National Homemade Soup Day, celebrated every February 4th, couldn’t have come at a better time this year. With a polar vortex taking hold across Ontario, this weekend is set to bring some of the coldest temperatures of the year.

We know that warming up on the coldest of days can be difficult and cause our home heating systems to work overtime. A warm, hearty soup could be the perfect meal to help combat the cold, and with these 5 low energy recipes made using small appliances, you could avoid the high-usage day that comes with the cold.

While most daily cooking uses a large appliance like your oven or stove top, using a smaller appliance such as a slow cooker, instant pot, or microwave to prep your meals could lead to significant savings.

Switching to small appliances doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, most small appliance recipes are significantly easier and require less clean up. Even most of your favourite recipes can be easily adapted for small appliance cooking.

Don’t believe us? Check out these 5 soup favourites that can be made with small appliances!

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Let’s start things off with a classic! Chicken noodle soup is the perfect soup for the winter, sure to warm you up and help you get over inevitable winter sicknesses.

This classic chicken noodle soup is made with simple ingredients that can be found at nearly any grocery store and is ready in under 30 minutes.

The best part? Depending on the dish, instant pots can be as much as 8 times more efficient than using the oven!

Slow Cooker Chili

Whether you’re someone who considers chili a soup or someone who thinks it’s a stew, one thing we can all agree on is that homemade chili makes a great winter warmer and an even better Super Bowl snack.

While this recipe does include a brief use of the stove top to brown your beef, this slow cooker chili recipe spends the bulk of its cooking time in the crock pot.

Just how efficient is choosing the crock pot over the stove top? Slow cookers generally only use 50 to 300 watts. With a standard incandescent bulb using 100 watts, it’s like swapping the stovetop for a couple light bulbs!

Toaster Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

Another soup standard, this roasted tomato and basil soup can be made low energy by swapping the traditional oven roasting process for roasting in the toaster oven.

Adapting this recipe isn’t as difficult as it sounds! This simple calculator makes it easy to convert recipes for the toaster oven while using less than half the energy of a traditional oven.

For bonus savings, make your accompanying grilled cheese (let’s face it, they should always go together!) in the toaster oven too.

No Cook Gazpacho

A soup with no cooking? You better believe it! This tomato-based gazpacho requires absolutely no heat to prepare.

While gazpacho is not a traditional winter soup, this is a delicious recipe to change things up or to save for the warmer months. The fresh summer flavours will instantly transport you to a warm, sunny day, even when it is -20°C outside.

Looking to make this one more winter and energy-friendly? Skip the cooling process and serve at room temperature (we like it better that way!).

Microwaved Habitant™ Soup

Okay, we know that it’s technically National Homemade Soup Day, but who can resist this Canadian classic? This French Canadian staple is one of Canada’s best known soups and always hits the spot, staying true to the traditional early-20th century recipe.

Just open the can, fill your bowl, and pop it in the microwave! Dinner (or lunch) is ready in just a few minutes while using up to 60% less energy than heating it up on the stovetop.

However you prefer to celebrate National Homemade Soup Day, try sticking to small appliances. Over the course of a year, switching even one meal a week to a small appliance can lead to big electricity savings!