Fun Idea - Soup in a Bread Bowl

Posted by Lori:

Today was another cold-ish, wet day in southwest Oklahoma. We've had quite a few of them lately....perfect "soup" weather!

Years ago when I worked part-time in Altus (about 30 minutes away), I would go to a local bakery at noon and order their "Soup in a Bread Bowl". It was a sure way to warm me up on cold winter days, and the benefit of being able to eat the bread after eating the soup was extra fun! I haven't eaten soup like that in years, but last week, when I stopped by the grocery store (also in Altus), I noticed they were selling soup bread bowls. I picked up four of them - that's all they had - to use sometime this week. It worked out okay to only have four of them because my husband is out of town and I didn't want the bread anyway.

Soup in a Bread Bowl

These looked HUGE, but once the middles are out, it makes a perfect size to hold the soup.

Using a large serrated knife or bread knife, slice the top off of the bread - about 1/3 down from the top.

Using a smaller serrated knife, cut a circle around the bread about 1/2 inch from the edge.  Be careful not to go too low or you will poke a hole in the bottom of the bread.

Pull out the middle of the bread, leaving 1/2 inch in the bottom and all the way around.  I saved my crumbs and will give them to my mother-in-law to freeze for her Thanksgiving dressing.  I don't like to waste food!

I placed the bread on this large sheet pan and covered it all with foil, but you could wrap each bread bowl in foil individually, being careful not to smash them.  Heat them in the oven until time to serve.  I put the oven on warm about an hour before time to eat, but you could do a hotter temperature for a shorter amount of time.

Serve with your favorite soup.  I served my kids potato soup and a Mexican beef soup.  YUMMY!

The kids were soooooo excited about eating their soup out of the bread bowls. They didn't really like the bread itself (it didn't have much flavor), but they thought the whole concept was really neat. Plus, I took extra time to garnish each bowl and make it pretty for them, which they really thought was neat. Homemade bread bowls would be great. Maybe I'll try that....someday....:)