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Soup Party Ideas
Ways to run a soup party, from a taste-and-vote night to a swap where everyone takes soup home.
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Have guests say who's bringing what. One host writes on the invitation that every guest must post which soup they're bringing, so nobody ends up with all the same soups. A guest in a soup swap found ginger carrot and butternut squash already claimed, and lentil showed up everywhere the year before. This list gathers ideas from two cooking threads: a taste-and-vote night, a Stone Soup potluck, a three-course soup dinner and a swap where everyone goes home with soup to freeze. It assumes a group of friends and a few big pots. It leaves out recipes.
Why these items are on the list
- Send invitations by email or Evite. Evite worked for one host; plain email is fine if the group is small.
- Ask guests to post their soup. Put it on the invitation so you don't end up with all the same soups.
- Check for duplicate soups. Two of one swap guest's picks were already taken, and lentil had been everywhere the year before.
- Set out one tasting bowl per soup. One bowl of each, and everyone gets a spoon. Fair warning: redkitty's guests all double dipped.
- Taste the soups one by one. redkitty figured full bowls would stuff you after two, so her group tasted one by one.
- Label each soup with a post-it. Write the soup's name and stick it in front of the bowl so people know what they're eating.
- Write soup names on a whiteboard. It gives everyone an easy reference when it's time to vote.
- Hand out slips for voting. redkitty cuts paper into squares and has everyone vote for first and second place.
- Pick a prize for the winner. Have one ready as host. One Discuss Cooking host bought a nice soup ladle for the winner.
- Choose a second prize. Something chefy works. redkitty can't remember the second prize, only that it was something chefy.
- Try a Stone Soup party. From the children's story: you supply the pot, water and a stone, and guests bring what goes in.
- Make sure the stone is clean. Check it's clean first, since it goes in the pot. Constance used a smooth river rock.
- Assign ingredient categories. One Stone Soup host suggests giving each guest a category, like meat, vegetable or broth, or leaving it to fate.
- Serve three courses of soup. Claire's order: a brothy soup, usually Asian influenced; her husband's French onion; then a stew or chili-like one.
- Add crusty bread, butter and cheese. Claire serves these with her three soup courses and calls the dinner a big hit, especially in cold months.
- Stack bowls for the table setting. Claire stacks a big soup cup on a cereal-type bowl on a shallow pasta bowl, and thinks it looks pretty.
- Host a soup exchange. Everyone makes a big batch, brings it, and goes home with a mix of soups to eat and freeze.
- Plan it for winter. Forum cooks call winter a great time for a soup party, and soup is comforting.
Keep it open on your phone while guests reply, and tick things off as the plan firms up. Mix a format or two; nobody's checking.
When to use it
Useful when you're planning a winter get-together and want a format beyond a plain potluck.