Copycat Campbell's Tomato Soup

“A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.”

— Leo Tolstoy

He got me lavender kombucha! The boy knows me...

True dat, Tolstoy.

For our wedding anniversary, I asked Todd to pick out absolutely whatever he wanted to have for dinner and I would make it or buy it. Do you know what he chose? Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! I wasn't really that surprised...

So I ask, "What kind of tomato soup?" And he tells me, "The canned Campbell's kind." Oh that crazy boy, for the love of Buddah!  

Clearly, there was no, nooo way I was going to buy a couple cans of tomato soup for our anniversary dinner. I just couldn't. So, I knew I had to try to replicate it instead. I intended to find a copycat recipe online and follow it precisely. There was actually supposed to be no post today at all.

However, much to my dismay, I couldn't find one! Sure, there were a few but none of them seemed very accurate. Have you looked at the back of a Campbell's tomato soup can?

No, probably not. Well, there was no choice but to make a copycat recipe entirely myself and to be perfectly frank I had pretty low expectations. Did you know there's xanthan gum in Campbell's tomato soup? Who knew?! And high fructose corn syrup, of course, but I opted for brown sugar instead. Also, their soup is primarily made with tomato paste....erm....okay, so obviously some ingredients had to change.

Imagine me serving Todd a bowl of reconstituted tomato paste, hahaha. "Here you go, Honey!" Don't worry, that didn't happen.

This soup is spot-on, you guys. It's pretty shocking really. So, if you have a weird obsession with the taste of Campbell's canned tomato soup (like someone I know) this is your recipe. You're going to love it!

Copycat Campbell's Tomato Soup

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

An incredibly accurate copycat of Campbell's Tomato Soup. You'll never need to buy another can again!

Ingredients

• 2 28 oz. cans of whole peeled tomatoes
• ½ cup water
• heaping ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. seasoning salt (I use Johnny's) or table salt
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum
• 2 dried bay leaves
• dash ground black pepper

Ingredients

1. In a blender, combine all ingredients except for the bay leaves. Blend on high for several minutes, until very smooth and creamy.
2. The xanthan gum will make the soup sort of frothy. Never fear though, it will clear when heated.
3. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add the bay leaves, and heat over medium-low for about 10 minutes, until the soup turns a dark red and the froth goes away.
4. Serve hot!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:10
Total time: 00:15
Yield: 4-6 servings

More Delicious Soup Recipes

German Word of The Day

Tomato Soup --> Tomatensuppe (two-mahten-zoopah)

Good Deed of The Day

Stop what you're doing and listen to this podcast episode that a reader directed me to. It will BLOW. YOUR. MIND. Fo' real. yo. 

Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets & Backpacking

Today I give you a simple recipe and some awesome Alaskan backcountry pictures!  When Todd and I decided to go backpacking up by where we got married last year, we knew we had a rather large stash of 1000 year old Mountain Houses and Backpacker's Pantry freeze dried meals. We dug them out only to discover that, as vegans, we couldn't eat a single one. Poo.

So, I decided to make some oatmeal for us. When I was a child, we always brought along those little, sweetened packets of oatmeal backpacking. My favorite was the Fruit and Cream type. Don't you dare give me any of those Apples and Cinnamon ones, blech! Did you know those little packets have whey in them, though? Why, Quaker!? Why???

Oh well. So if you don't want whey in your oatmeal either, here's how to make your own! I used erythritol but you can use sugar if you like. 

Be sure to add freshly picked berries if you have access! This is my favorite breakfast. Bonus points if you eat it in sleeping bag, outside on top of a mountain!

Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packet

Inspired by Quaker Oats

Makes 1 packet

• 1/2 cup dry instant oats
• 2 tsp. erythritol (or sugar)
• 1 tsp. vanilla powder
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (optional, or cinnamon, etc.)
• boiling water (amount to preference)
• add-ins (berries, fruit, seeds, nuts, etc.)

In a small baggie/canister/bowl add all the ingredients and mix or shake well to combine. When ready to use, place in an appropriate bowl and fill with desired amount of boiling water.Voila. Done. 

Awesome Alaska Backpacking Pictures

And now on to some amazing Alaskan photos. Below you'll see some of the berries I put in my oatmeal!

Yes, it was a little late in the season, however, the blueberry situation was OBSCENE! I went bananas...obviously. 

Blueberrymania, no? It was pure joy. The Fall colors were very lovely. We don't have these colors quite yet, outside of the mountains. 

Still a little ways to go! It was extraordinarily muddy. And here we are, finally at camp! We made it!

This is the Official "My Backpack's Off"' pose, in case you were wondering. There's no quite feeling like it. Don't laugh.

Todd and Bob may have the whole "relaxing" thing down a bit better than I do.

We saw a massive bear print along with scat. So that was special.

This is what vegans bring camping when they don't plan ahead and dehydrate a meal. There is also some chocolate with candied ginger, and lemon drops too!

Todd got a JetBoil for his birthday. What a spoiled boy!

Our furry child hauls his own goodies, of course. 

He loves us.

Family picture! We were photobombed by a blueberry...

We were happy to squeeze the last backpacking trip in before the snow flies. It was 32 F when I left for work this morning, so literally, we could have snow any day now! Bring it on.

