To celebrate the beginning of Frugal Nation and the end of Soupified, I bring you a bowl of tasty soup made with some basic ingredients from the pantry and vegetable drawer. These simple ingredients create a delicious and satisfying soup for a small amount of money. The earthy flavor of parsnips balances the sweetness of the potatoes, along with fresh ginger for a subtle warmth to the soup.

I purchased canned chicken broth, but homemade would certainly work just as well. With making soup, I find butter and chicken stock add a richness that olive oil and vegetable broth cannot. This does not mean you could not make this a vegetarian soup, but it changes the flavor. Vegetable stock, if not homemade, can also be much more expensive than chicken broth.

This soup could also be blended, but I personally do not prefer pureed soups. If you want to puree the soup, place in a blender in batches after the final step below. Be sure to remove the center cap of the top to allow steam to escape (hot liquids will expand).

Sweet Potato & Parsnip Soup

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 tsp dried basil
6 cups chicken broth or stock
fresh ground black pepper

Melt butter in a large stockpot. Add onions and a small amount of salt. Saute for 3-5 minutes until softened. Add ginger and saute for 30 seconds or until very fragrant. Add parsnips, sweet potatoes, and basil. Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables begin to turn golden brown.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender when pierced by a fork, about 25 minutes. Add peppper to taste.

Frugal Breakdown:
butter: negligible
onion: $0.50
fresh ginger: $0.19
3 large sweet potatoes: $2.98
3 parsnips: $1.50
dried basil: negligible
6 cups chicken broth or stock: $2.09
fresh ground black pepper: negligible

TOTAL: $7.26

Servings: 6
Price per Serving: $1.21

Verdict: Success! With some money leftover for some nice bread on the side.

While the cost is specific to the ingredients I used, you could also substitute other vegetables in this soup. Celery would be a good replacement for parsnips, or another root vegetable such as turnips. Carrots might be a little too sweet along with the sweet potatoes, but a hardy winter squash could substitute for sweet potatoes (such as butternut or acorn).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 am and is filed under Frugal Nation, Recipes, Soupified, Soups, Special Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.