A good starter for any soup is broth. Most soups I make are based from broth I made. This recipe includes methods for stove top, slow cooker, and pressure cooker/Instant pot.

I always have broth from leftover bones I throw in the freezer get put into a pot with water, simmer for half the day or longer in the crock pot, and it makes at least 9 pints. Then I chill the jars in the fridge, then freeze. I take one out the day before I want to make a soup or something and it thaws in the fridge. A shortcut of course, is canned or boxed broth.

SLOW COOKER VEGETABLE BROTH

I save scraps from vegetables whenever I chop them for a meal (after they’ve been washed, of course), I add ends or peels that I don’t want in the dish to plastic gallon storage bags and toss them into the freezer. When there is a gallon bag full, I dump the frozen scraps into a 6 quart crock pot, cover with 10-12 cups water, add a split or smashed clove of garlic or two, and a teaspoon of peppercorns and some parsley (fresh or dry is fine). I love having it on hand in the fridge/freezer for recipes. Like the collard greens I have been making in the pressure cooker with bacon and onion flavors. It also makes a great base for Italian-style soups or stews.

Yields between 9-11 pints, depending on how much or little you reduce the stock.

CHICKEN OR TURKEY BONE BROTH

On the stovetop:

Place leftover meat and bones into a pot, add a couple cloves smashed garlic, a handful of peppercorns, and cover with water. Let come to a rapid boil, then turn down to a mere simmer and leave it on the stove for at least two hours (all day is better) to make about 5-6 quarts of rich, reduced stock.

Once you get to the last couple hours or so, add in herbs (parsley, thyme, etc.) and vegetable scraps (carrot, onion, and celery tops). If you’d like to yield a lot of liquid but find it really reducing well and still tasting rich, you can keep adding water to it.

The resulting product is not only great for starting a soup, but the bones and cartilage render a lot of nutritious gelatin which has great healing and nurturing properties. I try to drink broth made from bones at least once a week, and sip mugs of it all day on the rare occasions I get a head cold, or days I feel just plain icky (also rare).

The above method also works for a slow cooker, just put the water on high for 2-4 hours, then low for 12-24 hours (the longer, the better) and add in the aromatics in at the last 2 hours.

SLOW COOKER BONE BROTH

Simply increase cooking time (on low) to several hours (I let mine go 12 hours, sometimes longer, depending on the bones—raw ones will yield a pretty rich broth in shorter time, while bones from leftovers may take longer to leech from).

INSTANT POT/PRESSURE COOKER BONE BROTH

Place bones and pour water up to fill line. Lock down lid and close valve. Set cook time to 25-30 minutes. Set to manual release (open valve button or clamp, rather than letting it release on its own). You can reduce this on the stovetop if you like.

Hungry for more real food? There are 20 soup recipes in my ebook, Diabetic to Ketogenic: Reclaim Your Health With Real Food