This is how I make a frugally delicious garbage soup in the instant pot. WAIT!! WHAAAT??? Garbage Soup???!!! I fear some of you will be gasping in absolute disgust. Don’t be. Just trust me, it’s a really good soup and not nearly as scary as the name. The concept of garbage soup, is to use items that some people consider garbage and would normally throw away. In this instance, the garbage items consisted of a chicken carcass leftover from our roasted chicken dinner and assorted vegetable scraps that I normally use to make vegetable stock.

The basic garbage soup ideas

Below is the basic recipe I normally use. The recipe can be adjusted as needed to suit your tastes and/or the garbage ingredients you have on hand. If you have beef, ham or pork bones, you can use them instead of a chicken carcass. Vegetarians can use just the vegetable scraps. If you prefer rice over egg noodles, use rice. Or broken pieces of spaghetti for noodles. Or no noodles at all. The best part about making garbage soup is it’s rewarding versatility.

A good soup starts with a flavorful stock

To make the soup, I start by making the stock. With the finished stock, I make the soup itself. Preparing the stock and the soup in the instant pot, makes this an easy one pot meal. The instant pot concentrates the flavors along with saving time and energy. Just put the basic ingredients for the stock into the instant pot. Set the time to cook for 2 hours (120 minutes) and go about your day. After the cook time is done, strain the stock liquid from the solids. Add the remaining ingredients to the stock. Set the time to cook for a final 5 minutes and dinner is done!!

Instant Pot Garbage Soup Recipe

• 1 Whole Chicken Carcass
• 1/2 of a Gallon Zip Top Bag of Frozen Assorted *Vegetable Scraps
• 2 Heaping Tablespoons Minced Garlic
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Bunch Dried Thyme Leaves and Stems
• 8 Black Peppercorns
• a Few Shakes of Salt-for now
• Enough Water to Cover the Carcass and Vegetables
• Approx. 2 Cups **Chopped Onions & Celery Combined
• 1/2 Bag Miniature Carrots-Sliced thick
• 1/2 of a 12 oz Bag of Egg Noodles
• 3 shakes Garlic Powder
• 2 Shakes Paprika
• 2 Shakes Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt and pepper-to taste

How to make the stock for the garbage soup

• Place chicken carcass, vegetable scraps, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns and just a bit of salt into the instant pot
• Add enough water to cover the chicken carcass and the vegetables
• Close and seal the instant pot
• Set the cook time for 120 minutes
• Allow the pressure to release naturally
• Place a colander over a large heat safe bowl
• Carefully pour the contents of the instant pot into the colander
• Allow the stock to drain from the chicken and vegetable solids
• Transfer the stock back into the instant pot.

Garbage soup preparation

• Remove the chicken meat pieces from the carcass and set aside
• Discard the carcass and vegetable scraps
• Add the chopped celery, onions and carrots to the stock
• Add the 1/2 bag of egg noodles to the stock
• Shake in the garlic powder, paprika and worcestershire sauce
• Stir to combine
• Set the cook time on the instant pot to 5 minutes
• When done, do a quick release
• Place chicken meat pieces into the soup to heat through
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Stir to combine
• Ladle soup into bowls and serve hot

Side Notes…

*Vegetable scraps consist of peels, trimmings, and discarded pieces of vegetables. In this batch of soup, I used carrots, celery, onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and zucchini. Any vegetables you like will work, except for potatoes. Don’t use potatoes. They add too much starch, little to no flavor and they give the soup a cloudy unappealing color.

**I had leftover chopped onions and celery from the stuffing at Thanksgiving. So, I froze them in a zip top freezer bag for later uses such as this soup.

Thank you for reading this blog post about garbage soup. I hope it inspires you to make garbage soup and enjoy it as much as I do. Please feel free to comment below and share with your family and friends.

Have a great day. Be safe. Virtual Hugs!

Chauncey

Note: If possible, cool the stock and refrigerate. This will allow a fat layer to form on top of the stock. Remove the fat layer and discard. This will create a soup with less fat.

Below is a link for the type of egg noodles I purchased at Dollar General. They added the perfect amount of texture to this garbage soup and they’re reasonably priced.

https://www.dollargeneral.com/products/product-page.clover-valley-extra-wide-egg-noodles-12-oz.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplp00864304&sc_intid=00864304&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=PRODUCT_GROUP&utm_campaign=Google_DGE_Shopping-Brand_Trademark_All_US_____Ecomm_ROAS&00864304&gclsrc=aw.ds&

Here’s a link to make homemade vegetable stock…https://frugalanddelicious.com/category/homemade-stocks/

P.S. If you don’t have an instant pot, I highly encourage you to get one. I absolutely LOVE my instant pot. It is honestly my favorite kitchen appliance. It saves an incredible amount of time and energy, while making delicious meals. It’s my culinary sous chef and I use it several times each week.! Here’s a link to help you learn more about them. https://instantpot.com/