7 Recipes from Our 2025 Staff Soup Cookoff

It is that time of year again. There is a chill in the air, and it’s officially soup season! We just held the 2025 Village Home Stores Staff Soup Cookoff and once again it was one of the best smelling days our showroom has ever had. Seven staff members participated, and they each brought a worthy entry to welcome fall soup season. Voting is welcomed by any staff present during lunchtime that day, plus any lucky clients with appointments during those lunch hours. What’s there to win? Well bragging rights of course (some of our team is pretty competitive and the trash-talking started weeks ago). Plus, the winner of the Village soup cookoff gets their name added among all past winners on a plaque in the Village breakroom we call the “Golden Ladle”. We also point to their winning recipe first in this recipe recap and our 2025 winner is…

Rachele Neuleib again! This year Rachele went back-to-back with a soup cookoff victory! Oh wait… we just checked out notes and we mean back-to-back-to-back because she also tied for the win the year ahead of that. She snatched that crown this year with her delicious and super easy to make soup recipe. And now that our winner has adjusted her crown, we can all officially enter “soup season” in the Midwest. Here are this year’s Village Home Stores Soup and Chili cookoff recipes beginning with our winner.

2025 Soup Cookoff Winner: Rachele’s Easy Cheesy Chicken Jalapeno Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Frozen Chicken Breasts
• 6 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
• 4-5 fresh jalapenos, diced, seeds removed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 (8 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened and cubed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Optional: sliced jalapeños, shredded cheese, and crumbled bacon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put all ingredients in a crockpot on high for 4 hours (8 hours on low).
2. Remove chicken and shred it.
3. Return chicken to crockpot and stir. That’s it!

Lexy’s Marry Me Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large carrots
• 2 ribs of celery
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (8 oz.) jar of sun-dried tomatoes
• Kinders Butter & Garlic Seasoning (to taste)
• As much minced garlic as your heart wants
• 4 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 lbs. pre-cooked, pre-shredded chicken
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 large handfuls of fresh spinach
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 (20 oz.) package of cheese tortellini
• Optional: serve topped with more parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dice the onion, carrots, and celery. In a large soup pot saute those diced veggies in some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar.
2. Season with Kinders Butter & Garlic seasoning and toss in as much garlic as your heart wants.
3. Cook until fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste to pot and mix well.
5. Add chicken broth to the pot along with the shredded chicken.
6. Add salt, pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes (optional) and stir. Add in tomatoes from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (just tomatoes, not remaining oil).
7. Bring pot up to a boil.
8. Once a boil starts, reduce heat back to medium and add in spinach (it will wilt as it cooks).
9. Stir in 1 cup of whipping cream and the package of tortellini as the spinach starts to reduce and make room in your pot.
10. Stir and cook until tortellini is cooked through and enjoy.

Elizabeth’s Sheet Pan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Medium butternut squash, cut down center with core seeds and pulp removed
• ½ of a sweet onion, quartered
• 2 Cups cherry tomatoes (or romas quartered)
• 5-6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5-6 large carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 4 Cups vegetable stock
• Olive Oil (to coat sheet pan veggies)
• 1-2 Tablespoons Herbs de Provence
• Salt + Pepper (to taste)
• Small carton heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Wash and prepare your sheet pan veggies, peel the carrots, slice squash and remove pulp and seeds, etc. (This same recipe could be made with summertime squashes and also swapped out with roasted pumpkins in the fall. Use what is available and seasonal.)
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
3. Toss and coat each item with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before arranging them on a sheet pan also coated with a drizzle of olive oil.
4. Season the entire sheet pan of items with Herbs de Provence including the interior side of the squash before placing squash facedown onto the pan. (If your squash is a big boy, stab the back side of the skin a few times with a fork at the denser areas before roasting.)
5. Roast the pan of items for 40-45 minutes or until everything is fork tender.
6. Turn off oven and dump entire roasted pan of goodies into a Dutch oven or large stock pot.
7. You will need to scoop out the squash from its jacket and possibly cut or 1/2 your carrots to fit into your pot.
8. On a low setting, add stock and salt and pepper to taste, stirring occasionally as it all simmers for 10-15 minutes.
9. Carefully blend with an immersion / hand blender until smooth. Near the time of serving, add your cream and stir.
10. Optional: Serve with crusty bread or roast the seeds from squash you used for a crunchy topping. Make a batch of this ahead of camping and reheat to be enjoyed in a mug around the campfire.

