Bone Broth Tomato Soup

Tis the season for coughs and colds. In my household, that means it’s time to start the perpetual bone broth. The powerful healing of bone broth can’t be found in a bouillon made of MSG and sugar, aka "natural flavors". The minerals that leach from the bones, the collagen, and the gelatin are what we are after to boost the immune system and help the body repair itself.

I love to keep a slow cooker of broth cooking away all week long. The house smells amazing and when I need some broth to make a soup, it is a quick ladle away. When I have the time, I simply turn off the slow cooker, strain the broth and make soup or freeze it for later.

One time and money saving tip is to start a freezer bag labeled soup broth. Each time I cut some onion ends, some celery leaves, parsley stems, leek, or carrot tops, I place those trimmings into my freezer bag. Freeze these trimmings so they don’t rot and add to the bag every time you cut vegetables for dinner. Do not throw away your bones after dinner, toss those into the freezer bag too. Leftover chicken leg bones, the neck from a whole chicken, a steak bone, or even leftover rib bones will become your key ingredients. When the bag is full, you’ll be ready to make a broth.

If you want to read a bit further into the healing properties of bone broth, read my earlier post, Liquid Gold to Heal a Cold.

Tomato Soup

Now comes the fun part, turning that broth into an instant dinner. Sometimes we call this soup Pink Soup so that tomato haters do n’t form any preconceived opinions. Honestly, I haven’t found a soul who dislikes this soup. On a cold day, serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches on sour dough and you will have delightful smiles around the dinner table.

Simply strain off the bone broth from the slow cooker into a pot on the stove or even pour a half frozen block of broth in the pan. To a full 2 quart pot of broth, add 1 small can of tomato paste and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. Add the cream in while the soup is not too hot so that it does not curdle. Make sure to salt the soup with a quality unrefined sea salt for some bonus minerals and a delicious comfort food.

I’m not sure if kids love this soup because there are no vegetables in it (not true they are in the broth). Maybe kids like the pink color, reminiscent of pizza or spaghetti sauce. Either way, it will make you smile to see them slurp away on this nutrient dense soup. Another option is to cook some brown rice noodles or plain white rice and add that to the soup. My vote is to go simple, the nutrition is already there so treat yourself to crusty bread or noodles and enjoy your tomato soup.