What's your favorite soup that needs to simmer for a long time?

January 6, 2025 4:22 PM

My BF requested a soup that cooks for hours and makes the whole house smell good. Hit me! (Stew also acceptable.)
posted by Charity Garfein to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Turkey soup is the best. If I don't have a carcass, I buy wings, backs legs. In a pot with celery, carrots, onion. And simmer. 4 hours at the minimum. I like bay leaf and whole allspice. And couple tsps of salt. I pull out the bits around 1 hour and pull off meat. Put bones skin back in. Strain.

Add stock, fresh carrots celery onion. Simmer till soft. Bring to a boil and add noodles and about 5 minutes left on noodles, add meat. Check seasoning and serve with fresh bread and cheese.

I like cheddar sliced very very thin and melt it in the soup..
posted by Ftsqg at 5:03 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

Boeuf aux Quatre Epices is a favourite in our house (though we have renamed it Fancy French Stew) - the recipe comes from a spice-subscription site, so it doesn't list the spice amounts, but they are:
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:17 PM on January 6

You said stews are acceptable: Hungarian Goulash!

3 1/2 - 4 lb boneless chuck eye roast, peeled apart at seams, trimmed, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 jar roasted red peppers in water or vinegar, drained
1/3 heaping cup sweet paprika
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tsp white vinegar
3 lb onion, sliced very thinly
2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced 1 inch thick
1-2 bay leaves
1 cup beef broth/stock
Salt and pepper

Oven rack to lower-middle, preheated to 325. Heat oil in Dutch oven until shimmering. Turn heat to medium low and add onions and 1 tsp salt. Cook onions for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put drained peppers, paprika, tomato paste, and vinegar into the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, 1-2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Stir pepper mixture into onions and cook on medium, uncovered, until onions begin to stick to bottom, about 2 minutes. Pat beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Add beef, carrots, and bay leaf and stir until well coated. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down sides of the Dutch oven, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. After 2 hours, add the beef broth, but make sure the beef is not submerged. You might not use all the broth. Put covered Dutch oven back in oven for 30 more minutes. Remove pot from oven and discard bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with buttered egg noodles and sour cream.
posted by cooker girl at 5:18 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

THIS IS THE BEST STEW and it takes forever
https://www.seriouseats.com/all-american-beef-stew-recipe

watch the video before making, it explains the steps better than the text version of the recipe does. plus, it is cute
video of kenji making the stew
you must trust me on this okay? i just made it yesterday for like the 5th time and it's SUBLIME. go for a walk while it's cooking during one of the oven phases and come back home and be TRANSPORTED
posted by capnsue at 6:14 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

Beef barley soup is fantastic, and with the right cut of meat, takes a few hours. I like sautéing mushrooms until brown and adding them, too. You can also make it with chicken thighs, but it won't take hours. When I use chicken thighs, I sauté the veggies, add the stock and barley, cook for 45 minutes, then add chopped skinless and boneless thighs and cook for about 5 more minutes. It's enough to cook the thighs.

There's also bean soup, which can cook for a long time. You can use any beans, but I really like the 15/16 bean mix made for soups. It's usually available in 1 lb-ish bags. Since you're cooking for a long time, there's no need to presoak the beans. The small ones dissolve and thicken the soup, while the big ones remain whole. I add smoked meat like kielbasa or bacon. Brown the meat, then add onions, carrots, and celery to the pan. If I use bacon, I remove most of the rendered fat before adding the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are soft, then add beans and 1.5 to 2 quarts or liters of stock or water. I usually season with thyme and bay leaves, and a bit of salt if using homemade stock or water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the big beans are tender (like I said, the small ones will dissolve). This usually takes about 2 hours. It's freaking delicious.
posted by mollweide at 6:14 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

Sorry, everyone, the One True House Perfume is tortilla soup. Any recipe will do, and take the opportunity to double (at least) the fragrant spices in any Americanized version you find. Cumin, tomatoes, chili, garlic, carrots, cabbage, onions, pinto beans, black beans, cilantro, corn, a bit of epazote, I mean just keep adding what you have available and simmer it all damn day. The payoff of the last-minute addition of tortilla crunch makes the entire experience a cherished one.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:57 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]

Barefoot Contessa's rosemary white bean soup. The instructions say to simmer for 30-40 minutes, but in my experience it takes at least 2 hours to get the beans fully soft.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:40 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

Oxtail stew, or rather veal oxtail stew, is IMO one of the most soothing fragrant things you can have on your stovetop. (If you can't get veal, regular oxtail is absolutely fine, it just won't be quite as unctuous).
I haven't tried Jamaican oxtail stew yet, but I'm sure it is delicious and also more spicy, if you like that.
posted by mumimor at 6:55 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

I don't have a recipe to link to, but chili needs at least 4 hours of simmering to meld the flavors properly.

Also split pea soup needs many hours (if you make your stock first from a ham hock).

For the most amazing aroma, make some pho ga (vietnamese chicken soup). So delicious.
posted by hydra77 at 7:30 AM on January 7

Depends how many hrs you're trying to get to but if you take anything you would normally cook on the stove and cook it with a crock pot you add several hrs of yummy smells.

Neither soup nor stew but spaghetti bolognese takes a looooong time to cook. I've had a pot simmering for anything from 2 hrs to 4 hrs. It wants at least two hrs for the veg and other flavours to mingle fully. Anything after that is a bonus. You will may need to add a bit of water as the sauce reduces down.
posted by koahiatamadl at 7:41 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

Lentil Soup with Ham, Cooks Country, April, May 2011. We buy a hambone from the Honey Baked Store. They have plenty of ham meat on them for this recipe.
posted by SemiSalt at 1:22 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]

Many soups start with a base of chicken stock. I simmer mine for 6 hours. Whenever I make a roast chicken, I take the meat off the bones and freeze the bones. When I have enough, or when I get low on frozen chicken stock, I make a batch. If I don't have enough bones, I go to Chinatown and buy more. Then I roast them before adding them to the stock.

After that, matzo ball soup is easy. So is chicken and wild rice soup. Or chicken stew with preserved lemon, browned onions, turmeric, and olives. Those are quick once you have the stock, but making the stock is the thing that takes time and fills up your house with goodness.
posted by novalis_dt at 3:38 PM on January 7

Mod note: Thanks for asking this question and to everyone sharing suggestions! We've added all these good smelling ideas to the sidebar and the Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:49 AM on January 8