Dull Soup? Fix It With Just One Ingredient (2024)

FAQs

Dull Soup? Fix It With Just One Ingredient? ›

Just add acid! A small amount of an acidic ingredient like lemon juice added at the end of cooking brightens flavors, especially in long-simmered bean soups or rich meat-based soups. Start with a little bit of acid, taste and adjust, until your soup tastes balanced and bright.

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

Add acidic ingredients.

Foods that have a great deal of acidity, like lemon juice, vinegar, white wine, and tomato puree, can help liven up the flavor of bland-tasting bone and other broths. "The acidity of these ingredients works to complement and enhance the broth's flavors, not mask it.

Clear soups are a type of thin soup. Clear soups are also called passed soups, as any chunks of ingredients are taken out of the soup, and you are left with a liquid soup. Consommé, a French clarified meat or fish broth, is a classic version of a clear soup.

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.

Canned soup-ers can follow suit: After sautéing your aromatics, deglaze the pan with a glug of the Good Juice. You can also stir a splash of acid—like lemon juice, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar—to brighten things up.

While we love using dried herbs during the cooking process, the bright and "green" flavor of fresh herbs really livens up soup… or any hot plate of food, really. The key here is using the right herbs. Choose tender, leafy herbs for topping soup, like parsley (flat leaf or curly), cilantro, chives, or even mint.

Go Bold. A punch of flavor at the end of cooking can make your soup a standout. Mix herbs like parsley, thyme, and oregano, or spices such as cumin, coriander, and cardamom, into some olive oil, and let it infuse for at least an hour or two. Pour it over soup just before serving.

Ok, this may be a little obvious, but just adding water is going to make your soup go a little further. If you stick to a 50/50 ratio between water and whatever flavoured liquid you're using in your soup (be it tomatoes, a stock type, or a cream), you're unlikely to dilute it to the point of making it unpalatable.

What does adding flour to soup do? ›

You can also use flour or cornflour to thicken a soup. Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer.

Notable examples include beef and goat noodle soup served by Wattana Panich in Bangkok, Thailand, which has been cooking for over 49 years as of 2024, and oden broth from Otaf*cku in Asakusa, Japan, which has served the same broth daily since 1945.

Mash beans, lentils, rice, or bread.

Rice, lentils, and beans release a lot of starch and naturally thicken soups simply from simmering, but you can also mash half the cooked rice/lentils/beans before adding to the soup for a simple way to thicken your dish.

Adding baking soda to a soup raises the pH and contributes sodium ions, both of which make the pectin that holds many vegetables' cell walls together break down faster. The result? Restaurant-level creaminess.

A lot of types of bacteria (and sometimes other microbes) produce waste products that can taste "sour." And soup/stock is a good growth medium for microbes, which is why most food safety organizations recommend only keeping soup for 3-4 days in the fridge.

The Kitchn concurs that vinegar is a "one ingredient" fix when your soup does not meet your taste bud's expectations. But don't overdo it. A little vinegar goes a long way. The Kitchn suggests just "half a teaspoon or more" of vinegar can punch up the flavor of your broth.

If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl. Our Lemony Chicken Soup will make your mouth water.

Add Dairy: Dairy products like yogurt, sour cream, or coconut milk can help neutralize the spiciness. Stir them into the dish gradually until you reach the desired level of heat. Add Acid: Acidic ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar can help balance the heat. Start by adding small amounts and adjust to taste.