Good cook but just can't make good soup. Time to give up trying? .

[Fliproo]

I am a reasonably good cook. Can make a variety of meals from scratch all of which my kids lap up. However, I have tried and tried for many years (!) To make a good homemade soup, and just can't do it. Always turns out bland or awful. When the kids know I'm making soup, they hide. I'm not talking anything super funky. I don't like "posh" soup- no cream of couscous with broccoli here. That's not good "common" soup that I'm looking for. Something like my good Scottish maw or a granny would make. I'm talking lentil, chicken broth, scotch broth, leek & potato etc etc. Super easy stuff. Never blended, never with cream.

I've tried making stock from scratch with a gammon, ham hock, lamb, boiling beef. I'll try stock cubes. I've tried stock pots. Nothing makes a difference. I've tried cooking the veg in the pot with oil before I add any stock. Always bland or awful. I never put anything too funky in. Mostly lentils, broth mix, leek, celery, potato, Carrott and onion. Obviously not all at the same time, but typically thats what I choose from. Other than salt n Pepper, Occasional seasoning like cumin, thyme, chilli plus some random others I can remember.

When I go into restaurants and cafes, I always buy soup and if I like it I'll even try and reverse engineer it, without success. 😂. I tried Jamie Oliver's "store cupboard" lentil bacon yesterday, it was just about edible. I wasn't too fussed, i don't like him anyway. 😅 I followed that recipe to the letter. I also saw a thread on here the other day about someone being in a hotel and they had the best lentil soup ever, so they got the recipe off the chef and it appeared the secret item was lots of butter. So I tried that one tonight. And it was just a buttery mess. (see photo) it was just about edible but so buttery. And I only used half of what they recommended. I've trawled though YouTube, Google and even tiktok trying to find something that works for me. But I must be doing something fundamentally wrong.

So. Do I give up and admit defeat? I spend a fortune on ingredients constantly in search for something "wow" but it never happens. Maybe time to stop torturing myself. Trouble is, I hate tinned soup or those fresh soups you get in tubs from supermarkets now.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-lentil-butternut-squash-soup

This is nice. It’s not a broth with barley though. I’ve failed with those too and end up having to eat it all myself.

You might be adding too much water and then boiling things to death. When I make soups, I usually steam or cook the vegetables separately and then add smaller amounts of stronger stock to them, so they taste fresh. Blending some cooked potato into the stock really improves the texture of most soups - adding the fresh tasting veg/grains afterwards gives them less of a 'stuff boiled in dishwater' quality. I'd suggest half blend, half unblended as something to try.

If you're using meat, brown it off first, as that adds so much flavour. And onions taste much better if they are cooked really gently until they at least start turning caramel colour rather than pasty white or a little bit translucent - it's a good time to add any hard herbs or spices; soft green herbs don't go in until you're almost ready to serve - turn the heat off, add them, put the lid back on.

The other thing is balancing flavours. For Leek and Potato, I cook the leeks until they are glowing bright green, not sad sludge, and then a touch of lemon juice enhances it without it tasting of Cif. For beetroot soup, a spoonful of pickled beetroot vinegar lightens and sweetens the taste (and I often add horseradish, mustard and/or caraway as well). For something tomato or lentil based, melting a little bit of tamarind paste adds good flavour (sweet, sour and savoury). And again, blending half the lentils and half not improves the texture. Or use yellow split peas and a bayleaf instead with ham stock.

A handful of oats can also improve the texture, as can adding cornflour slaked in water and then cooked off towards the end. Or potato (Bisto is pretty much just dried potato and meat flavour, so also works).

As far as I'm concerned, the place for butter is on the bread, not in a soup. Or make dumplings instead - adding some mustard powder and Thyme, rather than leaving them as just flour and suet.

And keep tasting. Taste the stock and think what's missing or would improve it. Is it a bit bland? Could be a little sweetness, a little sour, bit of bisto, oats, or boiling it for a couple of minutes to reduce it about an inch if you've added too much water.

Not sure why you've stipulated no blending, no cream (despite using loads of butter), not 'fancy' and you don't seem to like Jamie Oliver. The best easy and delicious soup recipes I know are all of the above. Here are some excellent ones if you're willing to try something other than lentils and ham (maybe that's where you're going wrong?)
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/my-favourite-ribollita-la-mia-ribollita-preferita/
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beetrootsoupwithfeta_13774
www.cookingwithcamilla.com/vegan-creamy-broccoli-almond-soup/ (you don't need to soak the almonds in advance, you can just stick them in with the cooking water. Also you can add sour cream or creme fraiche at the end)

I think a lot of the flavour is from having enough salt.

If my soup is too bland I add some Bouillon: www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/255956181?preservedReferrer=www.google.co.uk/

Otherwise you need a good flavoured stock or add in flavour like cream etc... otherwise I guess it's just veg flavoured water 😂

I use a Morphy Richards soup maker and it comes out different every time - sometimes delicious, sometimes just ok.

Another thing to try is to sprinkle grated cheese on the top before serving. It's the only way my daughter will be persuading to eat any kind of soup 😂

Is there a difference between a soup maker and a pressure cooker? I have PKP I occasionally try soup in.