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Copycat Amy's Lentil Soup Recipe

Real quick like, allow me to do update from yesterday's post. I wore the PRO Compression socks all day at work with a busy mammography schedule and they were awesome! I can tell you that my feet honestly didn't hurt as much, however, they did leave some red marks as is to be expected, which can be a bit irritating to some. If you haven't yet, hop on over to yesterday's post and enter my giveaway! It's super easy and quick and you could win a prize worth $50! Okay back to business. So, for the last couple weeks I have been craving lentil soup. Strange thing to crave...most people crave cupcakes or french fries. But not just any lentil soup..."Amy's" Lentil Soup to be precise. I made the enormous mistake of making a Costco trip while I was super hungry and let's just say I ended up with A LOT of goodies. One of those goodies was a 12 pack of Amy's Soup of the Lentil and Black Bean variety I think...honestly though, I can't remember the second flavor. I just freaking love that Lentil Soup! Oh my lord people, it's amazing. It's also amazingly expensive, even from Costco. I bought the soup for those days when, "Whoops! I didn't make dinner, I have no lunch for work and I don't even have any bread for making a sandwich..." However, what ending up happening was that I ate them all in a week's time. The lentil cans that is.

A couple weeks after my Amy's Lentil Soup rampage was over I started going through withdrawals. I went to the store like a soup crack addict to feed my addiction I had created, only to find that one can was like $3.50! Say whaaaaaaaat?! Oh hell no, y'all! I am not paying $3.50 for a can of soup I can make myself for dirt cheap. Straight up. And so, here I was, staring at this can of lentil soup, all cracked out. What's a lentil lovin' lady to do? True fact #1: I almost named my blog Lentil Lady after a friend called me that. I really like lentils, okay? True Fact #2: I brought a ginormous bowl of this leftover soup to work today and my coworkers asked me if I was taking it to the potluck we apparently happened to be having that day (I was not aware of this)...Noooo...I just really love lentils! Sheesh!

The solution was to of course just make my own! So, combining a recipe from another blogger who obviously suffers from the same addiction as myself and dissecting the back of the Amy's Lentil Soup can, I came up with my own recipe that tastes just like Amy's. It really, seriously does. I haven't done a blind taste comparison...but I'm not joking when I tell you that, yes, I do plan to.

Your wallet will know the difference but your taste buds won't. Here it is in all it's amazing lentil copycat glory.

A Few Notes: 

• Make sure to dice the vegetables very small. Not quite a mince, but smaller than diced.

• Use any lentils you like, but I strongly recommend red lentils. They cook very quickly, require less water and cook to the texture that is desired for this soup. That said, if you prefer to use brown or green lentils (you're so stubborn!) just note that you'll need to probably double the water and cook the soup longer. I refuse to vouch for the results of this soup with the use of other lentils. Yea, I'm mean like that. Red lentils also are the most nutritious of all the lentils, so get yourself some! I'm not lying...check it out here.

• If you don't have fresh herbs, use 1/4 tsp. of dried instead and add them in at the same time as the cumin.

• I used a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time of this soup, but if  you don't have one, I include regular stove-top directions as well.

Copycat Amy’s Lentil Soup

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

The solution to pricy cans of Amy’s soup was to of course just make my own! So, combining a recipe from another blogger who obviously suffers from the same addiction as myself and dissecting the back of the Amy's Lentil Soup can, I came up with my own recipe that tastes just like Amy's. It really, seriously does. Your wallet will know the difference but your taste buds won't.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium carrots, diced small
• 3 stalks of celery (leaves too!), diced small
• 1 small yellow onion, diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz. can of stewed tomatoes, blended
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 2 cups of water
• ½ medium sweet potato, diced small
• 2 tsp. salt
• ¾ tsp. ground cumin
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 ½ tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups red lentils
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped (or ¼ tsp dried)
• 1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped (or ¼ tsp dried)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker (lid off) or a large soup pot. Add in the diced carrots, celery and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to saute for another 3 minutes or so.
2. In a blender, add the can of stewed tomatoes and blend until mostly smooth. Add to the pot along with the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then add the sweet potatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes have softened. Stir occasionally.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients, excluding the fresh herbs. If you're using a pressure cooker, put the lid on and bring to pressure. Allow to pressure cook for about 10 minutes and then slow release the pot.
4. After the time is up, stir the soup, you may need to add more water if necessary. Taste to ensure that the lentils are cooked through and are soft, especially if you're not using red lentils! If you're using a regular soup pot, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. All of this could vary greatly depending on what lentils you use and what method of cooking you implement. Take note, this soup is on the thicker side.
5. When the soup is done cooking, remove from heat and stir in the chopped herbs. Add additional water as needed to obtain desired thickness.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 00:20
Total time: 00:35
Yield: 4 servings

Save Money!

I used to buy the store brand liquid vegetable broth in the carton but now I buy a German powdered broth here for seven times less!!

It’s only $0.10 per 1 cup versus almost $0.70 per 1 cup at our local grocery store.

More Lentil Soup Recipes

Spiced Lentil Soup with Roasted Beets & Delicata Squash

Creamy Spiced Coconut Lentil Soup

Thai Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Lentil Tempeh Sweet Potato Chili

This was Todd when we got home.

And this is the worst garden helper...

...#stophelping