A soup party is like a hug for your stomach: an oh-so-comforting, community-minded way to stage a low-effort party and bring people together over one of the most comforting foods there is: soup! It’s much more informal (and less heavy lift) than a sit-down dinner party and the ideal event for a chilly fall or winter day. 

Staging your own soup party is also an opportunity to introduce your friends and family to the wonders of induction stoves, ‘cause — here’s the gumbo — you are going to cook up all those delicious soups and stews on your induction stovetop, so your guests can see the amazing virtues of induction: safer, no toxic gas fumes, easy clean-up, etc. If you have a portable hot plate, you can put it right in the middle of the table and share facts as you go: it’s a consommée conversation piece!

Find out more about the benefits of induction here.

Kitchen confidential

You can also tell your guests that a new generation of celebrated professional chefs like New York City’s Amanda Cohen (Dirt Candy) and Justin Lee (Fat Choy) have discovered the many benefits of induction ranges in a busy restaurant kitchen.

Even cooking shows like the Great British Bake Off are going magnetic. Why? Induction — like your grandma’s gumbo — is just better. It’s safer, faster, easier to clean, cooler, and gives chefs a whole layer of precision just not accessible when you are cooking on gas. Which is why the best chefs are increasingly taking a pass on gas. But induction is just as useful, efficient, and safe for home cooks too, whether you brown your butter or burn it.

Soup’s on: Here’s how it works

It’s the 21st century, so everyone has a dietary preference, right? Make things easy on yourself: Offer three soup selections for various diets and styles. Offering one classic comfort soup like a chili or chicken noodle soup and something more adventurous and flavor forward, like a spicy mulligatawny, is a great way to do it. At our soup party we’re making wild mushroom barley, white bean Tuscan kale soup, and a vegan butternut squash soup with coconut milk. If you have a favorite family recipe for Irish stew, potato and leek soup, or weirdly delicious bisque your aunt Bea scrawled on a piece of paper in 1952, make that! Show off your cooking chops and your family’s heritage recipes. 

But wait a second, you may be thinking, I’m a renter with a gas stove. You can still rock your bouillon! A single or double-burner induction hot plate is the perfect solution.  You can explore induction’s range (get it?) even if a whole range is not in the budget (a great induction hot plate can be purchased for less than $100), or your landlord isn’t keen to let you swap out your gas. Supplement your induction burner with a fancy toaster oven and Instant Pot and you’ve got yourself an electric kitchen — no toxic fossil fuels needed.

Have on hand

• Plenty of bowls (reusable ones cut down on waste)

• Spoons

• Napkins

• Salt and pepper

• Condiments to accompany the soup where specified.

• Bread or crackers to accompany

• Selection of drinks, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic, or selection of both

• Trays and plenty of clutter-free surfaces for drinks and soup

• Your best soup puns and jokes
  How did the hipster burn her mouth?

  She ate her soup before it was cool.

Your soup party in 5 easy steps:

Step 1: Send out invites

Sunday afternoons are a great option for a late afternoon soup and group. You can give a set time frame for guests or offer up a longer window of time so people can drop in when it works for their schedule. Ask your guests if they have any dietary restrictions so you’ll know how many soup options to offer.

Step 2: Make your soups

Once you find out about your guests’ dietary preferences, you can have soup curated to meet their needs. Make one big broth, or a range of offerings, depending on your abilities, and how many boils you can roll at the same time. Just make sure you clearly label your soups. Most soups can be prepped in advance, so chop ahead of time,   soaking and cooking the beans from scratch, making broth, and doing other prep tasks. You can make the soup the morning of the party if everything is prepared. Tip: Make more soup than you think you’ll need.

Step 3: Talk soup

Mix and mingle and talk to guests about some of the great features of induction. Your soup party is a moment to speak from the heart about why you chose induction and why you love it. 

Step 4: Ladle out the recipe

Share your soup recipes if you like, along with information about the advantages of induction cooking, below.

Step 5: Offer a takeaway

Have our induction stove guide on hand for people to take home. Have some reusable containers to either freeze the leftover soups or offer them to your guests.

