It’s easy to feel “Been there, done that” when you get caught in the same loop of party themes. Luau, Hollywood… the list goes on! Hosting a soup swap is a creative and fun party idea that breaks out of that rut as well as a great way to make sure there is no lack of variety in your soup locker.

A soup swap is a gathering of "souper" friends sharing quarts of their favorite soup. Everyone goes home happy and with different soups than what they came with.

Here are some tips on hosting a soup swap.

Recipes

Here are five great recipe ideas to get you started!

Chicken Quinoa & Broccoli Soup

Chicken & Sweet Corn Chowder

Santa Fe Chicken Soup

Easy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Zesty Chicken Tortilla Soup

Invitations

• Send out invitations about two weeks before you would like to host your soup swap. Invite at least six guests… but bigger is better! This way, you get more soup choices.
• Electronic invitations work best! Social media or email are great ways to communicate. Explain how a soup swap works and encourage questions or comments.
• Ask guests to declare what kind of soup they are bringing when they RSVP. This will ensure that there are no soup duplicates. Also, if there are guests with dietary restrictions, requests for dairy-free or vegetarian options can be made through the email RSVP.

What to Ask Guests to Bring

• Ask everyone to bring six-quart containers of soup for swapping, plus one container to put out for tasting. Everyone should go home with the same amount of soup that they came with.
• Package the soup in separate containers like cute glass jars or plastic quart containers. The soups should be refrigerated or frozen to make it home safely.
• Each soup should be labeled. You could even ask for added info such as the ingredients, the recipe or noting if the soup is dairy free or vegetarian.
• Ask guests to provide you with a way to introduce their soup, its history, its recipe or family story.

Set it Up

• Set up a big table in the kitchen or dining room to hold the jars of soup.
• Cover the table with a plastic tablecloth or butcher paper to catch all of the drips from the many soup tastings.
• Print out table tents with the name of the soup to place at each soup station.
• Print out numbers to provide to each guest. These will be used later in distributing the soups.
• At each soup station, have a bowl or jar to fill with the soup to be tasted. Have a spoon or small ladle to spoon soup into small disposable cups for tasting.
• Have some baskets of bread or crackers to go alongside of the soup tastings. It's a fun way to dip and taste the soup as well as a good palate cleanser.
• Have an area set up for drinks and simple snacks.

Get the Party Going

• As people come in, direct them to grab a drink, mingle and taste the soups.
• After everyone has had a chance to taste all of the soups (about an hour or so), it's time to SWAP SOUP!
• Introduce each soup with the information the soup maker has provided you.
• Place all of the numbers you printed out earlier in a bag or bowl and have everyone draw one. The host will often swap numbers with the person who picked the biggest number so the host can pick soup last.
• The person who picked #1 goes first and picks a soup, then #2, #3 and so on. When everyone has picked their first round of soup, the picking starts over until all of the soups are gone.
• After everyone has swapped their soups… that's it! If you want to continue the party, encourage people to bring coolers to transport their soup home safely.
• Go home, eat your soup or freeze it for that perfect soup day!