9 Delicious Ways to Enhance Boxed Soup (2024)

FAQs

9 Delicious Ways to Enhance Boxed Soup? ›

Go green: Add some spinach or chopped kale or pesto. Get zesty: A squirt of lemon juice or zest could brighten up an otherwise flat soup. Starchy things: Homemade croutons, crushed tortilla chips, or oyster crackers. Clean out the fridge: got cooked beans or rice, a dollop of sour cream, or a splash of heavy cream?

Go green: Add some spinach or chopped kale or pesto. Get zesty: A squirt of lemon juice or zest could brighten up an otherwise flat soup. Starchy things: Homemade croutons, crushed tortilla chips, or oyster crackers. Clean out the fridge: got cooked beans or rice, a dollop of sour cream, or a splash of heavy cream?

You can also go with more heat and spices. "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.

Start with an aromatic base. Pretty much every can of soup already contains aromatics. But to put some pep back in your soup's step, you're going to want to add more. Start by sautéing any combination of finely chopped vegetables and alliums—like onion, garlic, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and ginger.

Throw In Extra Aromatics

The base of most stocks are flavorful aromatics, like onion, carrot, and celery. An easy way to punch up the lackluster flavor of boxed stocks is by adding more of those basics. An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks.

Vinegar – A spoonful of vinegar is a quick fix when you find yourself with a bowl of dull, flat-tasting soup. Just a small amount of acid will brighten up the flavors. 2. Soy Sauce – Soy sauce is another item that's ideal for brightening up and adding depth of flavor to an otherwise dull soup.

Oregano: If you want to give your soups a fresh, fragrant, Mediterranean kick, then oregano is the one for you. Oregano works especially well with tomato-based soups, creating a light and fragrant undertone. Cayenne Pepper: Perfect for a little heat, cayenne pepper introduces a warm, spicy depth to your soup.

What other ingredients can be added to give taste to the soup? ›

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.

Besides adding vegetables to your soup, another option is to play around with stirring in herbs and spices. If you love food with some zing to it, drizzling in some hot sauce can be a great way to bring on the heat and give your soup an extra edge.

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.

Using onions, garlic, and fresh spices like thyme will add flavor to the soup. The real trick to making a bland pea soup extra tasty is using a bone or ham hock in the soup during the cooking process. Chicken broth will also add flavor to the soup.