This 7-Can Soup Can Feed a Family for $10 

Maybe someone will relate to this: The bottommost shelf of my kitchen cabinet is stacked with canned foods that have been collecting dust for years. Every few months I peek down there in a halfhearted attempt to either eat, use, or throw away some of them, but to no avail. I can’t commit to throwing away food that theoretically lasts forever; if I die, these cans will outlive me, I swear to god. 

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But over the long weekend (happy Lunar New Year, everyone), I attempted something amazing: throwing seven cans I already had in my possession, at the instruction of Ree Drummond’s 7-Can Soup recipe. And fam, what a revelation. I know some of you guys are going to yell at me that I could have been doing a version of this all along to spare some cabinet space, but I’m not very creative. 

What is this seven can soup recipe you speak of? Could it be…seven different canned foods mixed together to make a soup? 

Yep: Canned chilli, canned corn, canned black beans, canned pinto beans, canned kidney beans, canned green chilis, and canned diced tomatoes. 

You empty them all—unstrained—into a pot over high heat. It was the “unstrained” bit of this recipe that won me over. I just cracked those cans and dumped ‘em. Easy, peasy, beautiful, CoverGirl. 

You bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper, because duh, and then you’re almost done. 

Almost. There is ONE more ingredient: Cheese. 

It can be any kind of cheese you want, really. Ree uses Velveeta in her recipe, but you could opt for a canned queso if you really want to get freaky and turn this 7-Can Soup into an 8-Can Soup. (Um, don’t do that, please. Because this actually tasted really good with the dregs of my shredded cheddar and I don’t want you to ruin this experience for yourself.)

Melt the cheese at the end, add some cilantro and maybe a squeeze of lime, and serve immediately. Don’t be afraid to really go ham on the cheese. I would have added more, but it was the “oh shit my fridge is almost empty should I buy more groceries or live off DoorDash for the next three days” time of the month, so I didn’t have anything. Also, I neither bought groceries nor ordered delivery; I finally, after all these years, got serious about my collection of unused cans and made this soup. 

One last thing: This soup could feed a whole family, easy.

For, like, $10. Canned foods are still some of the cheapest groceries you can buy, but inflation has priced some of them over $1 now, sadly. So I’m just being realistic about the price. But it yields a lot of food, so it’s worth it, trust me. If you have mouths to feed and cans to use, even if the recipe isn’t spot on, I highly recommend giving this a go. I wish I knew about it years ago.