Here ye here ye, calling all basic b’s to commence for the season of the soups. I have a lot of good brews to share, so get your caldrons ready. This soup season was fueled by unexpected mouth surgery which in turn, its creations fueling my recovery. My previous post “Pumpkin Soup” And “Chicken Noodle Soup for the Basic B**** Soul” have permanently relocated and are settled in their new home with their other soup friends. All in all, soup season is a season to be enjoyed with loved ones so if you have ones you love or ones that you can tolerate, I encourage you to warm up your hearts and crockpots. I hope you enjoy the soups of my labor:

• Broccoli Cheddar
• Chicken Enchilada
• Chicken Noodle Soup for the Basic B**** Soul
• Loaded Potato
• Minestrone
• Mushroom Bisque
• Split Pea (coming soon, May 2026)
• Pumpkin Soup

Broccoli Cheddar

This soup features many vegetables in camouflage, so, essentially the foundation isn’t unhealthy. Besides maxing out the vegetables, any roux-based dish can be made healthier by cutting butter and subbing regular milk with coconut milk. I opted for a blend of half coconut milk and bone broth, gaining added protein from the broth.The cheese was another key stake, given the dish’s title it’s ranked second most important, with broccoli (of course) being number one. I chose mild cheddar because sharp cheddar wasn’t playing nicely with the broccoli. Silliousness aside, I found sharp to be too bold and it doesn’t melt as well. I also read that aged cheddar isn’t the best option. Mild had the nice Goldilocks effect.

We are going start with the onion, sauté it in the butter and olive oil and then after about 5 minutes, add the garlic.

Start the roux by slowly adding the flour to the onion mixture and mix with vigor. Once the flour is integrated, slowly add the broth and milk. After you ensured that everyone is getting along in the pot, add the rest of the veggies and let that simmer for 30-60 minutes with the lid on lock. Typically, I let soups reduce to get their texture, but with roux-based soups, the flour already creates the texture. So if you reduce it, you run the risk of it turning into gravy. That is not what soup is about.

Take it off the burner and let it cool, from here you can leave it ‘chunky’ or you could blend it up, given my situation, blended rendered best.

Once its blended, fold in the cheese! If you opted not to blend, you would fold in the cheese and serve. At the lowest recommendation serve with green onion. At the highest recommendation add croutons, bacon, and a sprinkle of cheese. Feel free to add in more bone broth to get your texture of choice.

Chicken Enchilada

Now do not let this one fly under your radar, if you are a fan of its cousin, “Chicken Tortilla” you will be blown away. This soup has a thicker texture because you add enchilada sauce. I would love to recreate this with my friend’s homemade sauce, but I bought the brand with the ingredients that closely reflects the one I make. I blended the chicken given my circumstances; I will leave the chicken out of the blender next time as the texture was odd. No ragrets though (not even one letter), the flavor was incredible.

• 1 Red Onion
• 10 oz Red Enchilada Sauce
• 14 oz Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 cup of Corn
• ¼ cup Tomato Paste
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper (chopped)
• 1 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
• 4 cups Chicken Bone Broth
• ¼ cup Lime Juice
• 1 can Green Chili
• 1 Can Black Olives
• Seasonings: ¼ cup fresh Cilantro, 1.5 tsp Cumin, ½ tsp Oregano, ½ tsp Chili Powder, ½ tsp Ancho Chili Powder, ½ tsp coriander, 1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo (with 1 tbs Adobo Sauce)
• Optional for Serving: Green onion, Greek Yogurt

Cook your chicken, whether you air fry, sear then add later, or sous vide- it’s not that deep and it’s not the highlight of the dish so don’t think too hard. Just DO NOT overcook it, you can always slightly undercook it and let it simmer to cook through.

Sauté all the veggies together, then add everything else, let simmer for an hour, then blend it. After blended, add chicken and cheese. Serve with green onion, cheese, and a dollop of Greek Yogurt (Sour Cream).

Chicken Noodle Soup for the Basic B**** Soul

Now this dish does more than summon Fall, it also warms your bones and cures ailments. The secret to this phenomenon is at the foundation of the dish- the stock. The stock is made with a chicken bone broth, adding trace nutrients and bone warming energy. It’s quite the process but luckily with the crockpot, it’s fairly hands off and yields enough to stock up on (pun intended) and freeze for the remainder of the year. Let’s begin!

