Sweetest eaters and readers, welcome to Tasty Tuesday and the third annual chili-soup-stew recipe swap 10.2021 and blog hop. Try saying that with your mouth full. Whether you’re hungry or just like to eat, you’ve come to the right spot! More than a dozen bloggers have gathered together today to share their favorite fall chili-soup-stew recipes with YOU! And with each other, of course. Before we get started today, you can check out the previous editions of the chili-soup-stew recipe swap and blog hop, here and here.
If you are hopping here from Sue’s blog at Women Over 50 Living Well, thank you for coming by!!
Just a reminder: Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After occasionally uses affiliate links which are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link provided I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.
Chili-Soup-Stew Recipe Swap 10.2021
True confessions: the recipe I originally planned to share was not as tasty as I had hoped it would be. Cincinnati chili. It sure smelled good while it was simmering in the crockpot. The whole house smelled spicy. And I don’t usually like the smell of food to permeate the house.
But I think the problem with this recipe is that it just too spicy. Not a heat-related spice but a pungent aromatic spice. Probably the combination of unlikely ingredients like cinnamon, allspice, cloves and unsweetened cocoa powder. Not items usually found in the chili recipes I have prepared in the past.
I have pinned this Food Network recipe on my Souper Chili and Stews Pinterest board, here, if you are curious to check it out. Really want to make it again and maybe cut the spices by half the amount in the recipe. Had such high hopes for this chili but it was so…strange? off? spicy? that after a bowl a piece, we poured the rest down the disposal. Another interesting thing about Cincinnati chili…it is traditionally served over pasta (spaghetti), with the beans spooned on top rather than cooked with the other ingredients. Also recommended are chopped white onions and grated cheddar cheese on top and oyster crackers on the side.
Looks kinda good, doesn’t it? Will try to make it again. Maybe with a different recipe. Had such high hopes for this dish.
Plan B
So, I had to quickly switch gears and find another recipe to make and share. As you probably remember, we are big soup eaters here and have never met a soup we didn’t like. Of course, until the other day, I could have said that same thing about chili. I felt so guilty about dumping all of that food down the drain that the next recipe I tried needed to require few ingredients, be easy and inexpensive to make.
What to do??
Creamy Crockpot Tortellini Soup
Enter creamy crockpot tortellini soup. Six ingredients – all of which I had and would almost always have on hand. No spices required – which would have been a drawback before I met Cincinnati chili. But after that fiasco, I was glad this recipe didn’t even call for salt!! Promising to cost less than $15 a meal and cooking only 5 hours in my crockpot, I was sold. And, thank goodness, it’s even good!!
So, let’s not waste another precious minute. Grab your apron and meet me in the kitchen!!
Ingredients
Something you should know about me. I rarely prepare a recipe exactly as directed. Sometimes I will make it ‘right’ the first time (Cincinnati chili) I try it. But I tweak it to suit our taste. And I am too impatient to measure!! Ain’t nobody got time. When I mentioned here years ago that I was too lazy to chop veggies, my BFF Sharon sent me this chopping device. Life in the kitchen has never been the same since.
Knowing all of that, you should know that for this soup, even though I had never made it before, I changed things up a bit. My changes are in parentheses.
- 1 bag tortellini frozen, 19 ounce bag (I used half a bag – approximately 8 ounces of Good & Gather 4 cheese dried tortellini)
- 1 lb ground sausage ground beef, or precooked shredded chicken (I used low-fat ground pork)
- 1 bag spinach fresh, 10 ounce
- 1 can diced tomatoes 28 ounce
- 4 c chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 block cream cheese 8 ounce, room temp, cut into cubes (I used Neufchatel cheese which has 1/3 less fat)
- Parmesan cheese
- ***I added a little chopped sweet yellow onion into the meat as I browned it
Directions
-
Set out cream cheese in order to allow it to reach room temperature.
-
Brown ground sausage or ground beef or ground pork. Could use shredded rotisserie chicken instead.
-
Drain grease from pan and add ground meat or shredded chicken into crockpot.
-
Pour in can of tomatoes, broth, and cubes of cream cheese.
-
Stir to combine.
-
Cook on low for 5 hours. For best results stir twice during this time.
-
Add the frozen or dried tortellini and fresh spinach leaves.
