Leftover makeover: leftover soup becomes a family-size casserole

I make a lot of soup for dinner in winter. Which means, we have leftover soup on a regular basis. Sometimes there's enough for another family meal of soup. But when there's not quite enough for all 5 of us, I transform leftover soup into a meal that stands on its own.

My favorite leftover soup makeover wouldn't win any culinary prizes, but it's easy, filling and tasty -- It's Soup Casserole. Here are two versions, to give you an idea of how I make mine.


Broth-based Soup Casserole

When using a "thin" leftover soup, such  chicken or turkey noodle, I beef up the extra ingredients with some veggies, pasta, leftover baked potato or rice, onion and garlic. For 4 or 5 servings:

about 2 cups any kind of liquidy soup (this one is made with lemon-herb turkey noodle soup)
about 3 cups leftover cooked rice, pasta, beans or combination of (if I'm short in this category, I cook up another portion of pasta, or add a chopped, leftover baked potato)
1 cup of any vegetables
1/4 cup minced onion (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
additional salt and seasonings to compliment the soup's ingredients (I just used more of the lemon zest, rosemary and sage that I had in the soup)
1/2 cup to 1 cup of topping (grated cheese, buttered bread crumbs) -- this is what "makes" the casserole.

Butter a large casserole dish. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Gently mix the ingredients in the buttered casserole dish.

Add topping. Heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly or topping is browned and crispy.


. . . and here's my version using a heartier, thicker soup.

Turkey Tortilla Soup Casserole

When I have a very flavorful and hearty soup, I can often leave out the extra veggies, onions and garlic.

The other night I made another soup casserole, using leftover turkey-tortilla soup (minus the tortillas). There were enough canned tomatoes, carrots pieces, beans, potatoes, onions and garlic in the leftover soup, that I didn't need to add anything other than a pinch of salt, some cumin and some chili powder, along with a fresh batch of rice.

I used:

about 2-3 cups leftover tortilla soup (containing turkey, pinto beans, canned tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic and seasonings)
about 3 cups of cooked brown rice
vegetable oil
extra salt, cumin, chili powder

I oiled the casserole dish, spread the cooked rice in the dish, and drizzled with vegetable oil.

Next, I topped this with with leftover soup, and tossed gently with the seasonings.

Just before baking, I sprinkled lightly with just a bit of extra chili powder. Baked, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for about 30 minutes, until completely heated through, and rice was crispy around the edges.

It was tasty, easy and filling. This made enough for 5 hearty servings plus leftovers for one lucky person's lunch.

Soup Casserole makes the most of our homemade soup leftovers. The hard work has already been done in the preparation of the soup. By simply combining with a few basic ingredients, I can stretch a small amount of leftover soup into family supper.

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Is it spring yet?

The first part of yesterday was gorgeous and spring-like. The sunshine and mild weather lured me out into the garden. This was my first day of real garden work for the season. I tackled some pruning, weeding, raking and transplanting before the skies clouded over and the rain came back.

While I was outside, I snapped these photos.

the crocus out by our front door

the area I worked in last summer, clearing the weeds, laying the river rock, placing the stepping stones, planting rhodies and azaleas, then this past fall planting both daffodil and crocus bulbs. the daffodils are in among the river rock, while the crocus are in the bare earth between river rock and stepping stones

the crocus I planted in the fall are just coming up now. I wonder if they will always be a few weeks behind their cousins by the front door, or if their later growth is due to being planted just this fall?


I've chosen 2 new sites for work this spring and summer. One is the extension of the spring low garden, and will be planted with primroses, red-flowering currant bushes, grape hyacinth, petite daffodils, anemone, rock cress, sword fern and hosta. I'll be dividing plants in my garden for transplanting to this area.

The other area is an extension of the cranberry patch. This area has been so weedy and ugly. We'll be clearing it and taking some cranberry plants from the patch to fill it. This will kill two birds, make an unpleasant area look better, and increase our cranberry harvest.

I can't decide which phrase suits this better -- "Always a work in progress!"  Or, "A labor of love!"