I make soup at least once a week and adult DS who recently moved out does the same. It's always delicious though it doesn't always look pretty.
No recipe, no special ingrediants, often just what I call fridge soup.
I keep leftover veg and when I'm prepping veg I save the stalky bits of things like brocolli or cabbage.
For a big panful.
Always an onion and a couple of potatoes. Then a pile of whatever you have. This week it was leeks and some courgette.
I add marigold bouillon,pepper and a good spoonful of chilli flakes. Not keen on salt but sometimes add a bit.
You can gently fry the onion first if you want.
Then just cover with boiling water and simmer until veg is soft.
Whizz with hand blender.

Knorr stock pots are the worst, no flavour, just awful awful awful

It all stands or falls with good stock cubes or stock powder. I think Marigold is good.

A bit of MSG also helps but is often frowned upon in Western cuisine (Asian shop stock powder is often very good, but contains MSG)

I make loads of soups , love them

Sorry I just saw the "never blended".
I'd say that's where it goes wrong. If it's not blended it's just veg in stock.

It’s probably salt
If you look at bought soup it has loads of salt in, far too much really.
Try blending a bit at least to give more body

you need to use decent stock and be generous with it. The marigold one is probably the best and you need a decent amount of seasoning. It’s hard to make bad soup when you use enough of a decent stock

Try cream of leek, potato and onion soup by Delia Smith - I had never made my own soup prior to trying this recipe and it is SO good. I had DH’s family round for dinner and they were raving about it. If I can make it, anyone can 🤣

Just to second the above tips re Marigold bouillon and always blending. I love my soup maker and sometimes just throw in whatever meat/veg/beans leftovers are sitting in the fridge , and we haven’t had a bad soup yet. Some turn out to be excellent, but seeing as I never follow a recipe it’s hard to replicate them. 😊

Do you have a slow cooker?

Try this -

carrots, onion, peppers, swede - basically one of those 'stew packs'.

Boiling water.
Veg stock cube.
1 pinch of smoked paprika.

salt and pepper to taste.

Peel and chop the veg, put in the slow cooker, set to 'high' and leave for 2 hours.

Check the seasoning, I usually add more salt at this stage, but I like salt.

Use a blender or stick blender (smoother soup with the blender, less washing up with the stick blender).

Taste again and leave for another couple of hours to develop the flavour.

A soup maker is just a glorified kettle. Mine has a blender in the lid. You chuck in veg, seasoning and water and 21 mins later you have perfect soup. I use mine a lot. There's no pressure involved though - I think that's for speeding up cooking times, isn't it?

I'm the same about soup, so gave up on the soup I was raised with.

Miso, ssamjang and gochujang (sp?), rice noodles, barely cooked veg if cooked at all. Lots of sesame oil, chilli, coriander and mint. Never fails.

If it is bland, you need more salt. Add half a teaspoon at a time and see what a difference it makes to the flavour, then if needed keep adding until it tastes delicious.

I think soup should be blended (or at least partly blended if you want to keep some chunks) and there’s nothing wrong with adding cream where called for (eg a bit of cream in leek & potato is lovely).

I make two soups, one the simplest thing in the world so not DELICIOUS but certainly nice enough for a cheap lunch.
frozen casserole vegetables, chicken stock, S&P and a sprinkle of thyme in pan. Bool
for 15/20 mins, blend and add cumin and curry powder to taste.

and my favourite ‘witches brew’ as my kids call it.

boil a smoked gammon joint until cooked through with a few peppercorns in the water. Strain the stock and reserve
add an onion to the same pan, brown a little and then add the stock back in along with a few chopped potatoes. Boil until potatoes are soft then tip in a bag of frozen Petit Pois and cook for a few minutes more. Blend then add some shredded gammon and a spoonful or two of mint sauce. Bright green and delicious!

OP - I'm rubbish at soup too! I can just about make an edible leek and potato.
Keep trying (and failing) with the butternut squash that keeps cropping up in the veg box. It's just about ok with added chilli. I'm all for blending and then adding more seasoning. The cheese tip works for me too. Basically the soup is a vehicle for the cheese and chilli. Homemade croutons also help disguise the soup!

You need to gently fry the veg first, until it starts browning (or roast in the oven).
Half the amount of water any recipie states.
Loads of stock. Add salt if homemade stock.

Roasted tomato is about the only one my kids will eat, but i blend it.

Why won’t you consider blended soup?

They’re some of the nicest.

Use your pressure cooker to make your own stock. Game changer.

I put a turkey carcass our a couple of chicken carcasses in with water and veg, 35 minutes, strain it, then use as the base for your soup

One of my kids won't touch blended soup, says it looks like baby food. The other insists on blended lentil, so I have to try and account for them both 😏

Absolutely try blended soups. The ones that are veg floating in stock are generally bland and for when you are ill IMO.

Loads of good ones on bbcgoodfood - look for the 5 star reviews. There’s a leek, butterbean and chorizo one which my family love.

If you are using home made stock rather than stock cube you will need to add LOTS of salt. Home made stock is best made from chicken or pork bones IME (simmered for hours and hours). But I tend to use a Kallo stock cube.

And pretty much every soup is better for the addition of cream, grated cheese or bacon/chorizo bits on top.

One of my kids won't touch blended soup, says it looks like baby food.

Just saw this 1) might it be too thick? 2) try something on top like croutons, grated cheese etc - makes it way more appealing.

I think that the kind of soup JennyForeigner describes is perfect for unblended soups. But needs a good quality broth.
I quite fancy that for lunch now (but just have sad butternut squash waiting in the fridge for me)