Thrifty Thursday: Homemade Dry Soup Mixes, LOVE This Idea!

I got to thinking about how easy freezer meals are for dinner, but at lunch I often times have a hard time trying to figure out what to eat; which causes me to graze. Then it occurred to me that I could make dry soup mixes to keep on hand for lunches, then I would have an easy, yet delicious soup to eat without a lot of fuss! An even better idea, lets make them super cheap by buying these dry ingredients in WinCo’s bulk section! Here are some pretty good looking recipes I will have to try! (Another idea: make the soup a head of time and freeze in muffin cups. Then just pull 2 out and heat.) Please let me know your favorite soup mix recipes.

Friendship Soup Mix

Instead of using ground beef in the recipe because I will be making this for lunch I’ll either at Smoked Sausage or no meat at all, but it’s completely up to you!

Yields 16 servings, so definitely cut into small batches if possible!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry split peas

1/3 cup beef bouillon granules

1/4 cup pearl barley

1/2 cup dry lentils

1/4 cup onion soup mix

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup uncooked alphabet pasta

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a jar or Ziploc bag to be used later (bag the pasta separately). On the day of cooking you will need the following:

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

black pepper to taste

garlic salt to taste

1 (14.5 ounce) can chopped tomatoes – undrained

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

3 quarts water

Directions:

Remove pasta from top of jar, and set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, brown beef with pepper and garlic; drain excess fat. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and soup mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in the pasta, cover, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta, peas, lentils and barley are tender.

Chicken Noodle Soup Mix

Yields: 10 cups of soup, could be split in half to make to smaller batches

Ingredients For Mix:

1/4 cup red lentils
2 Tablespoons dried onion
1-1/2 Tablespoons chicken-flavored bouillon granules
1-1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/8 teaspoon ground celery
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small bay leaf (optional)
1 cup uncooked medium egg noodles

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a Ziploc bag or glass jar to store. On the day of cooking you will need the following:

Ingredients:

8 cups water
1 jar Turkey-Noodle Soup mix
1 package (10 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups cooked, diced turkey or chicken

Directions:

Bring water to boil in large saucepan over high heat; stir in soup mix. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in frozen mixed vegetables and cooked turkey. Cook 5 minutes longer or until noodles and vegetables are tender.

Thanks, Thrifty Living & All Recipes