5 Amazing Pressure Cooker Soup Tips & Tricks! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to Soup? ›

While they are invaluable when it comes to braising, stewing and transforming tough cuts of meat, and cooking ingredients like dried pulses from scratch, pressure cookers are less successful with delicate foods like fish or green veg, as they use such a high heat.

At that pressure, water boils at 121°C (250°F). That means food can cook at a much higher temperature than it ever could at atmospheric pressure—and since cooking reactions speed up at higher temperatures, your food cooks faster. It also doesn't dry out, since the water stays in liquid form.

You can extract a clean, strong broth from a combination of water and several pantry ingredients. It's all about layering powerful flavor-enhancers that you probably already have on hand—bacon, tomato paste, herbs, peppercorns, a Parmesan rind, and, of course, kosher salt.

Basic principles of preparing soup are also outlined, including starting with cold water, cutting vegetables to size, selecting protein, simmering, and skimming.

Slow cookers and pressure cookers come in a variety of sizes up to eight quarts, but pressure cookers need extra room inside the pot for the steam to accumulate, which limits the batch size. If you have a large family or plan on making soups and stews you can store for later, you may be better served by a slow cooker.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute.

Starting with hot water will mean the pot will get up to pressure sooner. And the sooner the pot gets to pressure the sooner it can start "cooking", which will reduce the cooking time. The time saved is basically the time it takes the pot to get up to temperature/pressure.

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.

How to deepen the flavor of soup? ›

"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.

"Ground paprika, turmeric, nutmeg, ground ginger, and other powdered spices add a touch of color and spiciness to broths," she says. As a general rule, use fresh herbs at or near the end of cooking and dried herbs and spices early on. This helps you get the flavors you're looking for in the right balance.

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.

Tips for Flavorful Vegetable Soup

Flavor the base: We add Italian seasoning and tomato paste to the aromatics and warm them up to bring the seasonings back to life. You could use fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, or even add a Parmesan rind for more flavor.

Great broth — Most soups are anchored by a stock or broth, and one with depth of flavor (not just a lot of salt) is key. Buy a quality one, or simmer up a batch of your own. Try an easy chicken or mushroom broth, or our versatile Homemade Vegetable Broth opens in a new tab.