How to Make Homemade Soup
Plan out your soup., Gather your ingredients., Prepare a soup stock., Add desired spices to your stock while it simmers., Start adding your ingredients once the stock has simmered sufficiently., Let simmer for at least half an hour, or until the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Plan out your soup.
If you don't have any experience making homemade soups before, clear soups are recommended as a way to learn the ropes, as they offer more room for simplicity.
Before getting started, you'll need to figure out what kind of soup you're looking to make.
Is it a hearty vegetable soup? A mineral-rich bone broth? Having a good idea of where to go early on will take the stress and guesswork out of the process later on. -
Step 2: Gather your ingredients.
While this is by no means an exhaustive list of recommended ingredients to have in your homemade soup, it's a good place to start.
Potatoes, peas, kidney beans and carrots are great if you're looking to make a hearty broth.
Other vegetables like roughly chopped celery, tomatoes and corn can give the soup a richer taste.
Aromatics like onions and garlic are highly recommended for their flavour.
The smaller you cut them, the more their flavour will inform the rest of the broth.
Noodles are great in soups as they tend to embody the flavour of the stock.
They're an especially effective addition to a soup that's otherwise lacking in solid substance.
If you choose to have meat in your soup, make sure it is pre-cooked, and kept in small enough pieces.
You'll also want to make sure the type of meat complements your soup stock.
If you're using beans, make sure to have them pre-soaked in water.
This will ensure they cook more evenly alongside the other ingredients., There are multiple ways to do this.
Though it depends on the type of soup you would like to make, one recommended method is to make a stock by simmering soup bones in a pot of water overnight.
This will extract the minerals and flavour from the bones, giving your soup a hearty and nutritious base to start with.
Chicken and beef bones are standard choices for soups, though different bones will each yield their own individual tastes.
For a vegetarian alternative, adding finely chopped vegetables to a pot of water and letting it simmer will make a fine vegetable stock for your soup.
If you're thrifty, you can use the small, unused remains of past veggie recipes to make the stock.
Adding these to cold water and proceeding to simmer will ensure all each vegetable's flavour has a chance to be released.
Some dieticians recommend simmering bones for as long as 12-48 hours.
This longer process reportedly "breaks the bones down, releases nutrients and minerals, and makes nutrient-rich collagen, gelatin, and glucosamine easier to digest." Oxtail may also be used as a good alternative to bones.
If you don't have bones or meat to take it from, you can try asking your local butcher for spare bones to fuel your soup stock.
If you want to skip this step, you can purchase a prefabricated bouillon at your local grocery store. , Again, there are a number of ways you can effectively spice up a soup.
A tablespoon of sea salt, a teaspoon of peppercorns, and a bunch of parsley are all versatile ways to add zest to a half-pot of soup.
Try adding one or two chicken feet to the broth while it simmers.
It may not sound appealing, but a chicken foot will add a gelatinous texture to the soup that some may find enjoyable. , If you made the stock with soup bones, remove them with a ladle.
Cut up your vegetables if you haven't done so already.
If you're using the recommended ingredients, the potatoes and carrots should be cut into small enough chunks that they'll be able to get consistently soft inside the soup.
Add the ingredients in descending order from largest to smallest (e.g: beginning with potato chunks and meat, slowly working to peas and corn.) Working by this process will ideally give all of your ingredients an opportunity to cook relatively evenly., Stir regularly for optimal consistency.
Taste the broth periodically during the cooking process.
If you think something is missing, adding a dose of salt and pepper is an easy way to liven up a soup. , Distribute your soup into bowls with a ladle.
Making a homemade soup can be a lengthy ordeal when you take overnight stock simmering into consideration, but with a little luck and effort, you'll find homemade soup can be one of the most satisfying dishes available. , Clear soups are one of the most freezer-friendly dishes around! Put whatever you won't be eating in the next 1-2 days in the freezer, and the soup will stay fresh for a long time. -
Step 3: Prepare a soup stock.
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Step 4: Add desired spices to your stock while it simmers.
