Turn leftover meat and pantry items into an easy, hearty soup

Sara's soup recipe takes minutes to throw together, is made up of pantry items, and can cook all day in a slow cooker. Mmmm.

One of my default ways to use leftovers is to turn it into soup.  Here's my basic soup recipe; there are a million variations, and it is easy to keep the ingredients in the pantry.

SARA'S LEFTOVER MEAT SOUP

Combine the following in a Crock Pot or on the stove and cook until hot.  (It does fine in the Crock Pot on low all day.)  Serve with a salad and bread.

• Chopped Meat -- I'll cook sausage for dinner one night and save and extra link or two or I'll use any kind of leftover roast meat
• 1 can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 can beans -- garbanzo beans, pintos, cannellini, whatever looks good
• Broth to cover -- chicken, beef, veggie, mushroom, homemade, canned, whatever

The Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes are one of my "secret ingredients" -- they are so good anything made with them tastes wonderful.

I agree that Muir Glen tomatoes are far and away the best. They coat the inside of the can with a material that keeps the tomatoes from touching the metal, and you can really taste the difference. Every time I cheap out and buy a different brand I regret it.

Comments

[Susan]

Great suggestion! I can't wait to try it. I have one alternative for the chopped meat: Morningstar Farms recipe crumbles. They offer several varieties of meatless options, which have the texture and taste of meat (chicken, ground beef, sausage, steak), but not the fat and cholesterol. Plus you can keep them in the freezer and then just dump 'em in your Crockpot.

Susan at Working Moms Against Guilt
http://www.workingmomsagainstguilt.com

[Nutmeg]

Muir Glen was picked in a blind taste test by Cooks Illustrated as the best canned sauce and tomatoes.

[Sam]

I nearly snapped a nursing bra strap when I saw these canned tomatoes today at the supermarket just after reading this post! We hardly ever see items referred to on US sites here in Indonesia, so I grabbed a few while I was there and I'll give this recipe a whirl.

[Melinda]

That is so funny. I made a roast last night. I went home at lunch and with the left overs I made vegetable soup.