soups and stews

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

These twice-baked sweet potatoes are an all-in-one creamy side dish served in their own jacked made sweet with maple syrup and savory with white cheddar and brown sugar bacon.

I’m no Southern belle, and being brought up in Utah, sweet potatoes were never much of a thing. Funeral potatoes casserole have been and will always be way more Utah’s style.

When roasted in the oven, baked sweet potatoes become so sweet and flavorful there’s not much need for adding anything else to them. But when special occasions like Thanksgiving (or any fall potluck party) comes around, dressing up the humble sweet potato with maple syrup, white cheddar cheese and brown sugar-laced bacon bits then baking them up twice is exactly what’s called for.continue to the recipe… about Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Beef Stew with Butternut Squash (Instant Pot, Stove Top or Crock Pot)

Tender chuck roast pairs with classic stew veggies and butternut squash in this easy beef stew made even easier in the Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or on the stove top.

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

I made this classic Beef Stew with a slew of nutritious veggies in my Instant Pot on the pressure cooking setting, and the whole stew was cooked and ready to eat in just 40 minutes. Compare that to 2 hours or more on the stove top and you’ll know why I’m such a fan.

BUT! If you don’t have an Instant Pot, this beef stew is just as easily prepared on the stove top, or in the slow cooker, with directions for both below.

continue to the recipe… about Beef Stew with Butternut Squash (Instant Pot, Stove Top or Crock Pot)

30 Best Comforting Soup Recipes

This list of 30 of the web’s best soup recipes to cook during fall and winter shows why there’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of hot soup on a cold day.

Soup season is here, and like so many of you, I am raising my spoon with glee at the idea of getting into the kitchen and cooking a pot (or 30) of my slurpable favorites.continue to the recipe… about 30 Best Comforting Soup Recipes

Easy Taco Soup (Stove Top, Crock Pot or Instant Pot)

This easy taco soup recipe can be made in 30 minutes on the stove top, Instant Pot, or slow cooked in the Crock Pot for a healthy Mexican-inspired, make-ahead, one-bowl meal.

In the words of Rachel Ray, this easy taco soup eats more like a “stoup”, aka stew meets soup. It’s hearty, healthy, totally flavorful, not overly brothy, and once you’ve emptied your bowl you feel like you’ve actually eaten a meal. And all those taco toppings seal the Mexican dinner deal.

We all have different cooking styles and different needs. Fast. Slow. Later. That’s why I’m giving you this recipe with 3 sets of directions. This is how you do dinner fast. Or if you prefer, do it slow. Crock Pot. Instant Pot. Just one pot. You choose. It’s perfect for fast weeknight eats, make-ahead party feasts, or double it and freeze half for later meal-planning feats.

Beans, ground beef, and spicy tomatoes give this soup the same signature flavor as my mother-in-law’s homemade Taco Bell Tacos, but unlike a lot of taco soup recipes on the web, I skip the ranch dressing packet flavoring (I prefer to top with real sour cream at the end) and the taco seasoning packet and use real food Mexican spices instead.

Keeping it real my friends…just keeping it real.continue to the recipe… about Easy Taco Soup (Stove Top, Crock Pot or Instant Pot)

Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup

This creamy and cheesy potato soup with broccoli comes together quickly for an easy and quick weeknight meal that everyone will love.

Cheesy Potato Soup with Broccoli

I was a bit of an anomaly as a kid.

I didn’t care for peanut butter, opting for liverwurst instead. I loved oatmeal for breakfast and salad was one of my favorite snacks. And what was my pre-dinner ritual? Two tall glasses of milk before the food ever even hit the table.

Who was this kid?

I also liked broccoli. I mean I really, really, liked broccoli. When other kids wouldn’t touch their “green trees” unless they were camouflaged under a blanket of cheddar cheese (not that there’s one darn thing wrong with that!) I loved them simply steamed with a little butter, salt and pepper and drizzled with vinegar. That side put me in heaven every time.

But even while I enjoyed my broc in that cleaner way, the soup that always rang my bell was a creamy cheddar cheese broccoli fusion. I don’t know that my mom ever made it at home, but when we went out, it was my kryptonite.

Like most recipes you love as a kid, the cravings for them simply don’t go away. And as things go as an adult, the extra lbs don’t always go away as easily either. But this broccoli potato cheese soup recipe doesn’t sacrifice flavor in it’s ingredient modifications, but instead is a healthyish version of my childhood fave.

continue to the recipe… about Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup

Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup

This simple hamburger soup is loaded with vegetables and is an incredibly easy weeknight comfort food dinner because more than likely you’ll have all of the ingredients on hand and ready for soup thanks to your pantry, fridge, and/or freezer.

The first time I had this totally solid, totally comforting hamburger soup was when my mother-in-law made it for a family gathering of which I was not yet part of the family. My husband and I had just started dating and it was dinner at mom’s house and I was invited to go.

No pressure. Nope. None at all.

One of the things I learned that night—along with the fact that as a teen my husband used to wear a nylon over his head so his wet curly hair would dry straight—is that getting friends and family together to share a meal doesn’t have to be over-thought or overdone.

Good food means good times, and that’s really all you need.continue to the recipe… about Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Tomato Basil Soup

Homemade with fresh tomatoes roasted in the oven, this tomato basil soup recipe adds a healthy and deliciously creamy flavor you won’t find in any old can.

