Tips & Tricks For Satisfying Soups

Warm, comforting and delicious soups are easy one-pot meals that allow for creative and wholesome ingredient combinations. Learn how to make flavorful, fulfilling soups with these tips.

Broth vs. Stock vs. Bone Broth
Stock and broth are incredibly similar, but with one major difference. Broth is made from meat and vegetables, and stock is made from bones. Both flavorful options, broth is thinner and better suited for accenting dishes while stock is thicker, more gelatinous and best for soups where the liquid is the star ingredient.

Bone broth, cooked low-and-slow and made with a combination of bones and meat, provides nutrients such as collagen, minerals and amino acids. Bone broth can be used to replace broth or stock in most recipes. Some also enjoy sipping on warm bone broth as an alternative to other hot beverages.

Stretch Your Soups
Stretch soup batches with hearty, healthy ingredients that add nutrients and make soups go further throughout the week.

• Legumes add fiber and plant-based protein. Try black beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, lentils and split peas.
• It’s super easy to toss in a handful of fresh baby spinach or arugula for a burst of color and nutrients. Try spiralized veggie noodles too!
• Add fiber and texture with grains like rice, quinoa, farro, barley and couscous.
• Try roasted nuts like almonds, walnuts or pistachios for an extra crunch. For a creamier garnish, add avocado slices, a soft-boiled egg or Greek yogurt.

Enhance Soups with Herbs
Herbs add a depth of flavor to soups, but some do better than others when dried.

Dried herbs: Add during the beginning of the cooking process, so their flavor has time to infuse the entire soup. Thyme, oregano, rosemary and dill are great dried options.
Fresh herbs: Soft, tender herbs like basil, cilantro, chives and parsley lose a lot of their flavor when dried, so they’re best added fresh. Sprinkle these varieties into soups just before they finish cooking to preserve their fresh, bright flavors.

Freeze for Later
Keep these tips and tricks in mind when freezing soups to preserve their freshly-cooked flavor for months.

• Cool it down: Storing hot soup in the freezer causes uneven freezing and ice crystals. Let the soup cool to room temperature before storing.
• Use freezer-friendly containers: Store your soup in containers designed for freezer storage. If using zip-top freezer bags, freeze them flat.
• Portion it out: Freezing soup in one or two-person portions helps the soup freeze more evenly and provides convenience for reheating. The smaller the amount, the better the soup will cool, freeze and reheat. No matter how you portion it, always leave room for expansion.
• Hold the starches and dairy: Cream, cheese, pasta and grains don’t freeze well. Avoid freezing soups with dairy and starches, or add these ingredients after reheating.
• Label it: You can store most soups in the freezer for two to three months. Label the soup with the date, recipe name and reheating instructions to remember where you left off.