6 Easy Frugal Fall Soups

These 6 easy frugal fall soups are not only easy on the budget, but your time too! You can cook all of these in the crock pot while you go about your day. They make for a filling and healthy from scratch dinner on cozy fall nights.

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These 6 Easy Frugal Fall Soups are From Scratch Soups

These soups are all made up of pantry staple ingredients that are also frugal. As a bonus, you can make all of these soups in the crock pot!

If you are just getting started with from scratch cooking, these recipes are perfect for you! You can throw all of the ingredients together and enjoy a warm and comforting meal that feels like fall. These 6 easy frugal fall soups will have you coming back for more!

1. Taco Soup

Taco soup is made up of pantry staple ingredients but it such a comforting and flavorful soup. With flavors like chili but without all of the work, you can have this prepped and in the crockpot in about ten minutes!

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of taco seasoning (Siete makes a great preservative free one!)
• 1 can of black beans or two cups cooked and rinsed
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1 can green chilis
• 1 quart beef or chicken broth (4 cups homemade)
• Salt to taste

Brown your ground beef and throw into a crockpot along with the rest of your ingredients. Let cook in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

If you want to beef this soup up more, add another can of beans or another pound of ground beef.

2. Beef & Vegetable Soup

This classic soup is a comfort food for me. I grew up eating it in the winter and I make it now for my family throughout the colder months. This is another meal that takes no time to get prepped and in the crockpot for an easy dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups green beans, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup lima beans (dry) or 2 cups cooked
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 2 cups chopped potatoes, 1″ inch pieces
• 1 quart beef or chicken broth (4 cups homemade)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme

Brown ground beef and toss into slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with cornbread or a fresh slice of buttered crusty bread. Another great addition is a dash of hot sauce when serving!

3. Potato Soup

Potato soup can be as simple or extravagant as you like. There are so many additions you can add to beef it up, or you can keep it simple and easy.

Ingredients:

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced into 1″ pieces
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth (6 cups)
• 2 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste
• Dried or fresh herbs of your choice
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups whole milk (or your favorite dairy free alternative)

For topping or add ins:

• Cooked and diced bacon
• Green onions, sliced
• Diced ham
• Chopped greens
• Chives
• Cheddar cheese
• Parmesan cheese

You will throw the first seven ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5, until potatoes are fork tender. Next you will melt your butter in a skillet and add the flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the smell of flour is gone. Slowly add in your milk. The mixture should thicken up slightly. You don’t want a thick gravy, just a creamy sauce. Add this sauce to the crockpot and stir in. If you like a chunky potato soup, leave it as is, but if you like it creamy, use an immersion blender for a few seconds to blend some of the potatoes up. This will make your soup a lot thicker. Your soup is ready to serve!

Top with toppings of your choice! We love the classic cheddar cheese, green onions and bacon for ours.

4. Lentil & Sausage Soup

Lentils are full of good for you nutrition such as B vitamins, iron and folate. They can fill you up just as well as beans and can be flavored in so many ways. This simple soup is still frugal with the addition of smoked sausage for flavor and extra protein.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound smoked link sausage
• 2 cups lentils (green or brown work best)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth (6 cups)
• 2 cups chopped greens (kale, spinach, turnip greens, or mustard greens)
• 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste

Brown sausage to remove some of the fat. You do not have to completely cook the sausage. Add sausage and the rest of the ingredients, besides the greens, to the crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

5. Ham Bone Soup

Ham bone soup can be made in so many different ways. You can stretch the ham bone even further by adding a couple of different types of beans and lots of veggies.

Ingredients:

• 1 Leftover ham bone with some meat still on it
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup lima beans, dry
• 1 cup navy beans, dry
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth (6 cups)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste
• dried or fresh herbs of your choice

For this soup, you can go by this ingredient list, or you can change it up a little according to your family’s tastes and what you have on hand in your pantry. The ham bone really gives it all a rich and comforting flavor. You will add all ingredients to a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

6. Red Beans & Rice

While some don’t consider this a soup, and maybe it’s technically not, it is still a frugal comfort food that we love to eat in the winter. It’s also great to make in a crockpot or instapot.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of smoked link sausage sliced into 1″ pieces (spicy or mild)
• 2 cups dried small red beans, kidney beans or pinto beans, soaked overnight
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 tbsp. Hot sauce (I use Louisiana hot sauce)
• green onions for serving
• 4 cups cooked rice

Brown your sliced sausage in a skillet to get some of the fat out. It does not have to be fully cooked. Add all of your ingredients except the rice and green onions to a crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Once done cooking, mash half of the beans with a potato masher. This thickens the soup. Serve with rice and cornbread.

There are some red beans and rice seasoning mixes that consist of dehydrated veggies and herbs and these work well too. Again, you can adjust the seasoning and flavoring to your liking.

If you do not soak your beans overnight, be sure to add a couple more cups of broth to the crockpot (8 total).

Tips for making these soups:

• Don’t forget that you can always change the seasonings and spices in these recipes. I have adapted these recipes over the years according to what my family likes and you can too.
• To soak your beans overnight, place them in a large bowl and cover with at least two inches of water. Add 2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar, cover and soak for 8-12 hours. Drain, rinse and they’re ready to cook!

I hope you enjoy making these 6 easy frugal fall soups as much as I do. If you want more from scratch frugal recipes, check out my homemade mayo recipe or pumpkin pie from scratch! Also, check out this post here for how to stock your pantry for from scratch cooking.

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7 Quart Crockpot: https://amzn.to/4e8FUwG