The Best Tomato Soup Recipe

If I think back to my childhood, tomato soup is at the top of the list of my all-time favorite comfort foods. But unlike my ultra creamy macaroni and cheese or my mom’s spaghetti recipe, tomato basil soup is on the lighter side of the comfort food scale.

Even better, when you have a stash of roasted tomatoes in the fridge, it’s an easy recipe to whip up for an easy dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day.

I’ve seen some recipes for this soup that call for canned tomatoes, but I use fresh tomatoes roasted with garlic and herbs in my tomato soup. Earlier this week I shared my recipe for roasting the tomatoes here, and since I had a jar left over, I decided to update the photos and post for this recipe too.

Soup at our house is a regular menu item, in fact, my husband has gone on an all-soup diet more than once. It’s also likely that our early marriage was built on tomato soup with grilled cheese. Because can one even eat tomato soup without a grilled cheese sandwich for dunking?continue to the recipe… about Tomato Basil Soup

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup

This slow cooker Thai soup is packed with flavor thanks to the combination of curry paste, coconut milk, fresh ginger, and lime.

Slow Cooker Thai Soup Recipe

Here’s the thing about cooking with slow cookers. It’s convenient. But only if you’re creating a recipe where you don’t have to dirty more than the slow cooker. Like this slow cooker Thai chicken soup.

I’m all about time management. I eat breakfast while I do the dishes, I brush my teeth while I tie on my running shoes. In other words, I’m a multi-tasker who isn’t terribly efficient at getting much of any of my laundry list of daily to-dos completed because my mind thinks I have to do more than six things at at time. Why? Oh why?

So these days, unless its a lazy day weekend, my to-do list doesn’t always necessitate spending an hour and a half making dinner. I don’t mean letting it cook, I mean MAKING dinner.

Enter the genius invention that has been on every wedding registry since 1973: The slow cooker. And this slow cooker Thai coconut chicken soup. If I’m going to use a slow cooker, I want to make a recipe where I don’t have to brown this, sauté that, and dirty one single other pan to make my dream dinner come true.

Prepare yourself, you will need to dirty a cutting board and a knife to make this Thai coconut chicken soup. And maybe a whisk or big spoon. But other than that? You can put that fancy dish washing scrubbie away my friend, this is a one stop shop recipe I’m happy to make. Just so long as someone else does the ~~dishes~~ dish.continue to the recipe… about Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup

My Mom’s Homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

This easy spaghetti recipe with meat sauce takes just a few minutes of prep and then a low simmer on the stove for a deep, meaty-flavored, homemade spaghetti for the best family favorite dinner.

This post is brought to you by Kroger

Before I even started writing this post, I was wrestling with the title.

My Sister’s Favorite Spaghetti Dinner. Because as a kid it was #1 on her request list. And to do this day, all these years later and after eating meals from all over the world, it still is.

My Mom’s Best Spaghetti Recipe Ever! Because it is. And, who doesn’t trust mom to make the best?

The Best Spaghetti and Meat Sauce You’ll Ever Make But Never Guess the Secret Ingredient. Intrigued????

The Dinner to Make When You Want to Perfume Your House With All the Glorious Smells and Then Feed an Army. Perhaps a little lengthy for a title, but still totally appropriate.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce So Good You’ll Eat the Cold Leftovers Still in the Container Straight from the Fridge. Uh-oh, did I just give myself away????? Busted!

I asked my sister to text me a picture of her copy of my mom’s spaghetti recipe, as seen below. The splatters and drips are proof that my sister is this recipe’s number one fan—and it looks like she’s also quite the stellar recipe tester!

When I finished college and moved into my first apartment, I wrote down my mom’s recipe for our favorite family dinner and plopped it into my tattered recipe binder. Eventually I’d made it so many times I committed it to memory. But as time passed, it didn’t taste quite as good as my mom’s, a fact I didn’t actually realize until she made us all her original version when my sister was visiting. (Naturally my sister got to choose her favorite dish for dinner, because hello, she’s still the favorite :) ).

That dinner is when I realized I was missing one very crucial ingredient that makes this spaghetti better than the rest, and isn’t often found in spaghetti sauce. Have you spied it yet? I’ll reveal in a minute, but first, let’s talk basics…

Homemade Spaghetti Ingredients

This it the type of recipe you can easily have at the ready thanks to a simply stocked pantry and a few foundation refrigerator ingredients I can always find at my local Smith’s Marketplace / Kroger store.

Since working with Kroger for the past few years and because it is my main grocery store for shopping (I spend way too much time wandering the garden section!) I’ve become more and more impressed with the quality of their private label store brands like Simple Truth, HemisFares and Private Selection. And the design geek in me is happy to see the evolution of package design for their staple Kroger brand so that the label matches the goodness within. What can I say? Labels matter.

This spaghetti recipe is both Italian in its inspiration and American in its popularity and is way better than what you’ll find at restaurants like The Spaghetti Factory.

My mom’s spaghetti and meat sauce doesn’t call for anything extraordinary. In fact, it’s totally basic, and that’s what makes it all the better.

