Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This potato and onion soup is super simple to make, with only a handful of main ingredients.
• It’s cheap and cheerful – potatoes are particularly budget-friendly, so you can get a hearty, nutritious meal on the table without breaking the bank.
• The flavours are irresistible, with just a few humble ingredients really packing a punch.
• Homemade soup always makes for the best leftovers the next day!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like olive oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• potatoes – just an all-purpose baking potato, nothing fancy.
• spring onions – the ones I used had super small bulbs on the white end, so I used 6. If your spring onions have larger, rounder bulbs, you won’t need as many.
• garlic
• sour cream (full fat)
• vegetable stock (I used a stock cube, but liquid or jelly stock also work)
• dried herbs (parsley and thyme)

Becca’s Top Tip

Always use full fat dairy products when adding to soup, as they are less likely to split than low fat versions.

Equipment

You’ll need some kind of blender to make this creamy soup.

I prefer to use a hand blender (immersion blender), rather than a countertop blender, since you don’t have to worry about pouring a hot saucepan of soup into the blender without making a mess or burning yourself (I am clumsy – it will happen).

Instead, just dunk the head of the hand blender right into your saucepan, and it will be smooth and creamy before you know it.

I’ve tried several types of immersion blender over the years, and honestly, I’ve never found the expensive ones any better than a standard, cheap model. This one on Amazon US / Amazon UK (affiliate links) looks perfect, comes at a great price, and has really impressive reviews.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Chop the potatoes and spring onions, and sauté them briefly with some olive oil and garlic.

Step 2: Add vegetable stock and dried herbs.

Step 3: Simmer until the potatoes are completely soft and starting to break down – you should be able to mash them with the back of the spoon.

Step 4: Add some sour cream, and blend the soup using a hand blender until it is completely smooth and creamy.

Step 5: Serve topped with more spring onions, sour cream, and plenty of black pepper.

Becca’s Top Tip

I find a little garnish goes a long way in taking a soup to the next level, especially if you’re serving it to guests. Not only does it look beautiful, but a few spring onions sprinkled on top also adds an extra bit of texture, and some more of that lovely fresh flavour.

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s pretty healthy, made simply with mushrooms, Greek yogurt and spices.
• The flavours are truly unreal – you have to try it to understand!
• This mushroom tikka is such a versatile dish, and can be served as a light lunch, or as an Indian side dish as part of a more extensive feast.
• It’s such a quick and easy mushroom recipe, with very little skill required.
• This dish is super low calorie.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• mushrooms. It doesn’t particularly matter what kind of mushroom you use – button mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, etc. would all be great. I used chestnut mushrooms.
• Greek yogurt
• lemon juice
• spices – I used curry powder, smoked paprika, chilli powder, and turmeric.
• cilantro, to garnish

Becca’s Top Tip

If you don’t already have a well-stocked spice collection, don’t bother buying each individual spice just for this recipe. Instead, a decent shop-bought spice mix (e.g. a tikka mix) will work just as well.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Combine Greek yogurt and lemon juice with all of the spices, to create the tasty tikka marinade.

Step 2: Add the mushrooms, and mix well until they’re fully coated. If you have time, leave them to marinate for a while.

Step 3: Spread the mushrooms on a baking tray, and bake them until they are soft and juicy, and the marinade has become browned and slightly crispy.

Step 4: Serve warm – I like mine with naan bread and salad.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you want to, you can use extra vegetables, along with the mushrooms. Chunks of pepper and onion would work really well. You could also add chunks of paneer cheese!

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s pretty healthy, made with a variety of wholesome ingredients that will bring heaps of flavour to your baked eggs.
• Just like with all my favourite Tex-Mex recipes, these Mexican baked eggs can be topped with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, hot sauce, salsa, or any other tasty topping you like.
• This is such a versatile dish, as it’s just as good for brunch as it is for dinner. It’s great for serving to guests too!
• The vegetables in the simple bean chilli can easily be swapped depending on what you have in the fridge. It’s a great fridge-clearer!
• To make the recipe even quicker to make for breakfast, use leftover chilli from your dinner the night before (it’s arguably even better the next day anyway!)

