I love soup, it’s a super quick and easy versatile meal when you are in a hurry, fab for lunches, dinners and even a healthy snack when you just can’t wait for something more substantial.

I’m going to share with you today my 3 top soup recipes of the moment:

Leek and Potato

Spicy Butternut Squash & Red Pepper

Vegetable Broth

All are super quick & easy to make and are fantastic for lunches and dinners alike and they all freeze well too.

So first up is my super easy, super fast leek & potato. The recipe is loose and really depends on the quantities you use. Normally I use 3 leeks and 6 large potatoes (so if you want to make more or less just make sure you use twice as many potatoes as leeks). Chop the leeks and wash, peel & chop the potatoes – add to a large saucepan and add vegetable stock until the veg is covered and simmer for around 30minutes or until the potatoes are soft, blitz with a hand blender and that’s it super quick, fuss free leek and potato soup.

For the Butternut Squash & Red Pepper soup you will need:

1 medium sized Butternut Squash

1 red pepper

1 onion

1tsp lazy garlic (or 1 garlic clove minced)

1/2tsp of lazy chilli (or half a red chilli) *you can add more if you like it spicy but I think a whole teaspoonful is to much and a bit over powering*

1.2ltrs vegetable stock

Chop the squash, onion & red pepper and add to a saucepan, add your garlic & chilli or leave out of these aren’t to your taste the cover with the vegetable stock and simmer for about 30 minutes until the squash is soft. Blitz with a hand blender and serve drizzled with crème fraîche.

I make my vegetable soup with meat stock either beef or chicken depending on what I have available to me. If you are vegetarian you can of course make it with vegetable stock and it will be just as tasty.

I also add:

1/2 cup of soup mix (found in most supermarkets)

1 packet of pre-chopped soup veg just make sure it’s finely chopped otherwise you may need to make some of the pieces smaller.

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Now when my granny used to make this she steeped the soup mix overnight in cold water – most packets you can now use straight away without steeping. In a large saucepan add approximately 1.25 litres of stock (veg or meat) bring to the boil & add the soup mix for approximately 5 minutes then add your veg and boil for a further 10, turn the heat down and continue to simmer for 30/40 minutes, at this stage I usually add some meat as well so either shin or chicken depending on what stock I’ve used.

Ladle into big bowls and serve with chunks of crusty bread for a delicious filling lunch or a quick and easy dinner.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do and please let me know how you get on if you make any of them.

Laura x