Ground Beef. I use 85% lean ground angus beef for my sauce so it still has flavor but not a lot of fat. My sister has taken to using ground turkey, also a great option.
Tomato sauce. Plain is best to create a tomato bath for the other ingredients to infuse.
Diced tomatoes. You could use canned whole tomatoes and then crush with your hands and fingers. But mom’s recipe says diced so that’s what I do.
Tomato paste. This gives the sauce it’s body, and also a little sweetness.
Beef broth. Another layer of meatiness. My sister amended her recipe to use condensed, but I used regular here.
Canned mushrooms. Typically I will always use fresh mushrooms in recipes, but this is one time I never, ever, ever do. There’s just something about the canned version that becomes my favorite part of the sauce, and the reason I typically double the amount the recipe calls for.
A splash of wine. Mom says to use the empty mushroom can as your measurement guide.
Onion, celery and fresh garlic. They’re always lollying around the refrigerator crisper waiting to be used.
Dried herbs, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of sugar for sweetness. Don’t skip out on the bay leaves, they make a huge difference.
Dried whole cloves! My mom learned this trick from her friend Virginia, and adding a few whole cloves was the secret ingredient I’d been missing lo these many years. My mom uses 5-6 cloves but my husband prefers four. The cloves give it an earthy, spiced flavor that’s not often easy to place. It’s a total surprise when I tell people they’re in there, or if they discover one on their own hidden in their spaghetti-sauced bite if I forget or can’t find them to fish them out before serving.

How to Make Spaghetti Sauce

Truly fantastic homemade spaghetti sauce is easier to make than you’d think, but it does take time. To make the best spaghetti sauce, you simply need to brown the ground beef and drain off any excess fat. Then, throw in the chopped celery, onion, and garlic and cook until the vegetables soften. So far, so good?

Dump the rest of the homemade pasta sauce ingredients into the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the spaghetti sauce is boiling, reduce the heat and let it simmer on the stove for another 3 hours. I know 3 hours sounds like forever, but that’s how long it takes to make a rich, flavorful meat sauce.

Once the homemade spaghetti sauce has had time to simmer, all that’s left to do is boiling the spaghetti noodles according to package instructions and dish it up!

How to Reheat Spaghetti

If you wind up with leftovers from this homemade spaghetti recipe, you can easily reheat them the next day. I recommend reheating leftover spaghetti in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat. You may need to add a splash of beef broth to loosen up the pasta.

Can You Freeze Spaghetti?

The best way to freeze leftover spaghetti is to freeze the homemade spaghetti sauce separately and then make fresh spaghetti noodles when you’re about to eat it. Defrost the sauce in the refrigerator for 1 day, or, add to a large pot, cover, and heat on medium to medium-low until thawed.

To make for meal prep, freeze the sauce in gallon freezer bags. Lay them down flat so you can stack them flat or upright side by side in the freezer.

What Type of Red Wine Should I Buy?

The key to cooking with wine is to purchase one that is of the same quality you’d be willing to drink. I’d say look for a bottle that costs around $10 or so (I tend to use a blended red or Pinot noir in this spaghetti recipe).

Can I Omit the Wine?

Technically, yes, but I highly recommend adding it to the homemade spaghetti sauce since it adds so much flavor. Remember: the alcohol cooks out of the sauce and is only a flavoring.

However, if you’re out of wine or are opposed to using it, you can add 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar instead to add a little acid and umami.

Tips for Making Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

While the easy homemade spaghetti sauce cooks low and slow for 3 hours, make sure to stir it occasionally. You don’t want anything sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning, as that would add a bitter flavor to the meat sauce.

We always serve this meat sauce with regular spaghetti noodles, but I imagine it would be just as good with any other twirly pasta, or over tortellini or ravioli or even as a filler for lasagna.

This homemade spaghetti recipe makes a lot so it’s great for serving to a crowd or a big family. If you’re making for two or a few, it makes excellent leftovers for lunch all week long or divide the sauce into gallon freezer and save for later.

What to Serve with Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

We always serve this with a super crunchy iceberg salad tossed with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes and dressed in my favorite red wine vinaigrette and a few slices of buttery garlic bread. If you’re looking for a little bit more, here are a few recipe ideas to make your meal.

If you try this recipe, please let me know! Bookmark this recipe and leave a comment below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

4.09 from 61 votes

My Mom's Homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

This easy meat sauce takes just a few minutes of prep and then a low simmer on the stove for a deep, meaty-flavored, classic spaghetti everyone will love.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword spaghetti

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 25 minutes

Servings 10 servings

Calories 365 kcal

Ingredients

1 pound 85% lean ground beef
1 yellow onion chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
4 garlic cloves minced or pressed
1 29- ounce can diced tomatoes
1 29- ounce can tomato sauce
1 6- ounce can tomato paste
2 7- ounce cans sliced mushrooms
1 cup red wine
1 15- ounce can beef broth
5-6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 4 teaspoons dried
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound dried spaghetti noodles
grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

In a large heavy bottomed stock pot over medium high heat, cook the ground beef until browned, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the rendered fat and add the meat back to the pot.
Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic and cook until the vegetables soften, about 5-7 more minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except the spaghtti noodles and Parmesan), stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, stir and cover with a lid, and cook for at least three hours on medium low heat, stirring occasionally.
Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions in generously salted water. Drain and mix into the spaghetti sauce.
Serve with grated or ground Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes

The meat sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or saved in a gallon ziplock bag and frozen for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Facts

My Mom's Homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 365 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Fat 8g12%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 31mg10%

Sodium 1271mg55%

Potassium 999mg29%

Carbohydrates 52g17%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 13g14%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 904IU18%

Vitamin C 21mg25%

Calcium 78mg8%

Iron 4mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

More Italian Recipe Ideas

Pasta Pomodoro Sauce — the authentic sauce I learned how to make in Italy!
Linguine Con Vongole (Linguine With Clam Sauce)
Easy Homemade Pesto Pasta Recipe
Gnocchi With Pomodoro Sauce — a total time saver made with jarred sauce
Crab Spaghetti With Lemon Gremolata
How To Make Homemade Chicken Parmesan

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This post is in partnership with Kroger. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.