• A Whole Chicken
• Water (lots of water, enough to fill a crockpot so hopefully this is not in short supply where you reside)
• 4-5 Carrots (2 for the stock (not chopped), 2-3 for the soup (sliced))
• 1 Large Yellow Onion (keep the skin/first layer for the stock, dice the rest for the soup)
• 3 Ribs Celery (along with all the leafy parts and base for the stock)
• 1/2 c Lemon Juice
• 1/4-1/2 bag Egg Noodles (depends on how many noodles you like, I prefer more broth/stock than noodles)
• 8 cloves of garlic (2 for the chicken, 3 for the stock, 3 for the soup)
• 4 c Chicken Broth (*optional, again I like more broth so I add this at the very end)
• Seasonings
  – Chicken: 1-2 tbs Everyday Seasoning (until coated), 1 tbs Italian Seasoning, 1/2 tbs Garlic Powder, 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube (dissolved in 2 c hot water), salt + pepper
  – Stock (add water to the bones from the chicken): 3 Garlic Cloves (whole), 1/2 tbs peppercorns (whole), 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube, 3 Sprigs of Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage (really whatever fresh herb besides Mint)
  – Soup: 1 tbs Everyday Seasoning, 1 tbs Italian Seasoning, 3 Garlic Cloves (chopped), 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube, Fresh Herbs (same as above), 1/2 tbs Pepper, Salt (as needed, it’s hard to gauge but I taste and add depending on my personal preference, adjust for yours)

After about 6-8 hours on low or 5 hours on high you will find your chicken tender. Keep all of the juice from the chicken, this is essential for the final phase of the process and of course the flavor. This is also a great way to make rotisserie-style chicken with minimal effort. Once it cools, I highly advise you let it cool for at least an hour or two, debone the chicken separating the meat from the bones. Put the chicken meat in a container and place it in the fridge, allowing it to prepare for its imperative next task. Throw the bones back in the pot along with 2 carrots, the leafy parts of the celery with the stalk, a chicken bouillon cube, and the skin of one onion along with a few layers (the onion skin gives the stock its color). This is the basic broth (nothing wrong with being basic). For a beyond basic broth, I would add any other vegetables that you have: parsnips, fennel, leek, bok choy- all are great additions and they add a unique flavor profile. Let the broth go for a minimum of 20 hours, max of 48- anything longer will cause the bones to disintegrate and will make it harder to filter- no one wants crunchy bone soup, just bone broth.

After 20-48 hours, filter it out leaving behind the stock. Add the chicken juice from the previous phase, chopped carrots, celery, onion, chicken bouillon cube, seasonings, and 1/2 cup lemon juice. After about 6-8 hours, add the cut chicken pieces and allow that to hang out in the crockpot for another 2 hours. The oodles of noodles are last, if they are in with the stock for too long they will turn into mush, we do not like noodle mush. Once the broth is 30 minutes to an hour out, cook the noodles until Al Dente, then add them to the crockpot for the remainder of the time. The noodles will cook through with the broth without turning mushy. If you are adding additional broth, you can add it at this time or wait until you portion out the soup to eat and freeze, topping each container off.

Serve with a grilled cheese, preferably containing sliced tomato (apparently this is a hot take, but I recommend the tomato). Dip, drink, repeat until the soup is gone, your bones are warm, and it’s cold outside.

Overall, this is a hands off dish but it can take a few days to put together, it freezes exceptionally well and no better way to kick off soup season.

Loaded Potato

This soup tends to be on the heavier side; my friend just made a batch of the traditional version with milk and cream and shared she felt it for a while. While this soup capitalizes on the same concept of the original, it cuts those two ingredients leaving the gut feeling much lighter after a sitting. It’s essentially runny mashed potatoes, apologies if that left an unpleasant visual in your mind, but I assure you while my sales pitch may be underwhelming the taste isn’t.

• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion (diced)
• 1 cup Celery
• 4 Cloves Garlic (minced)
• 2 cups Coconut Milk
• 2 cups Bone Broth
• 1.5 lbs Yellow Potatoes
• 2 oz Whipped Cream Cheese
• 1.5 oz Crème Fraiche
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
• 4 slices Bacon
• 2 tbs Flour
• Seasonings:1/2 tbs Italian, 1 tsp Thyme, salt/pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Sauté the onion and celery in olive oil and let them hang out for 5-8 minutes, slowly add the flour and mix well, then pour the broth in slowly. Add all the spices and potatoes, let it simmer for at least 20 minutes. Optional to let the soup cool a bit before putting it in the blender. I blended the bacon with the soup too, you can serve it on top but I find the integration favorable. Once blended, fold in all the cheeses, see proper technique below.

Enjoy with bacon bits, a little cheese, fried Rosemary, and a dollop of Greek Yogurt (Sour Cream).

Minestrone

This is one of my favorite soups- but I never made it before… until now. I replaced the rice/pasta with pearled cous cous, adding more protein. Fun fact, for some reason, the spice profile did not allow me to enjoy the soup until the second week of surgery. It was a subtle spice, having gum tissue grow where taste buds coexist proves how powerful flavor can be. And she is back with a vengeance.

