When my kids were small they loved condensed vegetable soup. Some days it was the only source of vegetables I could get them to eat. Since we don’t eat canned soup any longer, the kids asked me to give them a substitute for alphabet soup. I asked if they really needed alphabet noodles, and they said no, it just had to taste the same. Gluten free alphabet noodles are available, but they are somewhat hard to find and relatively expensive, so I was happy to omit them. This is my gluten free, dairy free version of vegetable soup. Without alphabet noodles. I use rice instead. My kids give it 2-thumbs up.
Moms will be happy to note that it tastes almost exactly like the canned stuff, so picky children will not be offended. Each serving provides more than 2-servings of vegetables, and if you fry the onion and celery in only 1-teaspoon vegetable oil, it’s low in calories. It takes 30 minutes from start to finish, although most of the time is just simmering.
Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, cut in half longways and then chopped
- 1 quart (4-cups) water
- 1 tablespoon beef or chicken broth powder or 3 bouillon cubes
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1/4 cup rice or GF alphabet pasta or broken up pieces of GF spaghetti
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Directions
Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the chopped celery and onion. Fry it about for 5-minutes. Add everything else. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice or pasta is tender. Stir now and then to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Serve hot.
It will be watery to begin with but will thicken up as the rice swells and softens.
Excellent with a sandwich or wrap for lunch. Good in lunch boxes. Prepare it the day before and then reheat before packing in a preheated thermos for school lunch. My kids like it with refried bean quesadillas. Add a dash of hot sauce to your soup if you prefer it with a little kick.
Makes 4 servings.
Assuming 4 servings; prepared with 1-teaspoon oil and no-salt-added tomato sauce.
Per Serving: 120 Calories; 2g Fat (11.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 333mg Sodium.
Calories by Percentage: 12% Fat; 75% Carbohydrate; 13% Protein.
Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2-1/2 Vegetable
2 Responses to “Not Campbell’s Vegetable Soup”
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Maggie, somehow I managed to misplace your soup recipes, I’m so glad I can still access them on your FA web site.
I have one suggestion for GF recipes calling for pasta. Try using GF angel hair spaghetti. Yes, it’s expensive, BUT, I use only 1/3 to 1/2 the amount called for. It’s such small individual strands, it seems to go much further than the regular gluten filled pasta.
Its tinier strands seem to circulate through the mixture more evenly and each spoon/forkful seems to have more pasta than it really does. It might be my overactive imagination but if you try it let me know what you think.
Frankie
Great Tip Frankie. I have tried using GF spaghetti in soups and it works great, like you said. I guess I used rice in this recipe just because it was less work and cheaper. Anyone who wanted to use pasta instead, could use 1/4-cup of GF spaghetti, that has been broken into small bits.
I still need to try your paddy recipe with sausage or ground meat and mashed potatoes. It’s on my to-do list, lol. I hope to get to it one of these days. It strikes me as both frugal and tasty. Plus family friendly, which is always important to me.
Glad you’re enjoying the soup recipes. These No Campbell’s are some of my favorite. I make one almost every week. The tomato and vegetable versions are the most popular wiht my kids. Even Fred has fallen in love with the vegetable soup.