The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

It may be an age-old wives tale, but according to mothers, grandmothers and any soup lover, there truly is no better cure for anything and everything that ails you than homemade chicken noodle soup made with chunky carrots, celery and always savory chicken stock. It’s the ultimate comfort food and incredibly easy to make.

The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Typically when I place my grocery haul on the grocery store check-out line conveyer belt, it’s a hodge podge assortment of ingredients that doesn’t give anyone a hint as to what’s going on in my kitchen at home. As voyeurs peeking into other’s lives, do the checkers notice (or even care) that you buy all organic with a side of doughnuts on every trip? That you buy enough food to feed an army or simply pick up a passel of frozen dinners for one? And do they judge your cooking skills—or lack thereof—depending on what exotic—or mundane—ingredients fill your basket?

So it wasn’t much of a shocker when I showed up to the 15 items or fewer line that the grocery store clerk asked me if I had someone at home who was under the weather thanks to my collection of a bottle of Chloraseptic, two different brands of throat losenges, and all the fixin’s for homemade chicken noodle soup.

I’ll do everything and anything to cure my little girl’s wicked cold and sore throat. So when my baby doll requested a soother of soup for her sickly sore throat, as her adoring mother, I hopped to and got myself into the grocery store check out line and then straight back into the kitchen to whip up a homemade broth that makes the BEST chicken noodle soup from scratch, hands down beating anything out of a can.continue to the recipe… about The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Slow Cooker Healthy Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili with Quinoa

Comfort food chili cravings never tasted so healthy, until now. This easy CrockPot chili is protein-packed with lean ground turkey, light and dark kidney beans, plus quinoa for an extra safety-net protein source that will keep you filled and full all day long and into the night.

The BEST Turkey Chili

It’s 5:30 p.m. and the sun has set behind the mountains and the sky has already settled into dark. There’s a chill is in the air and comfort food is what we’re all craving now. Turkey Pot Pie? Mac and Cheese? Sausage Lasagna? All delicious in their own right, but not exactly the lightest of fare.

And now that the fall season is here, the wrangling and jostling for the T.V. remote has begun. The World Series? (go Dodgers!). The Voice? (I’m with J-Hud Productions). More tears and tissues while crying with This Is Us? (I mean, seriously!) Or finally, a new Walking Dead? (My Smudge and I are convinced our Big Daddy should be Negan for Halloween.)

Our television viewing habits are as hotly debated as what sounds best for dinner.

But tonight, there’s one less argument to make because Big Mama (that’s me) thought ahead (for once) and put dinner in the slow cooker. And just like that, a healthy dinner is served.

And surprise, AliSmudge and Big Daddy don’t even complain that it’s oh-so good for them. But why would they? This turkey sweet potato chili is delish! And better yet, it’s so simple to make.continue to the recipe… about Slow Cooker Healthy Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili with Quinoa

Matzo Ball Soup with Chicken Meatballs and Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe

Matzo Ball Soup with Chicken Meatballs is an easy and homemade way to celebrate Passover or any matzo ball craving—with a twist.

I’m not Jewish. But I am definitely a matzo ball lover.

It all started with late night jaunts to the classic Canters Deli where I became an obsessive fan of matzo ball soup with all the fixins’ — noodles, matzo ball, kreplach, chicken and carrots. What the crap is a kerplach, you ask? It’s sort of a jewish tortellini and pretty darned good.

But oh, THE BROTH. That delicious broth that brought me back to my senses in those wee late night hours. If only I could replicate it—the broth, not the late hours. But I’m no Jewish mother—although my husband will say I do have the stereotypical tendencies. Sadly, those secret, Old World ways of chicken broth making may never make it to my stove.

But I do have a delicious recipe that hits home and curbs my matzo ball craving every time. And what better time to share with you than in celebration of Passover and Easter weekend? Yum. You’ll soon be a believer.

This ingredient list looks long, but is really easy. If you’re making your own broth, the key is a long, slow simmer for all of those veggie and chicken flavors to marry in holy matzo-mony.continue to the recipe… about Matzo Ball Soup with Chicken Meatballs and Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe

Ginger Carrot Soup

This healthy carrot ginger soup has a velvety smooth texture thanks to the addition of some creamy Greek yogurt. Delicious warm or cold!

I’m more of a chunky fan.

I like my peanut butter with chunks of nut. I prefer my ice cream with bites of chocolate, crunch, toffee or whatever finds its way into its frozen chocolate goodness. I even like my orange juice with extra pulp.

I guess you could say I like the bite. Or, TO bite.

So when it comes to soup, I generally lean toward soups with pasta, chunks of vegetables, balls of matzo and of course, chili beans.

