How To Make Canned Soup Taste Like Homemade (2024)

FAQs

How To Make Canned Soup Taste Like Homemade? ›

Garlic and onions make everything tastier! While the soup is cooking on the stove, sautee onions and garlic, adding them into the soup towards the end of cooking. Or for an aromatic that'll give a refreshing flavor, add chopped ginger into the soup while it's still cooking, stirring it in to blend the flavors together.

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. Or, mix in some parsley, dill, or other fresh herbs to lend different tasting notes to your meal.

Strong flavors such as garlic, onion, cumin, cayenne pepper, and chili flakes benefit just about every savory dish, but they are especially useful when you're working with canned goods because they really come to the forefront of the flavor profile.

A few snips of almost any fresh herb will brighten up your soup and add a fresh flavor. Thyme is good with chicken or squash soup, basil with tomato soup, rosemary with bean soups. Just chop or snip about 1 scant tablespoon of fresh herbs into each bowl as a garnish.

Pesto, hot sauce, lemon juice—the list goes on. Any of these will enhance the flavor profile and give your can of Campbell's the boost it needs to go from good to great.

Dried herbs and spices are the easiest and most budget-friendly way to add flavor to your canned soup. They'll last forever in your pantry, and you don't need to add much to get a good kick.

Use seasonings

Seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, oregano, and chili powder can be used in different combinations to give your vegetables an extra kick of flavor without adding extra calories.

Add Whole Spices

Spice up store-bought stock with whole peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise, or a cinnamon stick. Whole spices can add tremendous flavor to a stock. You might not think that bay leaves do much, but those dried leaves add an herbal flavor that helps make your stock more complex.

How do you salvage bland soup? ›

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.

Got a soup that tastes a little bland and unexciting? Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt.

Add swirls of pesto, chili crisp, hot sauce, sour cream, or salted yogurt. Garnish your bowl with fried shallots, garlic chips, croutons, or a mish-mash of toasted seeds. Douse tender, fresh herbs—like cilantro, dill, parsley, or basil—in good-quality olive oil and vinegar and pile them on top.

Amy's Organic Low Sodium Lentil Vegetable Soup is one the healthiest canned soups because it's made with non-GMO, organic ingredients, is low in sodium, and is a great source of protein and fiber. With 11 grams of plant-based protein and 8 grams of fiber in one can, this lentil vegetable soup is filling and nutritious.

The good news is all of the most popular canned soups in America can be made to taste better with a few simple hacks. That starts with adding aromatics like garlic, ginger, or onions, to the mix, along with an extra helping of spices from basic salt and pepper to curry powders from different regions.

To make a good soup, you have to build flavours as you go. Vegetables like onion, garlic, celery and carrots — referred to as "aromatics" — are part of most soup recipes for this very reason, sautéed in oil or butter as a first step of flavour-making.

Throw In Extra Aromatics

An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks. For added smokiness, char aromatics like your onions before adding them to the pot. Garlic, sliced ginger, and lemongrass can also be simmered in the stock for extra flavor.

Having a couple of cans of soup on standby is a good idea for some cozy, lazy meals. You can upgrade your favorite chicken noodle soup by adding an egg or some crackers. Freshly grated parmesan, hot sauce, or sausage can also amp up a can of soup.

Leftover diced chicken, cubes of seared tofu, a cooked egg, shredded cheese or canned beans will leave you feeling fuller longer.

Add Vinegar To Begin With To Avoid Oversalting

By adding a splash of an acidic ingredient to your soup as you cook it, you'll reduce the need to add as much salt, while still highlighting and deepening the flavors in the pot.