The Ingredient You Need To Easily Thicken Your Minestrone Soup
With its hearty texture, minestrone can be a perfect choice during the cold season or whenever you want a filling meal. What makes it so delicious is the mix of greens, rice or pasta, potatoes, beans, and Italian seasonings. Basically, it's a heartier version of vegetable soup — though some recipes may call for meat, lard, or other animal-based ingredients.
This classic Italian soup is supposed to be thick. After all, that's one of the reasons most chefs use fortifying ingredients like macaroni and beans. The problem is that if you add a bit too much water or broth, you might end up with a thin soup. The same can happen if you simmer it for too long.
An easy way to thicken your minestrone soup is to add extra ingredients. For example, tomato paste has a delicious, warming flavor and rich consistency that will complement the dish. Plus, it goes well with potatoes, pasta, and other ingredients in the soup.
Use tomato paste for a hearty, thick minestrone
Tomato paste is commonly used as a thickening agent for soups, sauces, stews, and chilis. Think of it as a concentrated tomato sauce that imparts a savory flavor to dishes. You can prepare it at home or buy it in a tube and mix it with other food ingredients as needed.
If your minestrone is too thin, add a few tablespoons of tomato paste while it's cooking. Start with 1 to 2 tablespoons, stir well, and see how it turns out. For a thicker soup, add more tomato paste until you reach the desired consistency. If you find the flavor too strong, use a small amount of tomato paste along with thickening ingredients like pasta, potatoes, rice, or beans.
For other recipes, it may be okay to use ketchup, tomato sauce, soy sauce, or harissa paste in case you run out of tomato paste. However, these ingredients won't thicken your minestrone. For example, soy sauce can replace tomato paste in marinades, stews, and some braised dishes, but it's too thin and salty for minestrone or vegetable cream soups.
Tomato paste isn't your only option
Minestrone can be made with a variety of ingredients, from cauliflower and spinach to haricot vert and parmesan cheese. Some of these ingredients act as thickeners while adding flavor and nutrition. For instance, you may use cooked or canned beans to thicken the soup and boost its protein content. A cup of kidney beans has over 15 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber, plus large doses of iron, potassium, phosphorus, copper, and folate.
Another option is to add more potatoes or pasta while the soup is cooking. These foods absorb liquid and release starch, contributing to a thicker consistency. You can also take out some of the cooked veggies from the soup, blend them into a puree, and then stir them back into the pot. The pureed vegetables will thicken your soup and make it creamier while increasing its nutritional value.
Here's another trick: let the soup simmer without a lid for an extra couple of minutes. The excess liquid will evaporate, making your soup thicker. Alternatively, mix a thickening agent like arrowroot powder with cold water and stir it into the soup when it's almost done cooking. Cornstarch will do the trick, too.