But with spring fever sneaking its way into every crevasse of my being, my cravings steer to cleaner eats, foods that are lighter, in the pursuit that I will be lighter, too. And look at that, SMOOTH! Maybe it’s time to lose the chunk?! In more ways than one.

Knowing that this carrot soup recipe is made with Greek yogurt as the thickener, that it features carrots that are chock full of beta carotene, and is spiked with ginger that has been shown to help with nausea and inflammation, this soup is just one more step to take to achieve your health goals no matter what they are.continue to the recipe… about Ginger Carrot Soup

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

This crockpot lasagna soup is like a deconstructed lasagna made in an Italian tomato broth full of vegetables with a creamy dollop of a three cheeses mixed in.

This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

If you’ve found yourself trolling Pinterest, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen the meaty stove-top version of this easy vegetarian lasagna soup floating around. And there’s a perfectly good reason for that.

Because it’s so dang good!

I’m very much into giving my favorite comfort foods a different spin to make them brand new again. And when it comes to lasagna, I have a couple of recipe twists on this classic Italian comfort food up my sleeve, or at least, in my recipe box.

This time around, a healthy change-up to everyone else’s lasagna soup was in the works. To make the soup even simpler to make while coordinating the fam’s busy schedules, I took this vegetarian lasagna soup from the stove to the crockpot for cooking with ease.

Slow cooking makes lasagna soup easy to make any night of the week, and it can be made with the slow cooker function on the Instant Pot too.

continue to the recipe… about Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Thanks to the Instant Pot pressure cooker, this easy chicken with wild rice soup is rich, creamy (without any added cream), and fast to make, and it tastes even better the next day, making it a great addition to your meal prep plans. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, not to worry, I’m sharing my stove top directions as well.

It’s soup week!

This week I’m sharing a few of my favorite soups, old and new. And a good thing too, because when my daughter came home from school and looked at me with a red-ringed nose and her eyes at half-staff and announced her “throat was sooooooo sore”, as she breezed past me and coughed, wheezed, and hacked her way down the hall and into her room to flop onto her bed like a left-behind Raggedy Ann doll, I knew we were in for the night.

Good thing I had this soup prepped and ready for cookin’.

Creamy chicken and rice soup. Pure comfort and totally right for all that feels wrong.continue to the recipe… about Instant Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Market Street Clam Chowder Recipe

A favorite of locals and tourists alike, this creamy clam chowder recipe comes from one of Salt Lake City’s longest running restaurants, Market Street Grill, and is easy to make at home.

This recipe is a favorite I published in the early days of FoodieCrush. This past weekend I ran into a friend at the grocery store who said she’d been searching for the famous clam chowder recipe from Salt Lake City’s Market Street Grill, which reminded me to re-share this easy clam chowder recipe with some updated photos for you. So, without further adieu, here is a re-post of the best clam chowder recipe, in my opinion, EVER.

“Hey, Chowda-head!”

It was a greeting that one of my fellow waiters at my post-college/pre-real-life-seafood-restaurant-job has been teased about for lo’ these many years. And he has NEVER been happy about hearing it again, and again, and again.

See, that job at Salt Lake City’s Market Street Grill was all about presentation and customer service. That meant every dish, every cup and even every spoon was served by the waiter from a tray.

So when you had a 6-top—that’s waiter-speak for a table of six—who all ordered the house specialty, famous clam chowder, we would load up a HUGE tray, hoist it high over our heads with the straightest arm we could possible muster, and charge forth through the sea of waiting to be seated customers to serve our eagerly awaiting diners bowls of creamy, white chowder in heavy china bowls with plated liners.

One especially busy night—it must have been a big rush before a Utah Jazz basketball game—my friend had a big table and of course they all ordered chowder. He loaded up the tray, even stacking the bowls two high! It was a feat to behold for mere waiter mortals.

Breathless from running between tables and the kitchen, we watched him navigate his way through the crowded waiting area, arm hoisted high with nary a wobbly arm in sight. And then, he hit the double french door frame. Literally. Hit it, clipped the china bowls still hovering overhead. And then like a dominoe-ing Humpty Dumpty, all the bowls came tumbling down.

Clam Chowder, all over his head, his shirt, everywhere. And ever since then, he has fondly been called Chowda-head.

Here is the very recipe, delicious in every respect, the best clam chowder recipe outside of New England. Yep, I’m staking my claim.

continue to the recipe… about Market Street Clam Chowder Recipe

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Kale

A clean, herb-infused broth makes this slow cooker tortellini soup with Italian sausage a favorite to keep in your weekly meal plans.

This post is in partnership with McCormick.

“Oh babe, this is so good. Hey! Don’t eat all the broth! That’s mine.” My husband. He’s usually really good about sharing. “Oh. This is really good.” Until it comes to soup. He LOVES a good soup. And he wants it all for himself.

I’ve said it here before. My man is a soup aficionado. And if you can spell aficionado without having to hit dictionary.com, you are one swell spelling bee winner, because I can’t. But back to the crockpot tortellini soup…

Not only does the slow cooker create a broth for this tortellini soup that tastes flavorful and ultimately craveable, but the perfumed scent of sausage, onion, celery and garlic that wafts from the kitchen as it cooks will also have you wishing you could give that lid on the slow cooker just a crack to dip a spoon in for juuuuuust a bite for taste testing.