Abby’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 strips bacon, cut into pieces
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
• ½ cup flour
• 4 cups of chicken broth (or bullion with water)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• Ground black pepper (to taste)
• 3 cups broccoli florets, rough chopped
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 4 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ox shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
• Optional: serve topped with more shredded cheese and crusty bread

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dice the onion, crush and mince the garlic, rough-chop the broccoli, and cut the uncooked bacon into small pieces.
2. In a large pot cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy.
3. Remove bacon and set aside on paper towel-lined plate.
4. Leaving bacon grease in the pot, add butter and diced onion and cook until softened (about 5 min).
5. Add in garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
6. Sprinkle in flour an stir coating the onions and garlic.
7. Slowly pour in broth, stirring well and scraping the bottom to be sure nothing is scorching to the pan.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the milk and heavy cream.
9. Add salt, nutmeg, cayenne, and pepper.
10. Stir in broccoli and carrots and simmer for 15 minutes to allow veggies to cook until tender.
11. Add shredded cheddar gradually while stirring until it is melted and smooth.
12. Simmer for 5-10 minutes before serving. Stir often.

Natasha’s Creamy Garlic Chichen Gnocchi Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (16 oz) package of potato gnocchi
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken breast meat
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon each: dried oregano, dried thyme, and dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a Dutch oven pot over medium high heat add the butter and melt.
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
3. Add flour and all dry seasonings and blend.
4. Add in chicken stock, stirring frequently.
5. Add heavy cream, spinach, shredded chicken, and gnocchi and stir well.
6. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes or until gnocchi is cooked through and starts to float to the top.
7. Before serving add parmesan cheese and simmer another 1-2 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and serve.

Alexis’ White Chicken Chili

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained
• 1 can great northern beans, drained
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 packet ranch seasoning
• 1 chili seasoning packet
• 24 oz chicken stock
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• Salt + pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add cooked and shredded chicken breast to crockpot with all of the ingredients listed above and stir to combine.
2. Cook on low for 4 hours stirring occasionally.
3. Top with cheese, sour cream or other toppings.

Monica’s Crock Pot Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 32 ounces Chicken broth
• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup
• 8 ounce package shredded cheddar cheese
• 4.5 ounce bacon bits
• 32 ounce package frozen cubed potatoes
• 8oz Cream cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a crock pot, mix chicken broth and cream of chicken soup.
2. Add potatoes, half cheddar cheese, and bacon bits.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
4. With an hour left, cut cream cheese into small pieces and add to soup.
5. Stir occasionally in the last hour to chop up the cream cheese.
6. 10 minutes before serving, add the rest of the cheddar cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Hungry for More Recipes?

Soup is great any time of year but in Autumn… sigh, it is even better. Nothing beats being cozy with some comfort food and the amazing smells your home gets from preparing it. At Village we aim to help make your time spent at home the best it can be. Here is a link to last year’s recipes including Rachele’s winning Mexican Street Corn Soup. If you are interested in finding even more staff-approved recipes from our past years, head here to our Pinterest page. We share easy recipes plus past entries in our soup cookoffs and appetizer challenges.

Or if you're looking for this year's recipes, you can print them out here!

Is your cooktop or oven not really ready for this holiday season? We can help with that. Head here to our website and have a look around at some of the appliance options you can grab for your own home. We offer competitive pricing and appliance delivery and installation from our own expert staff. Ready to “cook up” a deal on a new range, cooktop, or entire kitchen with Village? Just reach out! You can message us right here through our website or call us at (309) 944-1344 to start the process. You never need an appointment to come browse our appliance showroom at 105 S State in downtown Geneseo, Illinois.