-
Step 5: Start adding your ingredients once the stock has simmered sufficiently.
-
Step 6: Let simmer for at least half an hour
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Step 7: or until the largest vegetables have gone soft.
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Step 8: Serve and enjoy!
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Step 9: Store excess portions in the freezer.
Detailed Guide
If you don't have any experience making homemade soups before, clear soups are recommended as a way to learn the ropes, as they offer more room for simplicity.
Before getting started, you'll need to figure out what kind of soup you're looking to make.
Is it a hearty vegetable soup? A mineral-rich bone broth? Having a good idea of where to go early on will take the stress and guesswork out of the process later on.
While this is by no means an exhaustive list of recommended ingredients to have in your homemade soup, it's a good place to start.
Potatoes, peas, kidney beans and carrots are great if you're looking to make a hearty broth.
Other vegetables like roughly chopped celery, tomatoes and corn can give the soup a richer taste.
Aromatics like onions and garlic are highly recommended for their flavour.
The smaller you cut them, the more their flavour will inform the rest of the broth.
Noodles are great in soups as they tend to embody the flavour of the stock.
They're an especially effective addition to a soup that's otherwise lacking in solid substance.
If you choose to have meat in your soup, make sure it is pre-cooked, and kept in small enough pieces.
You'll also want to make sure the type of meat complements your soup stock.
If you're using beans, make sure to have them pre-soaked in water.
This will ensure they cook more evenly alongside the other ingredients., There are multiple ways to do this.
Though it depends on the type of soup you would like to make, one recommended method is to make a stock by simmering soup bones in a pot of water overnight.
This will extract the minerals and flavour from the bones, giving your soup a hearty and nutritious base to start with.
Chicken and beef bones are standard choices for soups, though different bones will each yield their own individual tastes.
For a vegetarian alternative, adding finely chopped vegetables to a pot of water and letting it simmer will make a fine vegetable stock for your soup.
If you're thrifty, you can use the small, unused remains of past veggie recipes to make the stock.
Adding these to cold water and proceeding to simmer will ensure all each vegetable's flavour has a chance to be released.
Some dieticians recommend simmering bones for as long as 12-48 hours.
This longer process reportedly "breaks the bones down, releases nutrients and minerals, and makes nutrient-rich collagen, gelatin, and glucosamine easier to digest." Oxtail may also be used as a good alternative to bones.
If you don't have bones or meat to take it from, you can try asking your local butcher for spare bones to fuel your soup stock.
If you want to skip this step, you can purchase a prefabricated bouillon at your local grocery store. , Again, there are a number of ways you can effectively spice up a soup.
A tablespoon of sea salt, a teaspoon of peppercorns, and a bunch of parsley are all versatile ways to add zest to a half-pot of soup.
Try adding one or two chicken feet to the broth while it simmers.
It may not sound appealing, but a chicken foot will add a gelatinous texture to the soup that some may find enjoyable. , If you made the stock with soup bones, remove them with a ladle.
Cut up your vegetables if you haven't done so already.
If you're using the recommended ingredients, the potatoes and carrots should be cut into small enough chunks that they'll be able to get consistently soft inside the soup.
Add the ingredients in descending order from largest to smallest (e.g: beginning with potato chunks and meat, slowly working to peas and corn.) Working by this process will ideally give all of your ingredients an opportunity to cook relatively evenly., Stir regularly for optimal consistency.
Taste the broth periodically during the cooking process.
If you think something is missing, adding a dose of salt and pepper is an easy way to liven up a soup. , Distribute your soup into bowls with a ladle.
Making a homemade soup can be a lengthy ordeal when you take overnight stock simmering into consideration, but with a little luck and effort, you'll find homemade soup can be one of the most satisfying dishes available. , Clear soups are one of the most freezer-friendly dishes around! Put whatever you won't be eating in the next 1-2 days in the freezer, and the soup will stay fresh for a long time.
About the Author
Frances Ross
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in cooking and beyond.
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