Or better yet, dip in a big old slice of sourdough. Fancy that. We’re a family of dippers.continue to the recipe… about Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Kale

The Best Cheeseburger Soup

This hearty cheeseburger soup tasts just like your favorite burger, minus the bun! I topped my serving with zesty bread and butter pickles and homemade garlic croutons for extra oompf.

Easy Cheeseburger Soup Recipe

Disclosure before we even get started: NO! I am not pregnant. But I know who is and this post is for her.

Pregnancy brings with it lots of cravings. Weird cravings that run all across the bun-in-the-oven-baking map as noted on this amusing weird pregnancy craving list. And as nearly everyone on God’s green earth knows, at the top of that list is pickles. Pickles, that in a weird, roundabout way, was the craving that fueled my fire to create this recipe for the nearly-mom-to-be.

This recipe is part of a virtual baby shower for food blogger Jessica of How Sweet It Is, because as things go in bloggerland, we can’t always be with our bloggity pals in person to party hearty, but we do enjoy toasting to their victories and accomplishments. And there’s not much bigger accomplishment than becoming a parent.

Do I hear an, “Amen sistah!” or more appropriately, “Amen, Mama!”

So for Jessica’s soon-to-be-delivered bundle of joy, a group of bloggers are celebrating the way we do, by creating recipes for stuffing our faces. But today’s theme for Jessica’s baby shower isn’t your normal, everyday will it be blue or pink kind of shower.

No, this shower is in the theme that is frequently shared on Jessica’s blog, in the name of getting “all-trashed up” where she takes the everyday recipe and really throws it for a loop to create something special. And usually adorned with neon or sprinkles.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Cheeseburger Soup

10 Ways to Waste Less and Save Money at the Grocery Store

These 10 helpful tips for how to grocery shop smarter will not only save money, but waste less food at home so you’ll eat healthier too.

This post is sponsored by Kroger

I hate wasting food and yet I do it almost every week. I’m one of those shoppers who has grand aspirations to cook every meal, and then life gets in the way, plans change, and I don’t. I see my veggies languish in the crisper or watch bread go moldy in the pantry. I’m guilty of buying too much and not using what I have.

If you’re like me, you’re probably asking how can I spend less money and shop smarter at the grocery store? It starts by answering the question, how can I stop wasting food?

That’s why I’m changing my food wasting ways by thinking about the end result first, before I even start my grocery shopping.continue to the recipe… about 10 Ways to Waste Less and Save Money at the Grocery Store

31 Spring Chicken Recipes to Make Now

Seasonal ingredients and fresh flavors have arrived on the spring scene to liven up any weeknight chicken dinner recipe situation.

It’s spring! With the warming sun begging for baskers to break out of the house and go to the park and play, who wants to be inside cooking all day? Cooking a full-blown, multi-course dinner can be a challenge to fit into spring’s busy days when soccer practices, kite flying, and garden-prepping take center stage.

If there’s one request I get time and time again, it’s for new recipe ideas using everyone’s favorite protein staple, the almighty chicken. Just like your favorite basic white t-shirts, you can never have too many simple-to-prep chicken dinner recipes on hand. continue to the recipe… about 31 Spring Chicken Recipes to Make Now

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

This easy chicken tortilla soup is truly chicken soup for the soul, with a warm broth filled with chunky bites of black beans, sweet corn, shredded chicken and tomatoes topped with its namesake tortilla strips and a surprise crispy jalapeño topper.

This recipe is brought to you by French’s

“Honey, what should we have for dinner?”

Gah. The question to end all questions, and the same one that comes up day after day, week after week. But over the years I’ve developed a strategy that serves the family’s cravings and makes dinner prep so much easier, just about every time.

I narrow the choices to get the answer I want.

“Well, I prepped a batch of chicken breasts for the week (even though he prefers steak, we gotta use those chicks up!) and I have our yummy chicken stock in the freezer (because I’m on a clean-out-the-freezer mission). So, are you craving comfort food flavors (we all love our Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup) or maybe something with Mexican flavor and spice? You love Mexican…”, I steer him, already knowing that spices and ethnic flavors win at our house every time.continue to the recipe… about Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

How to Make a Bouquet Garni

How do you make a bouquet garni and what do you use it for? This little fresh herb packet is all part of the flavor building game for soups, stews, stocks and more.

A bouquet garni is literally a bunch (or bouquet) of fresh herbs and spices wrapped in a piece of cheesecloth and tied with twine to make into a little purse or bag.

Used as a flavoring for soups, stews, stocks, and roasts, bouquet garnis are used for recipe you want to add fresh herbs and/or spices for flavor but don’t want to fish the spent herbs out of the finished dish one by one once the cooking is done. These herb purses keep your spices all in one place and can be added to a recipe whole so no extra work of chopping, mincing, or grating involved.

It’s really as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 :).

Here’s how to make a bouquet garni.continue to the recipe… about How to Make a Bouquet Garni

The Best French Onion Soup

This traditional French Onion Soup recipe has a rich, decadent broth loaded with caramelized onions and topped with everyone’s favorite part: the toasted bread and melty cheese.

