is a soup I make often. I saute onions, carrots, celery, garlic and a little pancetta until wilted, I then add swiss chard, potatoes, fresh rosemary or thyme and cook that down a bit. I add a 1 ounce piece of real parm cheese and chicken broth. I simmer until the potatoes are nearly cooked and then add cooked kidney beans or pasta. No matter what type of soup I make I always add the piece of parmesan cheese as it adds a depthness. Last thing I throw in is a handful of chopped Italian parsley. When I serve it I add a teaspon of fresh pesto and some parm cheese to each bowl.

There is a "quick" barley you can buy that doesn't need to cook for an hour before you add the rest of your veggies. I've started to use that.

I start with a can of chicken soup or chili beans. Next dice up whatever vegtables are available in the fridge abd tghrow ino the pot. Add V8 tomato juice to suit. If desired, add seasoning, maybe Lousiana hot sauce, etc. Milder seasoning would be celery ssed and/or freshly ground black peppere. Heat to boiling and stop if you like crunchy vetgables. Serve with oyster crackers.

I love cabbage in soup and also I love cut up turnips in my soup. I raid the fridge and the freezer when i make it so it may be different each time but in general it will have corn, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, onions, garlic, some type of beans, a little pasta, dry herbs and seasonings, carrots, possibly squash if I have it, definitely some type of tomatoes, if I have broccoli or cauliflower that might go in too. I have also cut up Brussels sprouts and added them.
As to meat if I add meat it ranges from a beef roast to cooked hamburger, rotisserie chicken, to smoked sausage or ham. All good!

I've used this "recipe" for vegetable soup for years and the ingredients are never exactly the same. Depends a lot on what I have in my "soup bag" in the freezer. It's always the same through the addition of garlic powder, before you cook for 15 minutes, and then it just varies from one time to the next.

Easy to cut in half by using one envelope of the onion soup mix. Freezes well, too.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Combine: 3 qts. boiling water
2 pkgs. Dried onion soup mix
Leftover roast beef, steak etc.
Let boil 25-30 min. then add:
1 16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 16 oz. can tomatoes, cut up
1 teas. ea. dried marjoram, basil, pepper and
parsley flakes
1 T. salt, 1 T celery flakes or 2 or more large
stalks celery (cut up) the more the better.
2 bay leaves and 1/2 teas. garlic powder

Let this cook 15 min. then add:
1 lg. bag frozen mixed veg.
1 box frozen cut okra
This is where you can get creative with whatever you may have in your freezer. Let all cook, covered, 2 -3 hrs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Note: I keep bits of leftover veg., roast beef, etc. in a zip-loc bag in the freezer so what I add depends on my "soup bag' and is never quite the same but always good.

Didn't mean to do that!

I put most every thing in mine plus sweet peppers, I like the yellow, red or orange ones. I have never put any kind of pasta in mine. I like mine a little brothy so I wouldn't want the pasta. I love cabbage in mine too. Probably I would not even make it if I didn't have cabbage to put in it. Diced tomatoes, but never the sauce. I usually use a chuck roast.

Sue

I like to mix it up by using different combos of veggies, beans, grains, etc. Love different textures in my soup!

Carrots, leeks, onions, sometimes potatoes unless I plan on freezing it, green beans, greens of some type (chard, kale, spinach), parsley leaves and stems, and so on. Usually at least one kind of bean (cannelini, greath northern, black beans), sometimes two (a big bean like cannelini and a small one like adzuki or lentils). Occasionally I throw in a few okra cut into rings (like them in small amounts in soup).

A handful of barley (unless I want actual barley soup, then add much more), millet, rinsed quinoa, amaranth. Sometimes I will add a half cup or so of "red river" grain cereal instead. It has grains and seeds and makes an interesting addition.

I might add tomatoes, sometimes I don't. And almost always some kind of pasta. Ditalini, ancini de pepe, orzo, baby shells).

Now I want soup!

Dances.

I like to start by sauteeing onions and celery, add a quart or more of canned chicken stock, and then I add all sorts of things, and it varies from time to time. We don't eat enough veggies, so I might add
2 to 4 chicken thighs
potatoes
turnips
parsnips
carrots
peas
canned beans (canola, white, pinto, etc)
canned corn
green beans
garlic
parsley
cabbage
broccoli
squash
green or red peppers
tomato sauce
noodles
brown rice
barley
kale

I love it thick with vegetables, but DH doesn't. And he doesn't like noodles or rice either, so I usually add the one can of corn to keep him happy.

I should be cooking.. but here I am at the puter. I am so wore out. But, I do have veggies in my brand new fridge/freezer... and could and should cook. Thanks for the nudge. I shall go and make a veggie soup now... using the mixed veggies from the freezer, and adding some barley.. and some ground beef (already cooked and in the freezer).

Off to cook now.

Moni