Brown Berkshire Soup


Serves 20




  • 6 cans consommé
  • 2 litres (31⁄2 pints) beef stock (can be made up with stock cubes)
  • 2 tbsp Bovril
  • 1 tsp English mustard
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 3 onions, finely chopped and well browned (optional)
  • 3 sticks celery, finely chopped and well browned (optional)
  • 1⁄4 bottle dry sherry
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Windsor may be in Berkshire but its eponymous brown soup isn’t a patch on this.

It’s a quickie – you can make it up in about 20 minutes from store-cupbard ingredients.


There is no preparation to speak of, just mix everything except the sherry together in a big pan and simmer. Leave for five minutes then season strongly.

Add the sherry and decant into thermos flasks.

A slightly posher version would include well-browned and finely chopped onions and sticks of similarly prepared celery.

It sounds bonkers but it really works.

More soup recipes:

Tomato soup with chilli vodka

Leek and potato soup

Clam chowder