Homemade French Onion Soup

If there’s one soup I absolutely cannot resist, it’s homemade french onion soup. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to F.O.S., so don’t bother with that watery broth or get stingey with the onions. And please, make sure that cheese is plentiful and melty and creates a serious cheese pull.

As an expert french onion soup taster, I’ve narrowed down my very most favorite versions. There’s that one from that French Bistro in San Francisco, and the one I first had when I was probably 11 or 12, shopping with my mom at Trolley Square with lunch at The Pub, now known as Desert Edge Brewery, where they still serve a very good version. I seriously thought I had hit adulthood with our special lunches out.

But my new number one favorite French Onion Soup is from Nordstrom Café Bistro. It’s where my mom and I usually stop for a bite when we go shopping together, which in all honestly is actually our excuse to get this french onion soup. I loved it so much after eating it so many times that I asked them for the recipe, and surprise, surprise, they said yes. It’s now replaced my original french onion soup recipe here on the blog because it really is so much better.continue to the recipe… about The Best French Onion Soup

Lemon Chicken Stew

A one-pot dinner is a must-make meal for any new mom and dad. And with a lemony twist on the classic chicken and rice soup—this time with orzo pasta that helps thicken this flavor-filled cooking bonanza—my Lemon Chicken Stew, is a spunked up contribution to a virtual baby shower for my fellow food blogger Liz at The Lemon Bowl.

Every mom needs to catch a break, especially in the kitchen. While I’m a lover of the cookin’, I’m not much of a fan of the washin’.

That’s why this lemon chicken stew is the perfect one-pot dinner—with leftovers for the next day—for any new mom and dad ready to pucker up and kiss those newborn baby toes.

One pot, that’s all. Dinner is served.

I met Liz of The Lemon Bowl when we were visiting the farmers who put Dole Salads onto dinner tables across America, and I was immediately drawn to her wit and punchy personality. This girl has charisma to spare.

So when a group of food bloggers invited me to join in her virtual baby shower party I was more than happy to join the party.

In my opinion, baby butt wipe warmers and all of the other needless baby junk can easily be bypassed at the typical baby registry. What really counts as a present is keeping mom and dad out of the kitchen so they can grab some zzz’s and spend their time where they should and shouldn’t be: away from the dish soap, and instead, snuggling with their baby love.

Liz already has a toddler to keep her busy, so with a new babe on the way, I had a feeling a dish that is a minimizer in the kitchen but is full of comfort is a sure winner in these new parentals’ cookbook.

Did I mention it’s her birthday this week too? This is a serious double header.continue to the recipe… about Lemon Chicken Stew

Ina Garten’s Easy Cioppino Recipe

You don’t have to be a chef to make this recipe for the Barefoot Contessa’s authentic cioppino, a tomato-based seafood stew loaded with shrimp, cod, mussels, and clams for a healthy soup and surprisingly easy dinner that goes from fridge to table in just about an hour.

Fun fact. Back in the day I worked as a server (we called ourselves waitresses then) in the best seafood restaurant is Salt Lake City. It was the summer after graduating college and I was saving money for a trip to Europe. It was the most fun I’ve ever had at a job, and even better, it’s where I met my husband.

I was a good waitress. Most of the time. But there was that one time I definitely was not, that dinner service I was carrying a tray loaded with three iron serving skillets atop china plates filled with hot-as-hell cioppino to be served to my table that was up the stairs and around that always tough-to-navigate corner.

As I rounded the corner, I felt it happening. The heavy platters saddled with those steamy pots of Italian fisherman’s stew slowly began to slide. I braced myself and tried to rebalance. It didn’t work. The platters of cioppino slid off the china plates. And then off the tray. And then directly into the lap of my hungry customer. It was a waterfall of tomato stew. My customer had been totally cioppinoed.

That poor guy was not one bit happy about it. But then who would be? And yes, his dry cleaning bill came out of my check.

Luckily that whole nightmare of an experience didn’t tarnish my love for cioppino. In fact, it inspired me to learn to make it at home. Safely at home.continue to the recipe… about Ina Garten’s Easy Cioppino Recipe

How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup

My Grandma’s easy minestrone soup recipe is one of the healthiest vegetable-loaded soups you’ll make, and it tastes far better than any of those Olive Garden copycat recipes thanks to the secret ingredient in the savory broth.

Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

“It is well worth the time and effort.”

But then, isn’t most anything when it’s done with love?

My sweet Grandma Frieda passed away when I was a senior in college and while there are many things that remind me of her, as a recipe maker it’s the cookbooks I inherited from her that I see most often.

One of my favorite things about her copies of The Joy of Cooking (pub. 1953) and Epicure’s Delight (pub. 1944) are the pages and margins filled with recipes written in her elegant handwriting that as a German immigrant shows off the hard work it took to become a part of her new country. Like the quote says above, it is well worth the time and effort.

Nestled within those cookbook pages are recipe cards for recipes from friends like Edith’s Coffee Cake and Loretta’s Zucchini Soufflé, which have both moved to my must-make list. But the recipe that shows up time and time again is this Italian minestrone soup recipe from San Francisco’s Petrini Gourmet Grocery Stores, likely cut from the San Mateo Times’ newspaper recipe section to promote more soup bone sales for the homemade beef broth.

