How To Liven Up Your Soup's Bland Flavor
Soup is a winter staple for a reason, and while the idea of a warm, hearty bowl of chicken noodle soup is a beautiful one, the end result doesn't always come out as perfectly as planned. Those pots of warm broths and simmering stews can be flavorful and comforting with nothing more than a few features from some paprika, cumin, or cayenne from your spice cabinet. However, it could also be nothing more than just another bowl of bland porridge if you let it.
Don't be the guy that makes a soup everyone agrees is "just ok." Be the chef who crafts a soup so good that your friends want a piping-hot bowl of your mushroom cheddar soup even in the middle of a hot, humid summer day.
Transporting people to the coziness of the winter season through a meal is hard, but the power to make a soup that great is in your hands. So, do you want a taste of the best tips to liven up your soup?
Some soup-making mistakes you should avoid
While making soup can be a fairly easy undertaking in the face of others in the culinary world, that doesn't mean that a lot can't go wrong. Here are a few common soup-making mistakes you should avoid.
According to Good Housekeeping, boiling your soup instead of simmering it is a mistake a lot of novice chefs make. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. So why does it apply in cooking? Well simmering your soup allows for flavor profiles to mesh without spoiling the texture of the vegetables and meats inside. A bad texture in a soup is another big issue, but you can avoid this simply by adding some ingredients into the pot later in the process so they're not overcooked. Per HuffPost, add each element of the dish at different times based on their consistency, like adding firm potatoes first and softer features, like peas, last.
Per Public News Time, another common mistake people make with their soup comes down to seasoning. More specifically, how much salt they use. Adding too much salt, or too little, can really make or break a dish. To avoid a salty disaster, you should be tasting and seasoning as you go for the best flavors. Now if you want to really up the ante, make sure you add this one special thing to your pot.
Putting this one ingredient in the pot can make all the difference
While avoiding those cooking mistakes can make for a good soup, adding the right ingredients can make for a bowl of something extra special. To liven up your soup, consider this one very special addition. Throw in some acidic ingredients. While the specific addition will vary per recipe, from a squeeze of lemon juice to a teaspoon of vinegar, acid plays an especially important role in what you cook. Per registered dietitian Sofia Norton, that's because acids enhance flavors in the kitchen (via All Recipes). According to America's Test Kitchen, acids tamp down unsavory flavors of bitterness while bringing life to others. Most importantly, a dash of something sour can bring some much-needed balance to a dish, making meals like soup taste especially smooth.
So if you're looking for a way to take your easy slow cooker soup up a notch, pick up a little something acidic. Some other acidic options you can consider include white wine, buttermilk, and even tomato puree – take your pick!