How To Make Canned Soup Taste Like Homemade (2024)

FAQs

How to make canned soup taste homemade? ›

Add Aromatics

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.

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. Whatever you choose is going to infuse the entire can of soup you're about to heat.

"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. This helps you get the flavors you're looking for in the right balance.

How do you remove the metallic taste in canned vegetables? Poor off any liquid and rinse off well. Add any type of spice you were planning with fresh water and that should do it.

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.

Add Acid. There's a reason why "acid" made it into the title of Samin Nosrat's popular cookbook-turned-Netflix-series Salt Fat Acid Heat. It's an essential component to perk up the flavors in nearly any savory recipe. Try a squeeze of lemon or lime or a splash of vinegar to brighten a dull-tasting canned soup.

Nearly any type of canned soup – tomato, lentil, chicken, beef, bean – can be made more nutritious by tossing in a couple handfuls of fresh greens as you heat. You can use chopped kale, baby spinach, mixed greens, or whatever you have on hand. Onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery and peppers are all good options, too!

It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.

What not to put in soup? ›

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

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.

One of the most simple ways to improve the flavor of canned food is to add dried herbs and spices. Some canned food, such as beans and vegetables, obviously needs seasoning, and your spice rack is a great place to start.

Add extra pureed vegetables, such as potatoes, squash, and beets, to the broth. Evaporated milk and even low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt are also great substitutes for cream.

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.

Soy sauce, fish sauce, hot sauce, or chili paste can quickly and efficiently flavor store-bought broth — a little bit goes along way with these ingredients.

Turns out, it could hardly be any easier. I pour a box of stock into a saucepan. To that, I add a minced carrot, a minced celery stalk, some peppercorns, a chopped onion, and, if these flavors will work with the dish I'm eventually going to make, some garlic and herbs. And I just let that simmer for a while.