Take Canned Soup From Bland To Bold With This Underrated Ingredient

You can't be blamed for eating a spoonful of any given canned soup and thinking that it needs a little more flavor. Even some of the best ones fall a little short of a freshly prepared version. One easy way to improve the flavor profile is an ingredient your grandparents are probably familiar with.

A little bit of bouillon can brighten up a bland can of soup in minutes. It often comes in foil-wrapped cubes of dehydrated chicken or beef stock, vegetables, and salt, and it was once commonly used to add bursts of flavor to water-based foods. Bouillon has fallen somewhat out of fashion, but its flavor potential remains strong. Simply add a cube to the soup while cooking as instructed, and make sure it's fully dissolved before eating. 

There is, however, one concern worth watching for. Both bouillon and canned soup are high in sodium, and carelessly combining the two could leave you with a soup that is too salty to eat. Perhaps the easiest way to avoid this problem is to use reduced sodium versions of canned soup and/or bouillon, which are commonly available at major grocery stores. But there are also other, potentially more flavorful options to consider — even ones that still use bouillon.

Bouillon is a classic for a reason, but the beginner's guide to upgrading canned soups reveals a better option in bouillon paste. Instead of grainy and dehydrated cubes, bouillon pastes like Better Than Bouillon come wet and spoonable, far easier to add small amounts until the flavor is just right. It's another good way to add flavor without accidentally creating a salt bomb. Plus, many people think bouillon paste simply tastes better than the cubes.

Another lower-sodium option is hot sauce, one of the best condiments to upgrade canned soup. To reference the popular cookbook and Netflix series, the soup brings salt and, in many cases, fat. The hot sauce adds acid and heat.

Take caution if using hot sauce in combination with bouillon paste, though. Used carelessly, the inherent sodium content of hot sauce can lead you right back to one of the biggest mistakes to make with canned soup, too much salt. Like the bouillon paste, consider a reduced sodium version and gradually adding to taste.