Soups make a great meal for all the family throughout the year. Though if you're like me and prefer home cooked soups made from scratch, it can be a bit time consuming to make them.

All the recipes listed below can be prepared and cooked in 15 minutes or less, the only difference is that you will be using pre-made stock instead of making your own. If you invest in good quality stock cubes or ready made stock, it shouldn't be too much of a sacrifice, as the flavours will still taste great, and you'll have tasty homemade soup within a quarter of an hour.

All these recipes can easily be adapted for vegetarians, just use vegetable stock instead of any others suggested.

Serves 4

50g stale white bread

450g button mushrooms

50g butter

1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tablespoons parsley

pinch of nutmeg powdered

pinch of salt and pepper

570ml chicken stock

100ml double cream

• Moisten the bread with the milk and leave to soak in a dish
• Finely chop the mushrooms
• Using a large pan with a lid, melt the butter, stir in the chopped mushrooms and leave to cook for 4 minutes on a medium heat
• Squeeze the milk from the bread and tear into rough pieces
• Add the bread, garlic, parsley, nutmeg and chicken stock to the mushrooms
• Bring to the boil
• Immediately reduce to a low heat
• Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes
• Next the soup must be liquidised
• Place the liquidised soup back into the pan and bring back to the boil
• Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and serve

Serves 6

700g fresh or good quality frozen peas

1 large onion

3 large garlic cloves

1.3 litres chicken or veal stock

15g sugar

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of salt

pinch of ground white pepper

6 slices bread (white, wholemeal or brown)

6 tablespoons olive oil

50g grated parmesan

• Chop the onion and garlic 
• Cook the peas, onion and garlic in the stock for 15 minutes, simmering gently
• Liquidise the soup
• Mix the sugar and lemon juice together, add to the soup and stir in

For the croutons:

• Fry the slices of bread in the olive oil until crisp and golden on both sides

To serve place a slice of bread in each serving bowl, sprinkle with parmesan and cover with soup. Finish with some more parmesan sprinkled on top.

Serves 6-8

25g butter

1 medium onion

small bunch of fresh tarragon

2 large potatoes

pinch of salt and pepper

1.75 litres vegetable stock

700g broccoli

175g cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon parsley

• Finely chop the onion, tarragon and parsley
• Peel the potatoes and chop finely, or you could grate them instead
• Melt the butter in a pan until soft (you will need a pan with a lid for later)
• Add the tarragon, potatoes, salt and pepper
• Stir and pour over enough vegetable stock to cover the contents
• Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to simmer
• Cover and leave for 10 minutes
• Chop the broccoli into small pieces, cover and boil in a seperate pan with the remaining stock
• Liquidise the broccoli and the ingredients from the potato pan
• Place the liquidised mixture into a clean pan over a low heat and add the cheddar and most of the parsley
• Stir thoroughly
• Serve garnished with the remaining chopped parsley

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion

5 medium sized courgettes

pinch of salt and pepper

1.4 litres chicken or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons basil

2 eggs

4 tablespoons grated parmesan

• Finely chop the onion, parsley and basil
• Grate the courgettes
• In a large pan heat the olive oil
• Fry the onion until soft
• Add the courgettes and season with the salt and pepper
• Cover and let sweat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add the stock and bring to the boil
• Simmer and cover the pan for 10 minutes
• Liquidise the soup and return to the pan to simmer 
• Beat the eggs, basil, parsley and parmesan in a bowl
• Remove the soup from the heat and whisk in the egg and herbs mixture 

Serves 4

6 spring onions

40g butter

450g jersey royal potatoes (if unavailable a good new potato would work, though the flavour will not be as sweet)

40g flour

1.4 litres chicken stock or water

6 sprigs mint

pinch of salt and pepper

• Prepare the spring onions by slicing off the root and most of the dark green outer leaves
• Cut into slices
• Scrape the potatoes of their skins and slice finely
• Sweat the spring onions in butter until soft, the add the potatoes
• Stir the potatoes until covered in the melted butter and cook for 5 minutes (continue to stir to prevent sticking)
• Next, add the flour stirring continuously so that it absorbs the butter
• Turn the heat to high while still stirring
• You should have a paste-like substance to which you should now add the stock
• Finely chop the mint and add half to the stock mixture
• Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes
• Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the remaining mint

Serves 4 

1 medium onion

50g butter

700g ripe tomatoes

pinch of salt, pepper and sugar

570ml chicken, vegetable or veal stock

1 tablespoon basil 

1 tablespoon chives

1 tablespoon mint

1 tablespoon parsley

• Finely chop the onion and herbs
• Peel and chop the tomatoes (see my 5 minute salsa recipe hub for a really easy way to peel the tomatoes)
• Melt half the butter in a pan and cook the onion until soft
• Add the peeled tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes
• Pass the soup through a fine sieve to remove the pips and unwanted tomato core
• Return to the pan and heat gently
• Taste and add extra salt and pepper if necessary
• If the tomatoes have a sharp flavour add a teaspoon of sugar
• Stir in the herbs and the rest of the butter

For a more creamy tomato soup you can also add 100ml of single cream to the soup when you stir in the herbs and butter.