Variation Recipes

This month with spring on the way we are looking for fresh ideas for adding nutritional punch to any Frontier Soups mix. Customers can submit their own ideas for inventive variations by replying below or posting them on the Frontier Soups Facebook page.

Winning ideas will be posted here on our recipes blog and receive a free sample of a new product we will be introducing later this year. You will be the first to try it and give us feedback on this new soup supper!

Here’s one healthy cooking variation on the Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder recipe.  Substitute pureed corn, carrots or cauliflower, or mashed potatoes as thickeners instead of cream!  Delish dish!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 package Ohio Valley Vegetable Soup mix
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2-4 cups leftover turkey meat cut up
• 1 box frozen peas, or leftover green beans
• Leftover potatoes, mashed or cubed
• (Optional)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Recipe Directions:

1. In a 6 quart soup pot sauté garlic in oil on low heat for 1 minute.
2. Add contents of the vegetable soup mix, without the pasta packet.
3. Toss lightly and add broth and leftover turkey–including any large bones or skin available.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
5. Open pot and remove any bones or turkey skin, add leftover potatoes. (If no potatoes available, add the ditalini pasta from soup mix—cook 10 minutes.)
6. Add peas and lemon juice, cook one minute, stir, and serve with leftover dinner rolls or cornbread!

Beef Variation: Brown 2-3 lbs. beef short ribs in 2 tablespoons oil.  Add contents of Ohio Valley Soup mix, 8 cups beef broth, and simmer 1 hour.  Add 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes and ditalini pasta, simmer 15 minutes and serve.

Vegetarian Variation: Start the recipe as above with garlic, use vegetable broth and no turkey, simmer 45 minutes.  Add 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a ox of frozen lima beans and 2 cups of diced potatoes (or frozen hash browns).

Chicken Variation: Follow directions above but substitute cut up cooked chicken, a diced tomato and two Granny Smith apples peeled and diced.  Add pasta packet and lemon juice last.

Ingredients:

1 package Montana High Plains Wheat Berry Chili
1 cup water
1 pound ground chuck
1 14-ounce can diced tomato
1 iceberg lettuce, chopped or one head of hydroponic lettuce
8 ounces shredded cheddar
Optional: sour cream, diced sweet or purple onions

Recipe Directions:

Place wheat berries from soup mix in 3 cups boiling salted water and simmer covered for 45 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside. Brown ground chuck in skillet, add contents of chili seasoning mix and stir in drained wheat berries. Stir in tomatoes, cover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Serve about 1 cup taco mixture on top of chopped lettuce and add cheese and optional ingredients. If using hydroponic lettuce, spoon mixture into center of each leaf, add cheese and optional sour cream and onion and wrap to eat. Que bueno!

Many of our customers have not only asked for crock pot soup recipes, but have contributed their own ideas on how to do it. These recipes are designed for all-day cooking, so the cook can leave home for work or play and return to dinner– hot and, almost magically, ready to serve. Browse the links below or download a PDF version of our crock pot soup recipes booklet.

Hearty Meal Soup Crock Pot Recipes:

• California Gold Rush White Bean Chili
• Dakota Territory Beef Barley Bean Stew
• Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder
• Holiday Gathering Cranberry Bean Soup
• Indiana Harvest Sausage Lentil Soup
• Iowa Open House Grain & Pasta Potage
• Kansas Sunflower Yellow Split Pea Soup
• Louisiana Red Bean Gumbo
• Michigan Ski Country Chili
• Minnesota Heartland 11-Bean Soup
• Montana High Plains Wheat Berry Chili
• Nebraska Barnraising Green Pea Soup
• New England Seaport Fisherman’s Stew
• New Mexico Mesa Spicy Fiesta Soup
• New York Corner Cafe Minestrone Soup
• Ohio Valley Vegetable Soup
• Texas Wrangler Black Bean Soup
• Washington State Squash and Lentil Soup
• Wisconsin Lakeshore Wild Rice Soup

In general we use chicken broth to complete our recipes. If you want to substitute vegetable broth, you may find you want to add some salt. If you are also avoiding salt, try adding a tablespoon or more of lemon juice to brighten flavor and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. The following vegetarian recipe adaptations make suggestions for leaving out the meat called for in some of our Hearty Meal Soups.

California Gold Rush White Bean Chili
Option 1: Delete the ground turkey, and use 5 cups broth instead of 6.
Option 2: Same as above but add box of frozen or cut up fresh butternut squash for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Dakota Territory Beef Barley Bean Stew
Make mushrooms the meat in this stew. Cut the quantity of broth to 8 cups. Delete the beef and add 1 pound fresh mushrooms sautéed to start the recipe. Finish with the diced turnip or potato and sherry for the last 45 minutes.

Indiana Harvest Sausage Lentil
Start the soup with sautéing the vegetables that go into ratatouille: a red and green pepper, large onion, 2 medium zucchini, a small eggplant–cut up into 1-inch chunks. Add the soup mix and 8 cups broth. Simmer 45 minutes, add the tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with grated parmesan cheese!

Minnesota Heartland 11 Bean Soup
Delete the meats. Use 8 cups water and add 1 cup barbecue sauce for the final 45 minutes of cooking. Adding 1/2 cup rice is another option for the last 45 minutes, but go with 10 cups broth to start the recipe.

New Mexico Mesa Spicy Fiesta Soup
Use 5 cups broth and canned Rotel tomatoes with green chilies instead of regular diced tomatoes for a more spicy flavor.

Calling all vegetarian cooks! Have you tried adding tofu to any of our mixes? We’d love to hear how you adapted our recipes. Contact us with your own vegetarian soup recipe adaptations.

See our complete listing of vegetarian soups.