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Add oomph to your soup with our ten best secret ingredients. You probably already havethemin your fridge or pantry.
José Andrés, chef and owner ofminibarsaid, “Simple ingredients, treated with respect… put them together and you will always have a great dish.”
We agree! The best ingredients, those that can elevate a dish from bland to bodacious, are usually the simplest. A dash of fish sauce adds meatiness. A spattering of fresh herbs brings fragrance. A squirt of lemon juice finishes off a dish with that hintof acid.
Today we’ve got a list of the secret ingredients we use to transform homemade soups. The best part, most are already in your fridge or pantry.
1. Lemon Juice
Acidity in a soup can really make a difference because it adds a high back-note. When adding lemon juice, add at the end of cooking to keep its bright flavor.
2. Wine
Wine is the perfect liquid to unstick the brown stuff from thebottom of your pan. When making French Onion Soup, I deglaze with red wine. And then I pour myself a glass.
3. Fish Sauce
It’s not just for Asian food! If I taste-test my soup and my brain goes, “Blah. It’s boring,” I add a few drops of fish sauce. Just that itsy bitsy amount makes all the difference. It’s got a potent meaty flavor that always seems to fix my boringness problem.
4. Worcestershire Sauce
Similar to the fish sauce, Worcestershire Sauce adds umami to soups and stocks. It’s because of the anchovies in there. It doesn’t taste like anchovies, just like good rich meatiness. Give it a whirl inVegetable Soup or a Beef Stew. (Just note that Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian.But there are some vegetarian and vegan options out there. See here).
5. Sesame Oil
This is seriously one of my favorite things. Sesame oil is this intense nutty flavor that goes great with so many other ingredients. Certainly, go ahead and add a few drops when sauteing the base to any Asian soup, or drizzle it in at the end (I do that when I make Egg Drop Soup). But you can also add it to any soup with the following sesame-loving ingredients: asparagus, beef, beets, chicken, legumes (chickpeas! Yes!), chilipeppers, eggplant, ginger, rice, green onions, shrimp, zucchini.
6. Yogurt
When looking to add creaminess to a soup, I usually grab for plain yogurt. It gives the soup a rich taste without the extremeheaviness of cream. Make sure to swirl in the yogurt after the soup has been removed from the heat, otherwise it’ll curdle.
7. Pesto
Homemade or store-bought, pesto instantly adds several flavors to your soup. It’s a one-stop shop for basil, olive oil, Parmesan and pine nuts. You can stir pesto into your soup at the end of cooking time or add a blop to each serving. I make a Summer Minestrone with cannellini beans and summer squash that gets kicked in the butt by some pesto.
8. Beer
Beer adds a great malty taste to soup. I mean, think about it. That’s why Beer Cheese Soup is so darned good — well, that might also have something to do with all the cheese. But still. The beer helps, right? Anyhow, try adding beer to other kinds of soups and stews. Anything with beef or mushrooms is going to love being a bit drunk on beer. Also onions, sausages and shrimp.
9. Salsa
Adding Salsa to a soupmakes it seem like it’sbeen cooking all day. It’s because salsa has a lot of ingredients that have been stewed together. Try adding it to a Chicken Tortilla Soup or to your favorite chili recipe. Be cautious though. Salsa can have a lot of sodium and could make your soup salty. Add it gradually and taste regularly. And don’t add other salty things, like salt.
10. Fresh Herbs
Fresh herbs aren’t just a garnish.The soup warms up the herbs. That releases essential oils that waft up up up to your nose. Our sense of smell is hugely involved with how we experience taste so this smell can do a lot to make your soups taste the best. Add fresh herbs right before serving because they lose their aromatic properties quickly. And they wilt too.
Do you have a secret ingredient that you add to your soups? Will you tell me? I can keep a secret. Promise.
FAQs
It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.
What ingredient makes soup taste good? ›
"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.
How to make homemade soup more flavorful? ›
7 Easy Ways to Make Any Soup Better
- Brown or Sear the Meat.
- Roast the the Veggies.
- Mix up the Texture.
- Use Homemade Stock Whenever Possible.
- Put Your Cheese Rinds to Work.
- Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples.
- Add Fresh Herbs or Dairy When Serving.
- Recipes Pictured.
16,482,969 views The secret ingredient is... nothing! Despite that revelation, this so-called secret-soup is one of the most hotly requested dishes in the Babish Culinary Universe.
What is the most important ingredient in soup? ›
For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.
What not to do when making soup? ›
The 7 Biggest Mistakes You Make Cooking Soup
- Boiling instead of simmering. You want a small bubble or two to rise to the surface of the liquid every few seconds. ...
- Not using enough salt. ...
- Ignoring water. ...
- Overcooking the vegetables. ...
- Adding tomatoes at the beginning. ...
- Neglecting to garnish. ...
- Not trying a pressure cooker.
Basic principles of preparing soup are also outlined, including starting with cold water, cutting vegetables to size, selecting protein, simmering, and skimming.
What are 6 qualities of a good soup? ›
A soup's quality is determined by its flavor, appearance and texture. A good soup should be full-flavored, with no off or sour tastes. Flavors from each of the soup's ingre- dients should blend and complement, with no one flavor overpowering another. Con- sommés should be crystal clear.
How to deepen the flavor of soup? ›
Brown your base first, that is if you use any meat, garlic, ginger, onion, celery, carrots, or peppers, brown them first, add a bit of salt when browning, then bloom your spices and herbs by adding them to the saute veggies and saute them for a minute or two before you add the broth.
What gives vegetable soup that depth of flavor? ›
The first is to caramelize the vegetables, either in your soup pot or in the oven, to sweeten them and condense their juices. Next, add plenty of aromatics to the pot — herbs, spices, garlic, onions and the like — and let everything simmer for a long time to blend the flavors.
Herbs and sources add flavor, aroma, and intensity to the soup broth. You can pick fresh or dried herbs like basil for tomato-based soups or fresh parsley for clear broths. You may also add more spices like turmeric, ground ginger, ground paprika, or nutmeg for a touch of spice and color to your soup broth.
What spices are good in soup? ›
To season it, we recommend starting with our Vegetable Soup Mix. It contains celery salt, parsley flakes, garlic powder, sea salt, summer savory, marjoram, thyme, black pepper, turmeric and sage, which are all excellent with root vegetables, so you can incorporate things like carrots or potatoes into the soup.
Can you add Worcestershire sauce to soup? ›
Adding Worcestershire Sauce To Soups
It will work in a broad range of dishes from your favorite French onion soup to velvety tomato bisque. It definitely does a great job of amping up the meaty flavors of a beef stew as well as giving vegetable soups a flavor lift, too.
What ingredient can be added to a soup to make it thicker and richer? ›
Add Flour Or Cornstarch
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
What does adding vinegar to soup do? ›
Vinegar, much like salt, is a flavor enhancer — it not only imparts its own taste and acidity to a soup, but in small quantities, it helps to bring out the brightness of other ingredients as well.
What are the 4 components of soup? ›
This dish is an excellent place to take the leap from following a recipe to improvising a meal. At its most basic, soup is four components: a base, a thickener, a liquid, and a main ingredient. The liquid and main ingredient can be thought of as the essence: add 3 parts liquid to 2 parts main ingredient, and it's soup.
What 2 ingredients are used to thicken the soup? ›
Add Flour Or Cornstarch
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
