Simple Green Onion & Potato Soup: A Military Spouse’s Comfort Food
Written by Latosha Walker
Founder & CEO, Wondering.Waves | Military Spouse | Creator | Storyteller
Published: November 18th, 2025
Some recipes arrive in our lives with a clear origin story. Others just quietly show up, stick around, and become the thing we reach for when we’re tired, sick, or staring into the fridge thinking, “Okay, what can I make with what I already have?” This cozy green onion and red potato soup is one of those recipes for me—a gentle, flexible, budget-friendly comfort soup that has carried me through deployments, PCS moves, and low-energy days when I needed a win.
The Kind of Soup You Reach For When You’re Tired, Sick, or Just Done
I honestly can’t remember where I first had this style of soup or when I officially “made it my own.” It’s one of those recipes that just… appeared in my life and never left. It’s simple, oniony, potato-y, and soothing in a way that feels like a warm blanket in a bowl.
This is one of my favorite “soup season” soups—but I’ll be honest, I enjoy soup all year round. Sometimes it’s a cold day comfort thing. Sometimes it’s an “I’m sick and I need to eat, but I absolutely do not want chicken soup” soup. And sometimes it’s a “we have a bunch of potatoes that are going to go bad if I don’t use them right now” soup.
It’s flexible, forgiving, and endlessly customizable, which makes it perfect for military life, tight budgets, and low-spoon days.
Over time, this soup became more than just a recipe—it became a symbol of making do and caring for ourselves with what we have on hand.
This cozy kitchen scene shows my green onion and red potato soup simmering on the front right burner—my favorite spot on the stove. This simple, flexible soup has been a comforting constant through deployments, PCS moves, and low-energy days, reminding me that small acts of care and resourcefulness can make any place feel like home.
Learning to Cook With What We Have (Instead of Shopping With Our Hearts)
One of my newer goals in the kitchen has been to actually work through what we already have instead of shopping with our hearts and then forgetting about half of it in the back of the fridge.
To help with that, I even created a custom AI chat/recipe maker where I can plug in:
What ingredients we have on hand
What’s expiring soon
What I realistically have energy for
It’s been a lifesaver for our budget and for my brain. Do we always make this happen? No. We are both really “out of sight, out of mind” people. But we’re getting significantly better at using up what we have and making a real shopping list instead of wandering the store and grabbing whatever looks good.
This soup is a perfect example of that mindset. The version I’m sharing here is the current version—but it changes all the time. Sometimes we add:
More or fewer onions in a variety of colors
Carrots
The white parts of leeks
Extra garlic (measured with love, obviously)
It’s very much an “OMG, that XYZ item is going to go bad if I don’t use it now” kind of soup. And somehow, it always turns out comforting.
This mindset of flexibility and resourcefulness has been essential during every deployment, PCS, and new duty station we’ve faced.
A Soup for Deployments, PCS Moves, and New Duty Stations
This soup has shown up for me in so many seasons:
During deployments
In the middle of PCS chaos
At new duty stations when everything feels unfamiliar
On days when I’m overwhelmed and my energy is low
There have been times when we’ve just moved into a new place, our household goods haven’t arrived yet, and I’ve done the classic military spouse thing:
Pop over to the dollar store
Buy a basic pot, ladle, cutting board, and knife
Hit the grocery store for a few staples
Make this soup so we at least have something warm and comforting while we wait for our “real” kitchen to show up
It’s simple, but in those in-between days, a pot of soup can make a new place feel a tiny bit more like home.
Speaking of PCS moves, I want to share one of the most vivid memories of this soup’s role in our military life—the half-unpacked kitchen survival mode.
Cooking in Half-Unpacked Kitchens: The Military Spouse Survival Mode
If you’ve ever moved across the country (or the world) with the military, you know the feeling all too well: boxes everywhere, the kitchen still a mystery, and the overwhelming question—how do I feed my family tonight?
During our PCS from Hawaii to Norfolk, our household goods were delayed by six months—thanks, COVID! For half a year, we lived with just the basics: a tiny pot, a cheap pan, and two sets of dishes for Matthew and me. No fancy gadgets, no full pantry—just what we could carry and borrow.
That’s when this green onion and red potato soup really earned its place in my heart. It’s forgiving, flexible, and requires minimal equipment. I could chop the veggies on a small cutting board, simmer everything in that little pot, and have a warm, nourishing meal ready without fuss.
More than that, it brought a sense of normalcy and comfort amidst the upheaval. Sitting down with a bowl of soup made the new, unfamiliar space feel a little more like home. It reminded me that even when life feels unsettled, small acts of care—like making a simple soup—can ground us.
If you’re in the middle of a move, deployment, or any kind of transition, I encourage you to find your own “half-unpacked kitchen” recipes. They don’t have to be fancy or complicated. They just have to be comforting, doable, and nourishing for your body and soul.
