National Homemade Soup Day

Why buy it in a can when it can be made from scratch at home? Homemade soup is healthier, fresher, and cheaper by the ounce than its canned counterpart, and the person eating it gets to control what gets put in it. When homemade soup is made, there usually is enough to fill many bowls, not just one, which is another advantage of celebrating today's holiday, National Homemade Soup Day. Taking place in February, the perfect time of the year for soup for those living in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this soup centric day has been observed since at least 1999.

A few of the most common soups are chicken noodle, minestrone, and tomato. Other favorites include French onion, butternut squash, beef and barley, navy bean and ham, chicken and rice, split pea, matzo ball, miso, and gazpacho. Soups may be placed into three main categories: brothy, chunky, or puréed. Brothy soups, like matzo ball, have a large amount of liquid and a lesser amount of other ingredients. With chunky soups, like chowder, black bean, and minestrone, vegetables soften, the liquid reduces, starches thicken, and flavors deepen. Puréed soups, like bisque and tomato, start with a base like onions, a few ingredients are added, it is simmered and then blended.

Most homemade soups are started with a fat like butter or oil. An aromatic base such as garlic and onions, mirepoix, soffritto, or shallots and ginger comes next, and seasonings are then added. Stock or broth is then added. For a soup to be fully homemade, homemade stock or broth should be used, not canned or boxed. Japanese soups, like miso or ramen, don't start with aromatics and use a stock called dashi. Coconut milk, and dairy, like heavy cream, are also used as the liquid in some soups. Following the stock or broth, the main ingredients—like vegetables, legumes, meat, grains, and pasta—are added. The soup is brought to a boil and then simmered. Before being served, some soups are topped with garnishes, like sour cream, cilantro, parsley, dill, cheese, onion, croutons, and seeds. And with that, homemade soup is ready to be served, and National Homemade Soup Day can be celebrated in full!

How to Observe National Homemade Soup Day

Celebrate the day by making and eating homemade soup! You could find a recipe that suits you and get cooking, or you could throw caution to the wind and dream up your own soup, bringing together some of your favorite vegetables, meat, seasonings, and grains. Before simmering your pot of goodness, it may be beneficial to learn more about the most widely known types of soups and to read more information about making homemade soup.

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