To Make Any Type of Soup Without a Recipe, Follow This 5-Step Formula
You’ll surpass Seinfeld’s famous “Soup Nazi” without even trying.
Who doesn’t love a good borscht now and then?
This winter weather isn’t going anywhere, so soups and stews are here to stay! I was thinking this week about how I haven’t looked up a soup recipe in years. Sure, I’ll go to a cookbook on occasion for some inspiration, but I mostly freewheel it (and with good reason). Why, you ask? Let me tell you.
You’ve heard the following old adage:
"Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime."
Well, that same sentiment applies to Intuitive Cooking. I could give you a soup recipe, but you’d always be coming back for more. I’d rather show you how I go about composing a soup so that you can use your own imagination. You’ll be surprised with what you can come up with this way, likely using what you already have in your home.
Here are the steps that I take to make a delicious vegetable soup from start to finish.
Step 1: Brothy or Silky?
Ever read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
See Habit #2: “Begin with the end in mind.”
It makes sense to think about what kind of soup you will want before you get started. If you don’t have some sort of food processor, blender, or immersion blender, then you are making a brothy soup! You will need to pay more attention to how your vegetable cuts look, because how you cut them now will be how you eat them later.
Want a silky soup? You don’t need to add cream or dairy for your end result to be creamy, but you do need to sweat your vegetables until they are super soft. The cuts of your vegetables only matter for the speed of cooking.
Step 2: Sweat It Out
Start with your aromatic base vegetables: an onion, a stick of celery, 2 cloves of garlic, a carrot, and some mushrooms if you are adding them. A base of ginger, garlic, and diced potatoes is also lovely. Try not to go out and buy any ingredients: if you have half of these things in your refrigerator, then you’re good to go. Cut them relatively small and sweat them over a medium low heat with your fat of choice. You aren’t trying to pick up any color from them— rather, you are getting them to soften and release their scents. Season well at this step with salt and pepper. The pepper will toast in the fat better, and lead to a better foundation of flavors. I usually don’t add more salt until the soup is finished after this point, because your liquid may reduce a bit and make your soup more salty than planned.
Step 3: Stock and “Stuff”
Vegetables nice and soft? Good. Add about a quart of stock to your base and your main vegetable or vegetables.
What makes sense as your main vegetable? Here are some good options to get you started, but don’t stop there:
1 pound raw or steamed beets, peeled
A 28-oz can of whole tomatoes
A head of cauliflower
Some corn
Roasted red peppers
Squash
Sweet Potato
“Stuff,” however, can also apply to some extra-credit ingredients. Have a Parmesan rind lying around your fridge? That’s fair game. Any woody herbs, like thyme or rosemary? Toss them in. Want some coconut milk? Sounds great! Any spices you want to mingle with your vegetables? It’s now or never (well, that might not be true, but certainly “now” is better). Make sure that you fish any of these bigger items out once your soup is done simmering.
Step 4: Know Thy Cook Times
A root vegetable is going to take much longer to cook than, say, a green vegetable that will wilt. Be careful when you add certain ingredients to preserve elements of freshness. Your spinach doesn’t have to go in until the last minute!
The same principle goes for any noodles or grains you add to your soup. If expect for your bowties to have any sort of texture after 30 minutes of simmering in your soup, you are going to feel like a fool. Time your additions accordingly, or, if you’re super neurotic like me, cook your grains on the side and add them to finish into your soup as you serve.
Step 5: Finish with Flair
At this point, you’re pretty close to the finish line. It’s important to finish with grace— these last few moments can up your soup game tremendously.
Some great finishers to improve the actual flavor of the soup include a touch of vinegar, cream, hot sauces, citrus, fish sauce, or a spice, but you don’t have to stop there. Toppings can include any of the following:
Sour cream
Fresh herbs
Crunchy tortilla chips
Popcorn
Avocado
Yogurt
Cheese
Scallions
Soft-boiled egg
And there you have it! You already have the skillsets to make your own delicious soups— you just have to put them to good use.
Here are some unexpected soup flavor combinations that you may not have tried already:
Tomatillo Soup with Ginger
Borscht (Beet Soup) with Balsamic Vinegar
Sweet Potato Curry Soup with Coconut Milk
Cauliflower-Scamorza (Smoked Mozzarella) Soup
Pureed White Bean Soup with Dehydrated Lime
Sunchoke Soup with Calabrian Chiles
Any other soup ideas? Comment below and help other get their soup juices flowing!
