How to Host a Soup Swap

Have you ever considered hosting a Soup Swap? Here are my tips and tricks for how to host a soup swap. #SAVEITSUNDAY #FoodFairyTale

Every year, I host a Soup Swap. It’s provides a great opportunity for my friends and I to get together during the cold, winter months.

Soup Swaps are very similar to Cookie Swaps that are held during the holidays. Except you swap the cookies for soup. Fun, right?!?

The great thing about soup is it’s easy to make big batches and it freezes so well. And, that’s what it makes it ideal for a swap party.

The gist of the party goes like this…each guest brings a container of soup for each person at the party plus one extra container to sample at the party.

At the end of the party each person leaves with a wide variety of soup that can be eaten immediately or frozen for another time. Plus, you get all of the yummy recipes! That’s the best part for recipe hoarders like me!

I’ve been hosting Soup Swaps for a few years now and I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t work when hosting this type of party.

How to Host a Soup Swap

1. Create Your Guest List

About three weeks before you’d like to host your soup swap, make a guest list of people you’d like to invite. Ideally, soup swaps work best when there are 8 or fewer attendees. Remember, each guest will need to bring one container of soup for each person plus an extra to sample.

If you invite too many guests, this can become a BIG task. Truth be told, I once hosted a party with 12 people plus myself. I had to make three batches of soup (in my large stock pot) in order to have enough. The party was fun and we all left with a LOT of soup, but it was a job. If you have a lot of people that you want to invite, consider having two smaller parties instead of one big one.

2. Send out Invitations

I like to send invitations for my soup parties. It’s a great way to share the “rules” of the swap to all of your guests. When I started hosting my Soup Swaps, I designed and printed my own soup-themed invites. But now, I just create a Facebook event. This way everyone can share what kind of soup they are planning on making so you don’t end up with three types of chicken noodle.

3. Explain the Rules

Here are the rules that I use for my Soup Swaps. Feel free to adjust them to fit your needs.

• Each guest must bring one container of soup per guest, plus one additional container that will be served warm at the party for people to taste. I recommend using the 24 oz Glad FreezerWare containers or quart-sized Glad Zipper Freezer bags.

• When guests RSVP, they should tell you what kind of soup they plan on making. This will ensure that you don’t end up with three kinds of Pasta Fagioli (I speak from experience). You can also take into consideration your guest’s dietary restrictions, like vegetarian or gluten free.

• Ask guests to clearly label their soup container with the kind of soup, who made it and the date. They should also note if there are any special serving instructions.

• Guests should provide a copies of their recipe for each person. For my future swaps, I’m going to ask my guests to send their recipe ahead of time so I can make up a little recipe book for everyone.

• Guests can bring their soup already frozen, if they’d like, but remind them that one container must be thawed so you can provide samples at the party.

4. Provide Samples of Each Soup at the Party

I always heat up one container of each person’s soup at the party. This allows everyone to sample each soup and allows the guest to share any back stories or anecdotes about the soup (i.e. this is Aunt Bessie’s award winning Split Pea). It also takes the pressure off of the host to offer appetizers. I have heard of parties where the guests do not sample the soups, instead they just exchange them. It’s up to you.

5. If you Offer Samples, Be Prepared

If you’re going to offer samples, here are a few things I’ve learned.

• Make sure you have several pots on hand to heat up multiple soups at one time. You can also microwave some of them.

• I use small (bathroom size) disposable cups to serve my soup in. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s easy and cost effective. If I have 8 guests (plus myself) I pre-count the cups into nine piles of nine cups. This way, when it comes time to serving you don’t have to count. These cups may seem small, but you will be sampling a LOT of soup. We always leave the party stuffed from these small portions.

• Give each guest a spoon. I usually head to my local dollar store or restaurant supply store and purchase the cute little disposable appetizer spoons. Or, you can always use a regular spoon in a pinch.

6. Keep Other Foods to a Minimum

You’ll want to have some crusty bread and/or crackers on hand. But, if you’re serving a sample of each soup, you won’t need to have a lot of other foods. Trust me. The first year I hosted my Soup Swap, I ended up with so many leftovers because everyone was full from the soup. I’ve found that a few simple dips or appetizers and an easy dessert is plenty.

Wondering what kind of soup to make? Here are some of my favorites:

Cheeseburger Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Ham

Chicken Corn Chowder

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Pasta Fagioli

Stuffed Pepper Soup

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Glad makes all kinds of food protection products to help you host a Soup Swap. You can learn more about all of the Glad food protection products here. For more food protection pointers and tip visit Glad’s website and make sure you follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

What is your favorite kind of soup? Leave me a comment below!

For more recipe inspiration, be sure to check out these pages on It is a Keeper:

• Easy Crock Pot Recipes

• 70+ Quick Dinner Ideas

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Glad Food Protection. The opinions and text are all mine.