Soup swap rules: how much soup to bring
At a soup swap, everyone makes one big pot of soup at home, splits it into 1-quart containers and trades. The usual rule: bring one quart for every other guest, plus one quart for the tasting pot. With 7 guests that's 6 quarts to swap and 1 to taste, so 7 quarts per person, and everyone goes home with 6 different soups.
Quarts per guest, by number of guests
Guests means everyone who brings a soup, the host included. Each person brings the quarts in the second column and takes home the swap containers.
| Guests | Quarts to bring | Quart containers to swap | Containers on the swap table | Total soup at the party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 (1 gal) | 3 | 12 | 16 qt (4 gal) |
| 5 | 5 (1.25 gal) | 4 | 20 | 25 qt (6.25 gal) |
| 6 | 6 (1.5 gal) | 5 | 30 | 36 qt (9 gal) |
| 7 | 7 (1.75 gal) | 6 | 42 | 49 qt (12.25 gal) |
| 8 | 8 (2 gal) | 7 | 56 | 64 qt (16 gal) |
| 9 | 9 (2.25 gal) | 8 | 72 | 81 qt (20.25 gal) |
| 10 | 10 (2.5 gal) | 9 | 90 | 100 qt (25 gal) |
| 11 | 11 (2.75 gal) | 10 | 110 | 121 qt (30.25 gal) |
| 12 | 12 (3 gal) | 11 | 132 | 144 qt (36 gal) |
A quart is 4 cups, a little under a liter. Past about 8 guests the pot gets hard to manage: 12 quarts is a 3-gallon batch, more than most home stockpots hold with room to stir.
What the guides say
- Perdue: "Ask everyone to bring six-quart containers of soup for swapping, plus one container to put out for tasting." They suggest inviting "at least six guests".
- Simple Bites: "Bring 6-8 litres of soup to swap, plus a few cups for tasting," pre-measured into 1-liter (quart) containers. They suggest inviting 8 to 10 people, expecting 6 or 7 to come.
Both land on about six quarts to trade, which fits a group of 7. The table above adjusts that number to your group, so nobody ends up with two quarts of the same soup or one short.
How to host a soup swap
- Count the cooks first. Get firm yeses a week or two ahead, then send the final number of quarts. A guest who drops out late just means everyone has one spare quart.
- Ask for different soups. A shared list where each person claims a soup avoids three pots of chili. Ask people to note the main allergens (dairy, gluten, nuts, shellfish).
- Same containers for everyone. 1-quart deli containers or wide-mouth mason jars stack well and are easy to freeze.
- Label every container with the soup name, the cook, the date it was made and the allergens. Reheating notes help too.
- Taste, then trade. Warm the tasting quarts on the stove or in slow cookers, let each cook say a word about their soup, then go around the table and pick one container at a time until all are gone.
Planning one? The host's timeline and tasting setup has the rest.
Keeping the soup cold
Cool the soup before it goes into the containers, then keep it in the fridge until you leave, or freeze it. Perdue notes that "the soups should be refrigerated or frozen to make it home safely." Bring a cooler bag for the drive home, and leave an inch of space at the top of each container if it's going into the freezer, since soup expands as it freezes.
My suggestions
- Freezer-friendly soups travel best: bean soups, lentil, minestrone without the pasta, chili, tomato. Cream and potato soups can turn grainy after freezing.
- For a group bigger than 8, split into two smaller swaps or ask for half-quart (pint) containers, so nobody has to cook 3 gallons.
- Keep one spare empty container per guest on the table for leftovers from the tasting pot.
More guides
- How many cookies to bring to a cookie exchange (table by guest count)
- How to host a cookie exchange (invites, labels, containers, timeline)
- Cookie exchange invitation wording (email, chat and card texts to copy)
- Printable cookie swap sign up sheet (blank, print at home)
- Cookie exchange labels (sample sheet to print)
- Soup swap rules: how much soup to bring (quarts by guest count)
- How to host a soup swap (timeline, tasting setup, take-home round)
- Soup swap labels (sample sheet for jars, Letter and A4)