Matt Preston’s budget-friendly soups to get you through winter

It’s the perfect time to add a few cost-effective soup recipes to your weekly menu — and this French onion soup is a real winner.

While we’re no strangers to soups during summer – whether that’s a fresh pea and ham soup or a cold gazpacho – this is the time of year when interest in making soup starts to bubble, as winter starts to bite.

Known for being an economical lunch, dinner or snack, soup is a great meal option when you’ve got a batch stored in the fridge or freezer.

Between 2019 and 2022, soup searches on delicious.com.au rose by 30 per cent, perhaps because we were all looking to save money when prices rose in parallel with the stresses caused by the pandemic.

It was a time that called for the sort of reassurance only a well-made soup can offer.

Pumpkin remains Australia’s favourite soup, but there are plenty of other fresh produce you might want to put in your pot.

Matt Preston loves making a good soup.

Here are five of my favourites, new and rediscovered.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Once the go-to “cheap meal in a bowl”, this old-school soup – the modern version of which originated in Paris’ fresh food market Les Halles – is surely the next retro dish to make a return.

French onion soup with croutons.

It needs slow cooking, the best stock you can find, loads and loads of onions sweated down to caramel-ly goodness, and a good splash of cider or brandy to deglaze the pan.

In my book, it must also come with grilled melty, cheesy croutons on the top or else it is no more than “lots of onion” soup.

CHEAT’S POTATO AND LEEK SOUP

Potato and leek soup has been having a bit of a moment lately and, while making it can be as painstaking as cooking up a classic French vichyssoise, it can also be as easy as frying loads of leeks and mixing them with last night’s mashed potato, and some good stock, before blending.

The starchiness of the potatoes will give the soup its signature creaminess without the need for adding any dairy.

Potato and leek soup is a go-to favourite.

RED CURRY SOUP

Supping the juicy leftovers of last night’s red curry gravy is one of my favourite reasons to order this dish for takeaway.

There is something decadent about the creaminess of the coconut milk with that chilli, those other warm spices, and the subtle saltiness of shrimp paste.

You can hand-grind your own red curry paste, but honestly I’d just buy a jar of paste and be done with it if you want to make your own red curry soup.

Add stock and coconut milk and, if you feel you need it, add diced pumpkin, potato or sweet potato after you’ve fried off your paste to increase the bulk without overloading the soup with coconut cream.

Make sure you simmer long enough to totally soften these ingredients if using; otherwise add some cooked white rice when blending. To finish, I like to balance the flavour of the soup with fish sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

‘BACHELOR’S HANDBAG’ SOUP (ON TOAST)

I love those cut-price roast chooks you can find at the end of the day in the supermarket.

Strip off the meat, then throw the skin and bones into a pot of chicken stock with a bay leaf or two, and four cloves of crushed garlic. Add any juices left in the bag, then simmer to intensify the stock’s flavour.

While this is happening, slowly fry diced carrots and a sliced leek until soft. Skim and strain the stock, add the veg and a cup of frozen peas along with half the meat you’ve gleaned earlier (save the rest for tomorrow’s lunch).

Simmer for five minutes, then ladle over sourdough toast placed at the bottom of each bowl.

Chicken is a great addition to soup.

XO MUSHROOM SOUP

Fry some diced onions and carrots until soft, then add minced garlic and ginger.

When they’re coloured a gentle tan by the heat, add a dollop of doubanjiang (spicy fermented bean paste) and two-thirds of a jar of XO mushroom sauce (available in supermarkets).

Stir through.

Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, cook what feels like too many diced mushrooms (browns or shiitake are good; oyster, too – I say “too many” because they shrink dramatically) in oil over a high heat until they start to soften and brown at the edges.

Add a cup of fresh breadcrumbs or cooked rice to give it more body, return the onion mixture to the pan and throw in a good glug of Chinese rice wine for flavour.

Fry for a couple of minutes more, then add a generous amount of stock. Simmer for at least 15 minutes.

You’ll know the soup is ready when the breadcrumbs have collapsed down into it. Blend and season with a splash of soy sauce to taste.

Garnish with a little of the leftover XO mushroom sauce and some slices of fried lap cheong (Chinese sausage) if you desire.

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Originally published as Matt Preston’s budget-friendly soups to get you through winter