-
Cook an additional 15-30 minutes until pasta is warmed and tender (I cooked my dried tortellini and spinach about 30-45 minutes with the crockpot on high).
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
We both really, really liked this soup. It was very hearty and filling. So easy to prepare and renewed my faith and PC’s in my cooking ability. Or ability to follow a recipe.
Both of us indulged in seconds and there were about 2 servings remaining for leftovers. I packed some in Paul’s lunch today. Would like to try to lighten it up a little next time with fat-free cream cheese and rotiss chick.
Time to Hop
So, now, if you’re not wearing your tennies already, please slip them on and join me in hopping to visit all the others participating in today’s recipe swap and blog hop. I am tickled to even have some gals who don’t blog joining me on Facebook. And so you don’t miss anyone, if we get separated…here’s the list of blogs in the hop.
That’s Not All Folks
Your Turn
If you have a favorite chili-soup-stew recipe, won’t you share it below? Or pop by my blog Facebook page and share it there. In my estimation, you can never have too many soup recipes. Especially as we are just settling into soup season!!
Thank you for hopping by. I’m off to Penny’s, won’t you join me?
Hope your last week of October is a perfect one.
Hugs and kisses,
What a shame the first attempt wasn’t to your taste. You live and learn eh? Never heard of the beans being added separately. We tend to have our chilli with a jacket baked potato, with guacamole, soured cream and grated cheese as accompaniments. Maybe a few nachos to dip into it too!
I’ve never tried a recipe like the second one, but it sounds like something I will have to try!
Oh, my gosh!! I love the idea of the chili scooped into a baked potato. Absolutely going to try that. Such a great idea!!
Your second recipe sounds like something my husband might enjoy! I can never find low fat ground pork here. Do you have to ask the grocery store butcher for it or is it just in the meat case with the other pork? Thanks for hosting this link up!!
You know, I had never eaten ground pork until we started getting HelloFresh and several of the recipes we really like from them came with ground pork. So I started looking for it in order to replicate the recipes myself. I do most of our grocery shopping at the military commissary since PC is a retired Army vet, and that is where I bought this low fat ground pork. Wonder if we could just have pork ground by the butcher at Walmart or wherever you grocery shop? My mom had a meat grinder a million years ago. It would come in handy to make really lean ground pork.
So glad you joined us for this link up!!
I love soup and chili and always want some in the fall!
Leslie…how funny that we shared almost identical recipes!!! So yummy. The Cincinnati chili sounds interesting. I’ve made chili using pumpkin before but not the spices that recipe called for.
I thought it was cool, too. Want to try your version of the soup. We like pumpkin chili and even the spices called for in it. But I think I must surely have mismeasured the spices in this chili. Want to try it again.
Ooh, TOO spicy?!? The only thing I’ve ever had that was TOO spicy is this Buldak spicy chicken instant ramen that I have at least once a week now. And it is SPICY! I finally learned to add in a dollop of whipped cream cheese to cut the PAIN a bit, cuz otherwise my lips were in MISERY for the rest of the evening.
And chili over SPAGHETTI?! Wow, the spicy meaty goodness of chili over a plateful of CARBS!!! I’d be in heaven. Thanks for bringing THAT concept to my attention!
Thanks for inviting me to join your group this month, I had fun and found some great new recipes!
Bettye
https://fashionschlub.com
LOL you are adorable. Choking I am laughing so hard. That’s why I wanted to like this chili so badly…pasta and chili with all those scrumptious spices. I really want to try it again cutting the spices in half. Everything said this recipe should have been a winner.
Oh, friend! My first contender wasn’t a huge win for me either! It’s a good recipe, but wasn’t quite to my taste. I shared a backup, tried and true, barley chili! Maybe you can add it to your repertoire! The tortellini soup looks good! I may give that one a go! (Cinci chili has always kind of freaked me out! I give you a gold star for trying it!) Thank you for all your hard work on this link up!
Thank you for joining me for this recipe swap. Always tickled to have you join me for things. The barley chili sounds very good. I used to always keep barley on hand because I like it in soups. Will pick some up this week.
I’m getting hungry now. I love chilli.
Me, too!!
Those spices sound almost like a mole in the first recipe – I’m not sure I would have been a big fan either. But the second sounds divine! I will have to try!