Courtesy of Liza Shaw of Maine’s Blue Hill Wine Shop

Mushroom barley soup

Serves 50

• 2-3 sticks of butter

• 8 small diced onions

• 16 pounds mushrooms, cut in 1/2-1 inch pieces

• 16 stalks celery

• 8 carrots

• 48 garlic cloves

• 24 sprigs thyme

• 3 tablespoons garlic powder

• 10 quarts stock

• 2 cups wine (red or white)

• 6 cups barley

• Sour cream, dill, sliced scallions for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, melt the butter.

2. Add onions, saute until translucent and starting to brown.

3. Raise heat and add mushrooms.  Stir to coat in butter, allow to brown significantly.

4. Add salt

5. Add celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, garlic powder. 

6. Add wine and reduce almost completely

7. Add barley, stir thoroughly.

8. Add stock and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook until barley is very tender, about 30 minutes.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste

10. Garnish with sour cream, chopped dill, sliced scallions, and a crack of black pepper.

Thai curry butternut squash (or pumpkin) soup

Serves 25

Aromatics:

• 8 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly

• 3 stalks lemongrass, diced

• 2 Fresno chiles, diced

• 7 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

• 4 tablespoons ginger, sliced thinly and diced

• 2 tablespoons turmeric, sliced thinly and diced (or substitute 1 tablespoon ground turmeric)

• 1 tablespoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil

• 1 white onion, diced

• 2 large carrots, diced

• 2 stalks celery, diced

• 1/2 head fennel, diced

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced (or the same amount of pumpkin)

• 1 small head cauliflower, diced

• 2 cans coconut milk

• Water

• Salt to taste

• Cilantro, lime, chili crunch for garnish

Directions:

1. Sweat the aromatics in the first section in coconut oil until very fragrant and beginning to brown over medium-low heat, for about 5 minutes. 

2. Add remaining ingredients and a large pinch of salt, and sweat for another 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and enough water to cover all of your ingredients.

3. Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil. 

4. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes and check for seasoning. 

5. This soup is vegan and gluten-free but a shake of fish sauce can add depth at the end. Puree the mixture in a blender in batches (optional) and taste again to adjust for seasoning. 

6. Garnish with cilantro, lime, and chili crunch.

Split pea soup

Serves 50

• 3 sticks butter

• 8 onions

• 6 leeks

• 8 stalks celery

• 8 carrots

• 16 sprigs thyme

• 4 pounds potatoes

• 3 pounds ham

• 16 cloves garlic

• 8 pounds dried split peas

• 16 quarts stock

• 10 bay leaves

• 2 pounds frozen peas

• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, melt the butter.  Add onions, carrots, celery, leeks, and ham and saute 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, stir until aromatic but not browned.

3. Add split peas, stock or water, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper.

4. Simmer for about an hour, or until peas are tender.  

5. Add potatoes and cook until they are tender.  

6. Soup should have broken down a bit and become creamy.  If you want a creamier soup, puree 1/3 of it.

7. Finish with frozen peas and cook through.

8. Taste for seasoning and add salt or pepper as needed.

Vegetarian stock

Makes 12 quarts

• 6 ounces dried mushrooms

• 6 yellow onions, cut in quarters

• 6 large carrots, cut

• 18 celery stalks, cut

• 18 garlic cloves, smashed

• 8 bay leaves

• 20 sprigs thyme

• 20 sprigs parsley

• 6 tablespoons peppercorns

• 2 tablespoons fennel seed

• 2 tablespoons coriander seed

• 14 quarts water

• Cheesecloth

• Kitchen twine

Directions:

1. Keep skin on onions and garlic

2. Tie herbs in a bundle with kitchen twine

3. Put all the ingredients into a large stock pot and cover with three inches of cold water. 

4. Bring to a boil, cover and turn the heat down to medium.

5. Simmer for 40 minutes to an hour. Simmering longer won’t extract any more flavor from the ingredients.

6. Strain through a fine meshed strainer (with cheesecloth if available) and use in any soup!