This soup has also been a quiet companion on some of my toughest days, like when I was sick and needed something gentle and low-effort.
The Sick Day Version: Slow Cooker, Spicy Blend, and Sitting at the Table
One of the clearest memories I have of this soup is from a deployment when my husband was gone and I was sick-sick. The kind of sick where standing for too long feels like a full workout.
I needed something easy to cook and easy to eat, so I made a few adjustments:
I sat at the kitchen table instead of standing at the counter (highly recommend if you’re low on energy).
I cut up all the ingredients there, at my own pace.
Instead of just tossing in the bay leaves and fresh thyme, I blended them with:
Salt
Pepper
Some red pepper for a little heat
Extra garlic
A small splash of bone broth
I blended it all together so I wouldn’t have to fish anything out later. Everything just melted into the soup.
And instead of cooking it on the stove, I:
Put everything into a slow cooker
Let it go low and slow all day
Scooped out a bowl whenever I was ready to eat
It was exactly what I needed: gentle, warm, flavorful, and low-effort. A small act of care for myself on a day when everything felt like too much.
Now that you know the story behind this soup, here’s the recipe as it stands today—ready for you to make and adapt however you like.
Cozy Green Onion & Red Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
2 bunches green onions (white and light green parts), sliced
1 medium purple (red) onion, julienne cut (French cut)
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
3–4 medium red potatoes, smallish diced (skin on or off)
3–4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, smallish diced (if your store doesn’t carry them, any gold/yellowish potatoes work well; skin on or off)
2 cloves garlic, minced (let’s be honest, I measured with love—more like a very generous amount of garlic)
4 cups chicken bone broth
Salt & pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 bay leaf
Optional: A few sprigs fresh thyme
Optional: ½ cup milk or cream (add at the end for extra creaminess)
Chives, for garnish
Instructions:
Prep the green onions:
Slice the white and light green parts of the green onions. You can save the dark green tops for garnish if you’d like.Sauté the aromatics:
In a large pot, melt the butter (or warm the olive oil) over medium heat. Add the white and super light green parts of the sliced green onions along with the julienne-cut purple onion. Cook until soft and fragrant, about 5–6 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute more, stirring so it doesn’t burn.Simmer the soup:
Add the diced potatoes, chicken bone broth, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper.
For the bay leaf and thyme, you can either drop them directly into the pot, bundle them together with cooking twine, or place them in a boiling bag or metal tea strainer for easy removal later.
Stir to combine.
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender.
This can really vary depending on your stove and where you live—sometimes it takes me 15–20 minutes in one home and closer to 45–60 minutes in another. The potatoes being easily pierced with a fork is the best indicator that it’s ready.Mash (or don’t):
Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs (or remove the bundle/strainer).If you like a chunky soup, you can serve it just as it is.
If you prefer it thicker and a bit smoother, use a potato masher or an immersion blender right in the pot and mash or blend until it’s as rustic or creamy as you like. Stir well to combine.
Finish the soup:
Stir in the milk or cream, if using. Warm gently over low heat—avoid boiling once the dairy is added. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.Serve:
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with chives and the reserved green onion tops, if desired.
I love serving this with fresh sourdough bread for dipping.
Pro tip:
This soup keeps beautifully in the fridge for a few days. It also freezes well—just leave out the milk or cream until you reheat, then add it fresh for the best texture. It’s a great one to batch and freeze for future low-energy days.
Beyond the ingredients and steps, this soup carries a feeling—a vibe—that’s just as important as the flavors.
Gentle, Warm, and Not Complicated: The Emotional Vibe of This Soup
If I had to sum up the emotional vibe of this soup, it would be:
“I need something gentle and warm.”
“I want something cozy but not complicated.”
“I’m tired and I need a win.”
“We have a bunch of potatoes that are going to go bad—let’s save them.”
It’s not fancy. It’s not trying to impress anyone. It’s the kind of soup that meets you where you are—whether that’s in a half-unpacked kitchen after a PCS, on a sick day during deployment, or on a random Tuesday when you’re just trying to stretch the grocery budget a little further.
For me, it’s also a reminder that:
Comfort doesn’t have to be complicated.
Using what we already have is a form of care—for ourselves and our budget.
Small, warm meals can make the in-between seasons feel a little softer.
I’d love for you to take a moment to think about your own comfort foods—the recipes that carry you through the in-between moments.
Reflection: What Comfort Meal Do You Reach For in the In-Between?
We all have those recipes we reach for when life feels heavy, chaotic, or just plain exhausting. For me, this green onion and red potato soup is one of them.
What about you?
What’s your “I’m tired and need a win” meal?
Is there a simple recipe that has quietly carried you through moves, long days, or sick seasons?
I’d love to hear about the comfort foods that show up for you in the in-between moments.
With Warmth and Wonder,
Latosha