• 1 cup Carrots (chopped)
• 1 cup Yellow Onion (diced)
• 1 cup Celery
• 1 cup Green Beans (chopped, fresh or frozen)
• 2 cups Spinach (fresh, chopped)
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 1/4c Tomato Paste
• 2 (14.5 oz cans) Fire Roasted Tomatoes (optional 1 whole/peeled and 1 fire roasted)
• 6 cups Vegetable Stock
• 1 can Kidney Beans
• 1 Lemon (juiced)
• Sausage (spicy or mild, I used smokey poblano which explains why it packed the unexpected heat)
• Olive Oil
• Seasonings: 1tbs Italian, 1 tsp Thyme, ½ tsp ground Oregano, salt/pepper
• Optional: Croutons and Parmesan for serving

This soup is so easy, trust me, a hard one to mess up. Throw all the veggies in a pot, sauté, and add everything else. This is a soup that you want to simmer for as long as humanly possible before serving. The longer the soup sits, the more the beans will absorb the flavor. I chose kidney beans, a lot of recipes opted for white beans, but the kidney varietal packs more fiber.

And to blow your mind, this process can be accomplished by throwing everything in a crockpot so you can come home from work and enjoy a hearty bowl of soup. The only ‘labor’ is the chopping (pro tip: do the chopping the night before). Oh, and it freezes well so stock up!

Mushroom Bisque

When I thought I couldn’t have enough soup I decided to challenge myself because I was sick of eating the 4 types of soups I made. I hosted the girls and made this mushroom bisque in which I served them a grilled cheese, I got croutons that were heavily drunk in bisque. You can go two routes for a mushroom bisque:

Route 1: Cost effective with Baby Bellas

Route 2: You throw in every foreign mushroom a Sprouts market can offer you at that given moment

• 22 oz Mushrooms
• 5 tbs Butter
• 4 Cups Bone Broth
• ½ cup Half and Half (you see what I did there)
• Seasonings: 3 tsp Italian, 1 tsp Thyme, salt and pepper to taste

Naturally, I went route 2 and here was the boujee mushroom blend that Sprouts offered me: shitake, maitake, portabella, and a chef’s sampler blend. Keep in mind you can sub in Bellas, but personally I will always choose the boujee road. In the time you took to read this, I am already battle testing this dish with Bellas and will have this blog updated if it makes a significant difference.

You start this dish by chopping the mushrooms up. Essentially, its rinse, wash, repeat, at this point. I wish soups had more culinarily edge, but in all reality, they don’t. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter, oil, and herbs. Then from there, you add the liquids and let them get merry,

Once they are merry, let it cook for at least 45 minutes (covered as we don’t want it to reduce). Then you blend it and turn it into the beautiful bisque it was always destined to be. Serve hot like the baddie you are.

Split Pea (May 2026)

Pumpkin Soup

What screams Fall more than a soup made with a festive squash? Most lean toward the typical butternut varietal, but this recipe adds a unique twist and utilizes your leftover Halloween pumpkin. Now I typically preserve mine and not carve it for this reason, but if you have maybe you will be inspired to go buy a clearance pumpkin to create this dish.

• 1 Medium Pumpkin
• 4c Miso Ginger Broth from Trader Joes
• 4c Chicken Broth
• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• Pumpkin Seeds and 1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary
• Crème Fraîche (for serving)
• 1 tbs Fresh Pomegranate (for serving)
• Seasonings: 5 Cloves Garlic, 2 tsp Garlic Powder, 1.5 tsp Italian Seasoning, 1 tsp Onion Powder, 1 tsp Cinnamon

You start with the elephant in the room, or the pumpkin- nonetheless, (compared to the rest of the ingredient’s size it might as well be an elephant) we need to squash it. Turn on the oven’s roasting chamber to 375.

Here is how one does so: cut it in half, scoop out the guts, and then prepare it for its roast. If you are feeling extra ambitious, sort out the seeds and see my pumpkin seed recipe below. And let me emphasize the fact that you are already doing all of this work, you might as well go 110% and get a tasty snack out of the endeavor. It’s decided, you are doing it- so, sort through that gooey mess for the seeds and see below into how to execute the snack.

Back to the roasting of the squash- drizzle it in olive oil, sprinkle Italian seasoning, and salt/pepper. Once your pumpkin looks as good as below, throw it in the oven for at least an hour, the main goal is that it’s fork tender.

Then you blend the s*** out of it with the spices and the ratios listed in the ingredient list. I did mine in two batches due to my food processor size, go in batches until your squash is a nice purée.

Next feat would be to pan sear the pumpkin seeds (not the ones from our squash friend, the de-shelled ones we paid extra for, trust me the flavor profile is worth it) roast them until toasty with a sprig of rosemary.

Pumpkin Seeds

Here is how to care for your pumpkin’s friends. Handle with care.

• Pumpkin Seeds
• Worcestershire sauce
• Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper

Sort, rinse, soak, dry- this will take 24 hours to soak and then another half day to dry. The longer the drying period, the easier to eat the shell. Add the seasoning and let that sit for at least 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes. I forgot to get a final picture and had friends over, they didn’t survive the night. To clarify, the seeds didn’t survive, my friends are alive and well.