Gina
YES!! And I love mole. I think that is what drew me to the recipe. And maybe somehow I mis-measured?? But it was a very strong almost metallic taste. The allspice, I think, and cloves. Both of which I like but somehow not in this recipe. Hope you will try the simple tortellini soup.
What a shame the first chilli didn’t work out, but that happens sometimes, right? I usually follow a recipe (well, closely enough, depending on what ingredients I have in the house) the first time I make it and tweak it up to make it mine. I’ve never heard of a soup using cream cheese, but yeah, can see how it would work. Thanks for hosting the hop.
The cream cheese makes a thick, creamy broth. I really liked the tortellini soup because it was thick like a chowder, thanks to the cream cheese. So glad you joined me for the recipe swap. Your soup looks delicious and I have truly thought about it all afternoon!!
Oh my – I’m going to be here the next hour….reading each and every one of these recipes and links! WOW – and thanks! Such a bummer that your first chili was a disappointment. Down the disposal? It must have really been bad. I eat even the “nope, not that one again” recipes. Why? not sure but I do. I have made tortellini soup before…and love it. Hubbie…not as much but he will eat it. Hope you are having a yummy week. So many soups, so little time!!:)
LOL, you made me giggle. I think we could eat soup almost every night. The chili I tossed just had a very strong allspice/cinnamon taste…almost metallic or like blood??? I would like to try the recipe again but just cutting the spices in half. Almost kept it to eat myself but didn’t know when I would eat it. I would have had to make PC something else if I had it at dinner. And hate to have that much lunch.
Hi, Leslie! Your soup looks and sounds so good! I love soup, too! You were brave to try a “new to you” chili. I’ve gotten to where I just make it using the McCormick package. We like it. But I do 2 versions, because I like beans in mine, but Big Eagle does not. And I DO enjoy chili over spaghetti now and then. Thank you so much for putting the blog hop together. I didn’t realize this was the third year you’ve done it. That means I’ve participated every time! Yay! 😘
Thank you so much for participating every time in the soup blog hop. It is my favorite recipe swap. I am always glad for new soup, chili and stew recipes and always try the recipes shared.
How sad you had to pour that first batch down the drain, Leslie. I always hate it when a recipe doesn’t turn out edible.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
I was so frustrated by that chili. When PC said he didn’t want it in his lunch the next day (or ever) I knew it had to go.
I LOVE Chilli! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
A chili stew is perfect for the cooler weather. Yummm!
So hearty!! Love our chili with cornbread!!
This looks so hearty and delicious – I need to make this when my boys are home for the holidays. Pinning it now – so many great recipes. Thank you for putting this together!
xo,
Kellyann
So so so glad you joined me. Looking forward to making your chili and using the crockpot liners!!
This sounds sinfully rich, Leslie! After this hop, I have an entire season’s worth of soupy deliciousness. One meal per week sorted through the cold months. Thank you!
Isn’t it wonderful having these new soup recipes to add to the rotation? I am tickled, too!!
Welllll – my most UNfavorite thing in the world to do is cook!!!!! I’d rather go hungry. However, your recipe did sound like something I might could handle – and no, I don’t have those ingredients in my kitchen. 🙂
I cooked for many years for a houseful of boys and a husband who loved to eat (maybe there’s a blog post in here for me), but now that I live alone….
Okay, TMI – your chili sounds good.
Iris
Try this tortellini soup. It made a nice sized amount of soup – you could eat it for several meals. And it can be cooked in the crock pot. So throw it all in and forget it til dinner time. I think you will like it!!
I tried Skyline chili while in Cincinnati a few years ago and I wasn’t a big fan of it. All those spices don’t belong in chili…at least not to this Texas girl. 😉
I’m always looking for new soup and chili recipes this time of year. It’s too bad the chili wasn’t as good as you anticipated. That is an interesting blend of spices. Your tortellini soup looks and sounds delicious!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Want to try the Cincinnati chili again with about half the spice. Bet we will like it better.
I had no idea that Cincinnati chili was served over pasta! We always eat chili over rice, something I never did until I married Billy. His family ate it that way and he introduced me to it and I will never go back. I am sorry that your chili was not as good as anticipated!
Need to try chili over rice again. Have had it that way and enjoyed it.