Warm Up With Our Favorite Soup Recipes

As the crisp Vermont air signals the arrival of fall, there’s nothing quite like a warm, comforting bowl of soup to chase away the chill. At Blue Cross Vermont, we believe in the power of good food to bring people together and nourish both body and soul. That’s why we’ve gathered some of our employees’ favorite soup recipes, perfect for cozying up on a chilly day. 

Chunky Potato and Swiss Chowder

“This is a great recipe to add goodies from the garden!” shares Clinical Case Manager Roxane Gerard.

Ingredients

• 2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 2 large)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 cup cubed carrot (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 cup cubed yellow squash
• 2 (15.75-ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup hot cooked wild rice
• 1 cup half-and-half
• ½ cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• Fresh chopped parsley (optional)

Directions

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Add leek and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until tender.

Stir in potato and next 4 ingredients (potato through bay leaves); bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender.

Discard bay leaves.

Place half of the potato mixture in a blender, and process until smooth.

Return pureed potato mixture to pan; stir in rice and the remaining ingredients except parsley.

Cook over medium heat until cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

“I never make the same soup twice. I throw everything in but the kitchen sink... and measurements? They don't exist. I just eyeball it,” shares Senior Quality Liaison Amanda Bergeron. “I love a good cream of broccoli soup but with my own twist!”

Ingredients

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Onion
• Garlic
• Veggie or Chicken Broth
• Homemade roux using butter, flour, and cream or milk
• Optional: Quinoa, meat, cheese, green onion, scallion.

Directions

Boil fresh broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onion, and fresh garlic. Amanda emphasizes that you can use whatever you have on hand, like squash, zucchini, carrot, or potatoes. Cook the vegetables to preference, then add the broth.

Make homemade roux to thicken the soup using butter, flour, and cream (or milk). Add the roux to veggie mix when it's at the consistency desired.

Then mix in spices to taste. Amanda uses salt, pepper, garlic, and nutmeg.

Incorporate any personal additions like quinoa or prepared meat.

Once served, you can top it with cheese like fresh mozzarella or grated Cabot cheddar and sprinkle with green onion or scallion on top.

Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup

“This is so good with crusty bread, and it's SO EASY,” shares Research Specialist Kasey Staake.

Ingredients

• 1/2 butternut squash sliced
• 16 oz tomatoes
• 1 head of garlic
• 1/3 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place butternut squash, tomatoes, garlic, basil, onion, olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking pan. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

In a large pot, heat the vegetable broth and pour in the baked butternut squash and tomato mixture, including the juices. Blend with an immersion blender, then stir in heavy cream.

Let heat a few more minutes before serving.

Mexicali Soup

“This is my Mom's Mexicali Soup. We love it, the kids love it, it's a year-round soup that we ask for often,” shares Operations Manager Julie Sancibrian.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 can sliced or diced potatoes
• 1 can green beans, cut up
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 can corn
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can cut carrots
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions

Brown and drain beef or turkey in soup pot.

Add chopped onion and cans of veggies, liquid and all (except for kidney beans).

Add water or chicken broth to cover ingredients by ½-inch.

Season with 1 teaspoon each of oregano, basil and chili powder, then add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

Simmer until heated through.

Notes: If using fresh potatoes and carrots, pre-cook slightly before adding, or allow time for them to simmer until soft. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or tortilla strips, if desired.

Fancy Ramen

“My kids love ‘Fancy’ Ramen!” shares Associate Robotic Process Automation Engineer Katie Ware.

Ingredients

• Eggs (1 per person)
• 1 quart broth
• Frozen veggies
• Preferred protein (example: chicken or tofu)
• 1 tbsp Pureed Ginger
• 1 tbsp Miso paste
• Ramen noodles
• Kimchi
• Pickled Ginger

Directions

Soft boil eggs, at least 1 per person.

In a soup pot, heat 1 quart of your preferred broth.

Add leftover or frozen veggies. Katie uses peas and carrots, and sometimes broccoli.

Add any protein you have in your fridge. Katie will often use leftovers.

Add pureed ginger and miso paste and bring it all to a boil.

Add ramen noodles, simmer until soft.

Serve with boiled eggs cut in half, and kimchi or pickled ginger if desired.

Stamppot

“When I was growing up, we were allowed to choose our birthday meal and given that I’m a soup weather baby, stamppot was almost always my choice,” shares Medical/Clinical Coding Specialist Maggie Roddy.

Ingredients

• 1-ish pound of dark leafy greens, finely chopped. Kale is traditional, but you can use endive, curly endive, chard, or spinach.
• 2-ish pounds of potatoes, sweet or not, peeled or not, cut into chunks, russets are best
• 1-ish (or more) pounds precooked sausage, knockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, etc., cut into chunks or not
• Milk
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

In a soup pot, boil the kale and potatoes together until the potatoes are tender. Drain, saving some of the liquid.

Mash the potato/kale mixture with butter and milk until it’s a soupy texture (not a mashed potato texture.)

You can loosen the potato/kale mix with the reserved water if you don’t want it to be too rich.  

Nestle the precooked sausage into the pot. Bring everything back to a simmer.  Heat the sausage through.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Make it your own. Maggie shares that some people will brown off a pound of bacon lardons (small strips or cubes of fatty bacon) to dress it up, and some might toss in a bit of vinegar.  She suggests playing with the ratio of kale to potatoes, or using different veggies altogether, like carrots or parsnips.

“It’s really whatever you want to do, just don’t forget to call me for dinner!” she adds.

More favorite recipes to try

Homemade Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

“We love it because according to my kids, ‘it makes your insides warm and happy’,” shares Clinical Team Lead Jessica Bane.

Vegan Green Soup with Crispy Tofu                    

“I LOVE soups. I have so many good recipes. I’ll try to choose only one. I’ve made this one several times. Mild tasting, but yummy!” shares Director of Pharmacy Nancy Hogue.

Taco Soup

“One of my go-to favorites and you can make it versatile with whatever ingredients you choose to use,” shares Plan Performance Analyst Katie Moulton.

Instant Pot Sausage & Spinach Soup

“I like to use an Italian ground turkey sausage like Stonewood farms,” shares Account Manager Cerridwen Moser-Bertsche.

Italian Penicillin Soup

Recommended by Research Specialist Brenda LaBrie

Lasagna Soup

Recommended by Senior Claims Analyst Kim Holt