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Butter Soup

Butter Soup is pronounced"bu .. tta soop" (as in book) I really think this was one of the clinchers in obtaining a marriage proposal since my mom made it and his mom did not.


I've learned to make it and every now and then we have it for a treat for our lunch.
It really is a poor persons soup. It can be gussied up by adding some smoked meat but really it tastes quite nice as simple as it is. If you love noodles, there is a good chance you will like this. Did anyone else ever have this growing up?

Butter Soup
  • 8 cups of water
  • 1 large onion
  • 6 medium fresh potatoes. . with the skin left on
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 star aniseed
  • a handful of fresh parsley
  1. Bring water to boil, add the onion and the large diced potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes.
  2. Add all the spices but the parsley wrapped and tied in cheesecloth. Let simmer another while you make the noodles.
  3. Add the chopped parsley to the soup separately from the cheesecloth.
Noodles
  • 1 large farm fresh egg
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  1. Stir together the egg water, salt and stir in half the flour and then dump it onto the counter and knead in the rest of the flour. You may need a little more.
  2. The way my mom did it and I continue to do it. I cut it into strips, and with a clean scissor, I cut noodles, some small and others a bit bigger. No need to be perfect here. Doing it this way, you don't add a lot of extra flour into the soup.
  3. Stir the noodles into the soup, bring to boil and boil a few minutes until the noodles are done.
  4. Ladle it into bowls, and put a dollop of butter onto the top, serve with a bit of fresh cream.

19 comments:

  1. I did have a variation of this soup growing up and we made some at our pelemeny making party with the left over dough. Fun memories...
    Love your photos Lovella!

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  2. I've never had butter soup...but you actually make it look quite appealing (maybe we could give it a new name though)! I have to admit I have NEVER made noodles, Lovella...always depended on my MIL. Mine would likely look more like tortellini than noodles.

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  3. oh yes yes....I do remember my grandma making something like this. Super. Thanks...I am going to try this for sure.

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  4. Yes, I grew up with Butter Soup and homemade noodles too. It was one of my Mom's standby recipes. I think she adapted it to her taste - no star anise or cloves - the potatoes were peeled and she added chicken bouillon for flavour. She put some butter into the soup at the end, and some milk. I made it for my kids like that (except that I use fine egg noodles which you can buy in bulk at Save-On and they are as good as homemade). Recently my married son called me for the recipe, so the tradition carries on!

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  5. PS: I forgot to mention about the homemade noodles.....my mom layered the strips of dough and with a sharp knife cut it into fine noodles. The trick then is to cook the noodles in a separate pot, rinse, and then add to the soup so you don't get all that flour in the soup.

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  6. yuppers, my mama still makes it and i have made it too usually with some farmer sausage since my dh thinks that everything needs meat. we like it. i must admit i don't often go to the trouble of makeing the noodles from scratch.
    i need my "kranky" friend to help make noodles.....smile....you know who you are.!!!

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  7. Yes I grew up eating this soup, my Mom cooked it quite often and she could feed a family with little expense.
    Thank you Lovella for sharing this old time favorite..

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  8. I didn't grow up with this soup - I think my dad wasn't a big noodle fan - and I've never learned to make noodles. I admire the effort you go to ... and for lunch!!!

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  9. I'm so glad I found this blog! I have been looking for a recipe for this soup for years. My mother didn't make it, but Mrs Hamm, the cook at our Mennonite High School did. I lived away from home, and eating this soup for lunch was comfort and joy! I will try the recipe pdq. Thank you!

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  10. I grew up with this as a staple too! Gran always dumped in some farm fresh cream scooped from the top of the jar right at the end though! 'Twas always served with farmer sausage or ham.

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  11. Oh the memories reading your recipe brought to mind. I was introduced to this delightful soup by my MIL. She added milk & butter to her soup as it was doing its final cooking (after the noodles were almost done). Both of my sons and my husband love this...I haven't made it in years but think it would be a good thing to make in the near future. We are expecting snow and freezing temperatures this weekend. Makes me hungry already.

    Ali
    Blaine, WA

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  12. Lando's mom makes this. I had never heard of it but learned to make a variety of it for Lando, especially if he was not feeling well. Mom mom made potato soup - no noodles. I was amazed how tasty butter soup is. I need to buy some cheesecloth and star anise to make your version.

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  13. My kids call this botta sup schmakt gout, because when they went to Oma's she would always make this and say " Bottah sup schmakt gout" translated butter soup tastes good. They still love it even if they don't go to Oma's very often anymore. I have made it on occasion, but my mom never put in the extra spices, just salt and pepper, and she took a short cut and usually used macaroni noodles, also adding milk and butter at the end of cooking. Elli , I also went to MBCI where I fondly remember Mrs. Hamm's Sloppy Joe. Oddly enough that's all I remember of her cooking. Good memories.
    Betty W

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  14. Yes, we had this soup too. I think Mom added some chicken boullion and no anise. she made little domplings instead of noodles, or used macaroni too for a shortcut.

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  15. My mom makes this all the time but from memmory. It is nice to see the recipe writen down. My mom has cancer now and it would be nice for me to treat her with it for once. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Margaretha, I am so glad we can help you make this delicious soup for your mom. My mom passed away many years already but I never cease to think of how she made this for us. It is still one of my favorites. Take care.

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  16. We had this all the time growing up on the farm. Rather than butter we thickened it with sour cream..Great memories. We no longer have good farm sour cream so we now cook the noodles and then mix them with boiled potatoes and onions fried in butter. Great with a bit of vinegar on it. This is our traditional Christmas Eve meal. Young and old are involved in the noodle making. Great family gathering.

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  17. Hi! I am from Québec (Canada) and we have a version of this soup here called ''ragoût de pâte'' or dough stew. We also add some leftover chicken in it. It is indeed a poor persons meal! Made to fill hungry belly in the heart of winter!

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  18. That's so interesting! I always think that each culture has a version of the same food. Thanks for sharing with us.

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