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• eggs
• black beans – I always use canned, for convenience.
• tinned tomatoes
• vegetables – I used sweetcorn, red pepper and onion.
• pickled jalapeños (if you like a bit of heat)
• garlic
• grated cheese – I used cheddar
• spices (cumin and smoked paprika)
• fresh cilantro (coriander), to garnish

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’re serving this as a light breakfast, or as part of a wider brunch buffet, one egg per person should be enough, so the recipe will serve 4. Or, if you’re serving it on its own as a more substantial lunch, opt for 2 eggs per person (so the recipe will serve 2 people).

Equipment

An oven-safe frying pan is ideal for this recipe, because it can initially be used on the stove top to make the chilli, then transferred to the oven to bake the eggs. If you don’t have a suitable pan, you’ll need to transfer the mixture to an oven-safe dish for baking.

In my experience, it’s worth spending a little more for good quality frying pans, which will last for years. This one on Amazon UK / Amazon US is from the same brand as the ones I use and love. It’s nice and deep, safe to use in the oven and dishwasher, and also comes with a lid, which makes it even more versatile.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Begin to sauté your choice of vegetables – I used sweetcorn, peppers and onions.

Step 2: Add garlic, spices, and some jalapeño peppers.

Step 3: Add black beans and canned tomatoes.

Step 4: Make 4 dips in the chilli mixture, and crack in the eggs.

Step 5: Cover with grated cheese, and bake until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

Becca’s Top Tip

I’m not a huge fan of runny eggs, so I baked my eggs for a little longer than you might want to – about 20 minutes. If you prefer a runny yolk, check them after just 10-15 minutes in the oven.

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s absolutely packed with good, wholesome ingredients.
• It’s full of flavour!
• You can customise it with whatever vegetables or spices you like.
• The soup makes a great base for all kinds of toppings!
• It feels just as good in the middle of the summer as it does on a cold winter’s day.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

A few ingredient notes:

• vegetables. I used peppers, onion, mushrooms and sweetcorn, but you can switch these up if you like! Use whatever you’d usually put in your favourite vegetarian tacos.
• garlic
• spices. I like to start with my favourite fajita spice blend, to speed things along a bit. This time I also added some extra cumin and smoked paprika.
• tinned tomatoes
• black beans
• veggie stock. I used a stock cube, but liquid stock would be fine too.
• flour tortilla – to make the crispy tortilla strips for topping.

You might also want to prepare some additional toppings, such as:

• sliced avocado
• fresh coriander (cilantro)
• sliced spring onions
• sour cream*
• grated cheese*

*(use vegan versions if needed)

See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

Ingredient Swaps

To keep with the ‘taco soup’ theme, I used the sorts of vegetables I’d usually use in tacos or fajitas – peppers, mushrooms, onions, sweetcorn… But you can totally use different vegetables instead, if you prefer – just use whatever you have on hand (I love a good fridge-clearer!).

If you change the vegetables too much, your soup might lose the ‘taco’ vibe, but it should still be tasty!

Any vegetable that can be simmered for a while without becoming overly soft or soggy should work just fine.

Equipment

I love to use a silicone spoon when cooking something with a strong flavour, like this vegan taco soup – you can see my favourite bright pink one in almost all of my recipe photos!

Unlike with a wooden spoon, silicone doesn’t absorb flavours from your cooking, so you can use it for curry one day, and custard the next, without any flavour contamination or staining. Silicone spoons are even dishwasher safe, to help with thorough washing.

My favourite shape is a spoon with slightly square corners, as it makes it so easy to scrape around the corners of a saucepan. You can buy them here on Amazon US / Amazon UK.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Sauté the peppers, onion and mushrooms in a large saucepan.

