While the story of stone soup comes from a beloved children’s book, it’s also a real soup! With potatoes, barley and hearty vegetables, this big-batch soup is warming and filling, making it perfect for dinner on a cold night. There are plenty of ways to make this stone soup recipe special for your family—like including an actual stone.
What is stone soup?
Stone soup is a European folktale popularized in the United States by Marcia Brown’s 1947 children’s book Stone Soup. The story tells of a traveler who arrives in a village with a large cooking pot but no money for food. He announces to the villagers that he can make a pot of soup with nothing but a stone. He simmers his stone and water in the village center, and the townspeople are intrigued. One by one, they offer ingredients to “season” the stone soup—a few carrots here and a potato there—until eventually the traveler has a hearty, satisfying soup to share with the whole village. The people all believe a magical stone makes it taste so good!
Should you put a stone in your stone soup? While our recipe skips it, you can choose a special stone to scrub clean and add to the soup. (That’s what Dolly Parton and her siblings used to do when their mother made stone soup.) Another option is to add a small, whole potato to the soup that can serve as a symbolic stone. Or, recreate the charming tale by having guests over for bowls of stone soup, and ask each guest to bring a different ingredient to add to the pot.
Ingredients for Stone Soup
- Chicken broth: To bring flavor to the base of the soup, choose a quality brand of broth or use homemade broth.
- Red potatoes: Cut the potatoes into small pieces so they soften in the same amount of time as the veggies. You can leave the peels on or off.
- Summer squash: What a great way to use summer squash from your garden! You can also chop a small zucchini and add it to the soup instead.
- Carrots: Scrub and chop two medium carrots to add to the soup.
- Onion: You can use any onion variety you like; yellow or white onions are a great choice for soups.
- Celery: Two chopped ribs are all you need for this recipe.
- Green beans: Frozen green beans are a convenient grab for stone soup. Because they’re soft once thawed, you won’t have to cook them as long.
- Diced tomatoes: Pick up any brand of canned diced tomatoes. Some are pre-seasoned with basil, garlic and oregano—herbs that work well in this soup.
- Cooked chicken: You can cook chicken just for the recipe or use meat left over from a weekend roasted chicken. A grocery rotisserie chicken is an easy shortcut.
- Barley: Look for bags of barley stocked near other grains at the store. It cooks quickly—even faster than the veggies.
- Seasonings: We keep things simple with the spices and opt for some dried thyme and black pepper. The broth provides the salt, and you can add more to taste when the soup is done.
- Toppings: Pick up store-bought croutons or bake up a batch of your own seasoned croutons. Croutons and a sprinkle of Parmesan are the perfect finishing touches.
Editor’s Tip: When dicing the vegetables and potatoes, aim for pieces that are equal in size—or as close to it as you can manage. That way they’ll cook through evenly and be easier to eat in the finished soup.
Directions
Step 1: Simmer the vegetables
Pour the chicken broth into a large Dutch oven. Add in the sliced potatoes, chopped yellow squash, carrots, onions, celery ribs, dried thyme and pepper (and the clean stone, if you’re including it). Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the Dutch oven and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The veggies should be crisp-tender.
Step 2: Stir in the chicken, green beans and barley
Stir in the cooked, cubed chicken, along with frozen green beans and quick-cooking barley. Bring the soup to a boil again, then reduce the heat and cover the pot. Simmer the soup for another 10 to 12 minutes until the veggies and barley are tender.
Step 3: Stir in the tomatoes
Stir the diced tomatoes and their juices into the soup and simmer for another few minutes until they’re heated through.
Step 4: Serve
Ladle the stone soup into bowls and top with croutons and shredded Parmesan cheese. Serve the soup while it’s hot. (And be sure to remove the stone, if you added one to the pot.)
Stone Soup Variations
- Use fresh green beans and tomatoes: If it’s summertime, by all means, use fresh green beans and tomatoes in this soup.
- Try other veggies, too: It’s easy to add in other vegetables or replace some of those called for in this versatile soup recipe—in fact, it’s encouraged. Consider using zucchini, lima beans, wax beans, peas, cauliflower florets or corn. They can be frozen or fresh.
- Use a different protein: You can make this soup with leftover roast turkey or pork. Diced smoked ham is delicious in stone soup, too.
- Make a vegetarian stone soup: Omit the chicken and use a plant-based protein like beans or cubes of tempeh or seitan. Replace the chicken broth with vegetable stock.
- Add herbs and spices: You can really get creative here. Try Italian or other herb blends, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, sage or even curry powder.
How to Store Stone Soup
Let the soup cool completely, then tightly cover the pot. Store stone soup in the fridge for up to four days. You can also portion the soup into small, covered containers.
Can you freeze stone soup?
Yes, you can freeze stone soup. Transfer the cooled soup to resealable, freezer-proof bags or soup containers, leaving room at the top for expansion. Store the soup in the freezer for up to three months. It should be thawed in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Because cooked potatoes can become grainy and mushy when frozen then thawed, consider leaving the potatoes out before freezing your stone soup. Then, add cooked, bite-sized pieces of potato to the soup when you reheat it.
How do you reheat stone soup?
Refrigerated soup can be reheated in a saucepan on the stove. Stir it over medium heat until it’s warmed through. You can also ladle soup into microwavable bowls and reheat it in the microwave for two to three minutes until hot. If the reheated soup seems a little thick, add a splash of broth or water to loosen it up.
Stone Soup Tips
What can you serve with stone soup?
Our recipe for stone soup is chock-full of vegetables, potatoes, barley and chicken, and topped with croutons, so when served as a meal, the sides can be simple. Try some warm biscuits or slices of crusty bread, which are perfect for dipping in the soup. Instead of croutons, serve bowls of stone soup with oyster crackers or crispy homemade crackers. Small bowls of stone soup can also be paired with sandwiches or a copycat Olive Garden salad to make a lunch or a light dinner.
Should I remove the stone from stone soup?
Yes, if you decide to make an authentic batch of stone soup with a real stone, be sure to remove the stone once the soup is finished. That way no one gets an unexpected surprise in their bowl! If you decide to have a small, whole potato stand in for the stone, you can make a game out of it: Whoever gets the potato “stone” in their bowl gets a small prize, or gets to make a wish.
