Customer Reviews

500 Soups: The Only Soup Compendium You'll Ever Need (500 Cooking (Sellers))

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many cookbooks, especially those written by celebrity chefs, suffer from too much complexity. I call it the "making their mark disease" because it seems to be about showing off more than writing great recipes real people can prepare and enjoy. I favor cookbooks that present fairly simple, adaptable recipes, like '500 Soups'. Just like my other current favorite cookbook, 'Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes by Alison Miksch', 500 Soups has a number of delicious recipes accompanied by color photos, and then variations on each recipe. Of course because it has more recipes it has many more variations.

It includes recipes for making beef, vegetable, fish, and chicken stocks from scratch. All the recipes use scratch ingredients, and you can elect to use boullion, base, or prepared stocks. All ingredients should be available in any grocery store. Most recipes use measurements that are easy to multiply or divide, and are easy to adjust according to your own tastes. For example, I don't care for flaming hot spices, just a touch of heat, so I always reduce those.

Some are good for preparing in batches and freezing, some are better prepared and eaten fresh. There are broth soups, creamy soups, and red sauce soups, some with meat and fish, some vegetarian. Something for all occasions. (Plain yogurt is a nice substitute for heavy cream and coconut milk. Not quite the same because it adds a bit of tang. Add it at the very last or it will separate and look yucky.)

Here is a sampling:
Red-hot spicy chickpea and pasta soup
potato and garlic soup
beef and barley soup
ginger and salmon soup
spicy sausage and bean soup

I have tried about 10 soups so far from this book, and all of them have been fantastic!! The instructions are easy to follow and the pictures make you salivate in anticipation. A must have for any soup lover!!!

The 500 soups provides 125 recipes for a variety of soups from everyday to exotic variations. Each of the 125 recipes has four minor variations that tweak the item into a different version by adding a new flavor profile. This is hands down the best cookbook in the series and provides excellent recipes for easy use. There are tons of great flavored soups that are easy to make from this book and may ones that are hearty enough to serve as a meal. This truly is an essential book for those who like to make soups.

This and the other "500 ____" books are fun. I'd recommend them as a cute set for a graduation or shower gift. Not too sophisticated...

I purchased this book looking for a source for my cold weather favorite.... soups. I browsed through amazon's offerings of soup cookbooks and came across this one. When it arrived, I immediately dove in and was very pleasantly suprised.
Many of the recipies are tried and true so I don't need to go over them. What I liked most about this book was that it brought a number of my favorite recipies together in one spot... except for Tuscan Bean Soup, which is sadly missing from a lot of these type cookbooks.
What I didn't like was the variety included things I know I will never try, but that's with almost every cookbook. But the ratio was about 50/50. Not bad actually for a soup cookbook.
Between the chapters are pages that give you variations for recipies in the previous chapter, handy for the newer cooks and gives thought to more seasoned cooks.
There are some, what I consider to be, 'exotic' ingredients... things you wouldn't normally have around the house... but that may be just my house. However, that annoyed me... especially the seafood recipies. Not that I don't like seafood... I just don't see a lot of seafood soups other than chowders in my life and feel there could have been more heartier fare in their place.
Either way, this little book is worth it's price indeed. One of the few cookbooks that will last in my library. I do recommend it to those looking for a collection of soup recipies all in one spot.

When I saw 500 soups, I was expecting a wider variety of recipes. What you get is about 75 recipes with 5 to 10 variations of the recipe at the end of the chapter. Variations can be changing mint for parsley or make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth vs chicken broth. There are a few interesting variations but in most cases the variations seem like the author is stretching to get to the 500 number versus providing 500 unique recipes.

A picture for about 2/3s of the main recipes is nice. The small size of the book takes getting use to and I'm not a fan. I also wish there was a total cooking time at the top of each main recipe. You need to read through the recipe and judge how long it will take so no way of flipping through to find quick versus lengthy recipes. I'm still looking for that complete soup cookbook.

I like soups so I've enjoyed reading this cookbook and trying some recipes. As with the other "500" recipes books by Sellers Publishing, this one has main recipes that include variations to bring the total to the 500 the title promises. Most of the variations are simply substituting one ingredient such as a vegetable, meat, broth or garnish. I also like that the ingredients are easily found in most grocery stores and one can substitute lower fat or sodium versions if desired.

I tried the spiced lentil, chickpea & chorizo soup recipe, substituting spicy italian turkey sausage with good results. The Mediterranean vegetable soup was also good. That recipe called for fresh vegetables but I used canned chopped tomatoes, frozen peppers and zucchini, and canned fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth. I also added chicken to make it more hearty for dinner. Most of the recipes lend themselves to making one's own substitutions according to what is already on hand.

There is a glossary of terms and equipment as well as lots of colorful photos which I always appreciate, and the recipes are easy. The standard recipes for stocks and traditional soups like chicken noodle and vegetable beef are included along with some different ones that I look forward to trying.

I have been "accumulating" soup cookbooks from Amazon and also eBay for a soup feast I am planning. One thing about buying books online, you don't enjoy that ability to leaf through them and see if they really appeal so the reviewer information is really helpful. So, with a stack of soup books on hand, I will say that this one and New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup (Marjorie Druker, Clara Silverstein)[nice but a tad expensive] are the standouts for the appeal of therecipes, photos (a must), and general organization. Once you get too many books (I think I'm there!), the recipes start repeating and it's difficult to find anything new. This is a small compact book but I love the photos and the pages on "variations" for each recipe. These variations are how they cram 500 recipes in such a small volume! I would say this book is a great resource and priced fairly for what it provides to readers.

I bought this book because i live in alaska and we love soup in the winter time. one of my friends was looking at it and we both were so impressed with it that i bought 5 more for presents for several freinds who love soup and get tired of making the same ones over and over again. This book is so easy and simple and yet the recipes are so great. thank you and now im going to try the 500 salad one.

My husband and I enjoy finding new soups in this book to create dinner masterpieces. You will enjoy this addition to your home!