Becca’s Top Tip

This soup can be cooked more quickly if you’re pushed for time, but I think it’s worth taking your time over it. Let the vegetables cook for a little longer, over a slightly lower heat, to really enhance their flavour and make this a seriously tasty soup.

Step 2: Add the garlic and spices, and let them cook for a few minutes until your house smells like a Mexican restaurant.

Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients, and let the soup simmer for a while. The vegetables will soak up the tasty liquid, and become soft and flavourful.

Step 4: While the soup is simmering, cut a large flour tortilla into strips.

Step 5: Fry the tortilla strips in a splash of oil, until they’re browned and crispy. Alternatively, you could bake tortilla pieces in the oven.

Becca’s Top Tip

A pair of tongs is, by far, the best tool for making the crispy tortilla strips. The tongs allow you to either stir the strips as a whole, or individually pick up and turn over specific pieces as you notice them browning.
I always use silicone-tipped tongs, like these on Amazon US / Amazon UK.

Step 6: Serve the soup topped with the crispy tortilla strips and any extra toppings you’ve chosen.

Taco Soup FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It tastes incredible.
• It takes only 30 minutes to cook.
• You can serve it on its own as a main course, or as an Indian side dish alongside your favourite curry – like my easy falafel curry, for example.
• It’s easy to adapt by swapping the spices, or adding extra vegetables.
• It’s vegan, gluten-free, and super healthy – but still tastes amazing.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this simple lentil curry:

A few ingredient notes:

• red lentils. Red lentils cook more quickly than brown and green lentils, and end up much softer, so they’re perfect for tarka dal (and great for making a creamy lentil soup too!). You can find out more about the different types of lentils here. For this recipe, I wouldn’t recommend using brown or green lentils.
• chopped chillies. I used frozen ones, as I don’t use fresh chillies often enough to get through a whole pack without wasting some. Frozen vegetables are great for reducing food waste, and they come pre-chopped too! Feel free to use fresh red chillies if you prefer.
• onion and garlic
• ground spices – I used turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and coriander.
• tomato paste
• cilantro for garnish is optional, but recommended!

See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you don’t want to keep too many different spices in the kitchen, garam masala is a great option for Indian cooking. It is a blend of various spices that gives a great base for most Indian-style curries, rather than buying each spice individually.
You can buy garam masala online, on Amazon US.

Ingredient Swaps

Feel free to make this recipe your own – it’s really easy to customise.

Here are a few ways you could adapt this recipe:

• If you don’t have the spices I’ve listed, you can absolutely try a different combination. For example, swap the cinnamon for nutmeg, or add some smoked paprika instead of the cumin. Obviously the end result will end up tasting slightly different, but small changes should still taste good.
• If you like to get some extra vegetables into your food wherever you can, try adding some frozen peas or spinach to the lentils as they cook.
• Stir through some coconut milk or cream before serving for an extra luxurious lentil curry.

Equipment

I always use a silicone spoon when cooking a fragrant curry, or anything else with a strong flavour – you can see my favourite bright pink one in almost all of my recipe photos!

Unlike with a wooden spoon, silicone doesn’t absorb flavours from your cooking, so you can use it for curry one day, and custard the next, without any flavour contamination or staining. Silicone spoons are even dishwasher safe, to help with thorough washing.

My favourite shape is a spoon with slightly square corners, as it makes it so easy to scrape around the corners of a saucepan. You can buy them here on Amazon US / Amazon UK.

Other than that, you don’t need any specialist equipment to make this lentil curry. It’s a one pot meal, so just a decent saucepan is all you need!

Instructions

Here’s how to make this beautiful tarka dal – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Begin by cooking the aromatics in a pan with a dash of oil – this includes the garlic, onion, chillies, and all of the spices.

Step 2: Add the tomato paste, and cook for a few more minutes until the mixture is well cooked (your house should smell incredible by now!).

Step 3: Add the red lentils and some water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to cook until the lentils are soft, then serve.

Tarka Dal FAQs