And because it’s #soupweek (did you see the Instant Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup?) we’re keeping the slurps going by presenting The Gourmet by Petrini’s Minestrone Soup where either the newspaper editors or Petrini himself lured readers with the headnote mentioned above and can describe any meal when it’s made with love: It is well worth the time and effort, and even more so because this minestrone recipe is actually really easy to make.continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup

50 Favorite Mediterranean Diet Recipes

The Mediterranean Diet has been named 2019’s diet of the year, and this list of 50 breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes makes it easy to add more of the Med-inspired lifestyle to your weekly meal plan.

The Best Diet of 2019

Just as we were setting our sights on eating better with the New Year, US News and World Report came out with their standings of the best diets to follow for 2019, and for the first time, the Mediterranean Diet took top honors. CNN reports the diets were ranked on: “how easy it is to follow, its nutritional completeness, its ability to produce short-term and long-term weight loss, its safety and its potential for preventing and managing diabetes and heart disease.”

Unlike many of the trendy, silver bullet diets that are at the bottom of this year’s list and you see everyone jumping through hoops to try (and ultimately bail out on), the Mediterranean diet is a centuries-old lifestyle for long-term health and wellness instead of a quick weight loss fad that never seems to really last.continue to the recipe… about 50 Favorite Mediterranean Diet Recipes

50 Easy Slow Cooker Dinner Recipe Ideas

This list of 50 slow cooker recipes for chicken, chili, pot roast, and even pizza are the secret to getting easy crockpot dinners on the table fast.

We all know money doesn’t grow on trees, and neither does time. Despite our best laid plans, it always seems to slip through our busy little fingers, and before we know it, we glance up from our watches after a hectic work day, and it’s already 5 o’clock.

On marathon days like these, coming home and having to scramble to figure out what’s for dinner, or diving into a multiple step recipe with a laundry list of ingredients is pretty much the last thing we feel like doing.

However, coming home to a kitchen that smells like Ina Garten’s taken over and has been cooking for Jeffrey all day—that’s just what the doctor ordered. And thanks to a little planning and a little slow cooker magic, it’s perfectly achievable.

Check out this list of FIFTY (!) slow cooker recipes for easy, breezy weeknight dinners that work for weekends too.

continue to the recipe… about 50 Easy Slow Cooker Dinner Recipe Ideas

Beef Bourguignon

This easy Beef Bourguignon recipe is a melt-in-your-mouth, classic French stew made with tender chunks of beef chuck, bacon, and vegetables braised in red wine to make a simple, any time dinner that’s impressive enough to serve for special occasions, too.

Easy Beef Bourguignon Recipe

Thanks to Julia Child and Ina Garten, this classic French beef stew is familiar to many home cooks, yet, I still don’t hear much about many people actually cooking it. And no matter how many times I make it myself, I’ll probably never be able to spell bourguignon without Googling it.

Beef Bourguignon is really just a fancy name for an easy-to-make, humble dinner that tastes anything but.

The flavor of this boeuf bourguignon recipe is deep, rich, and beyond luxurious. Which is ironic since under the lid of this cast iron, one-pot, dutch oven meal that starts on the stove top and finishes off in the oven, is just a good old-fashioned beef stew with red wine that even the most novice of home cooks will revel in the glory of.continue to the recipe… about Beef Bourguignon

Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

This creamy pumpkin soup is made with just 7 ingredients! I like to stir in a little mascarpone cheese to bump up the creaminess factor and always add a sprinkle of crispy sage leaves on top.

I won’t waste a lot of time explaining why we had this creamy pumpkin soup, not that the big birthday wasn’t speeeecial, but because for me, the night got hijacked by the soup. Sorry babe, maybe next year.

This soup isn’t about pumpkin puree, or extra veggies to make it sweeter, or crunchy bits to make it more manly. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

It’s just that this pumpkin soup recipe is so killer. And so simple. Like, 7 ingredients simple. Plus a slurp of cheese. Done and done.

A few weeks ago, some friends helped us celebrate my man’s belated birthday dinner at Park City’s Canyons Resort and their award-winning restaurant, The Farm. The menu meets and delivers on the hyper hot trend of farm to table, with all ingredients sourced within 50 miles for max freshness and keeping it local, local, local. And man, this place does deliver.

While the littles were mesmerized by the pea soup amuse bouche, I was totally transfixed by this pumpkin soup that was served with homemade marshmallows. I HAD to have the recipe.

I had barely mentioned this fact to our patiently attentive server and next thing I knew, Chef Steve Musolf swooped in, deftly dodging the growing number of empty wine bottles and generously obliged, delivering a fresh copy of the recipe to the table.

Go ahead. Put it on your Thanksgiving table. And then maybe on your leftover turkey. And afterward over pumpkin pie. It’s really that good.continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

soups and stews

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Cheesy Potato Soup with Broccoli

The Best Tomato Soup Recipe

Slow Cooker Thai Soup Recipe

Homemade Spaghetti Ingredients

How to Make Spaghetti Sauce

How to Reheat Spaghetti

Can You Freeze Spaghetti?

What Type of Red Wine Should I Buy?

Can I Omit the Wine?

Tips for Making Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

What to Serve with Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

My Mom's Homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

Recipe Notes

More Italian Recipe Ideas

The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

The BEST Turkey Chili

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

Easy Cheeseburger Soup Recipe

Homemade French Onion Soup

Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

The Best Diet of 2019

Easy Beef Bourguignon Recipe

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