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.

Try my Scottish granny's soup:

Cup of red lentils (rinsed),
Peeled and finely diced potato (2 -3 big potatoes)
Grated carrot (3-4 carrots)
Finely chopped leeks (2 -3)

Cook all the above in a big pot with water- can use a stock cube but my granny didn't. Then add a tin of butter beans and a few handfuls of chopped curly parsley. And lots of salt. Absolutely delicious old fashioned simple soup. Family have tried jazzing it up with sautéed onion and garlic etc but the original is best! Best served with Auld's Plain loaf and butter.

Ps soup is always best the second day!

A good soup needs a strong umami/savoury flavour. In my experience you need to use a stronger stock than standard in order to achieve that. So if the stock cube packet says use 1 cube per cup of water, try using 1.5 cubes per cup of water instead, or even 2 if it is a purely vegetable- based soup.

As PP said you can just add extra salt instead (as the stock cubes are predominantly salt) but it will be more effective with the extra stock cube, as the other stock ingredients add to the umami.

Alternatively, depending on the soup, you can try adding some activated yeast powder, bouillon, miso or even marmite.

lots of garlic, stock and salt help soup. If it's not tasting good then you've not got enough of them! Just add more. Also, herbs are good.

I can’t make soup either

can do all manner of fancy things but soup? Nope. Watching with interest!

A bit of white wine can be good too

My go to soup is simple as:
Fry onion, garlic and chilli (if wanted)
Sometimes I also add a bit of curry powder or any other herb of choice (Paprika, Italian herbs etc)
Add chopped carrots and fry for a while
Add chopped potatoes
Add chopped tomatoes from a can
Add rinsed red lentils
Add water and stock cubes or whatever stock your using
Boil for 25 minutes

Serve with a dash of creme fraishe in the bowl and nice bread,

If I am wanting to learn a new home cooking technique , whether it is a Victoria Sponge or game pie or whatever I revert to Delia Smith .Her recipies are absolutely reproducible and reliable. They often seem a little old fashioned now but her Cookery Course is well worth having on the side.I would look for cock a leekie if you don't want blended( agree that leek and potato is very straightforward) .once you have some confidence then other soups follow;
my tips fwiw are
Veg in season
Home made stock if you have( I usually have stock from a roast chicken in the freezer)
Butter for sweating veg
Season well
I usually have parsley, thyme and bay leaves around so add these
Parmesan rind is great eg in minestrone.
I top up flavour with stock cubes.
Favourites here;
Leek and potato
Minestrone ( my version , bacon, onion, carrots, celery, garlic which I always have, stock and cabbage)
Roasted BNS
Fennel potato and chicken
Cock a leekie
French onion soup ( time consuming but easy)

Sorry; managed to delete a bit
Minestrone also contains( in my house) a tin of toms and beans or broken up spaghetti with perhaps a Parmesan rind and some basil at the end.
The veg vary a lot as per time of year of course.

If it looks like baby food it needs more blending.

I mean, it’s not baby food. It’s soup. Soup is liquid.

Seems bizarre to ask about making good soup and then rule out ways of making it good.

This is what I was going to say! It has half a pint of milk in it and it does need blending but there is nothing 'fancy' about it. I use an ordinary chicken stock cube. Sometimes I add a little tarragon.

Reduce it down to concentrate the flavours.

Use a good base and lots of seasoning and herbs.

If all fails grate cheese over hot soup and serve with chunky bread.

I partially blend soup so that you get the thickness and texture but it still has chunks of veg/beans in.

tasty.co/recipe/healthy-hearty-black-bean-soup

I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it’s AMAZING. However, I basically mince all the veg in a food mixer, then fry it gently in oil for about 10 mins before doing the rest. At the end, I use a stick blender to partially blend it. I’ve also done it with one can of kidney beans and three of black beans for an extra flavour.

Butter instead of oil and saute the onions for AGES, I mean a really good ten minutes.

Lots of seasoning. I use stock gel pots .

Cream works- use it! And blend otherwise it's veg stew.

Roasting veg in the oven first then adding stock and blending works really well especially with something like curried parsnip soup.

Use very little water, you're probably diluting the flavours by using too much.

Same here. Mine just tastes like vegetables floating in stock!

A cup? A teacup or a USA teacup measurement?

I make loads of Scottish Granny type soups! Took me years to get it right. Secret is saute everything in a little butter. Do the onions first or leek, almost caremilise it. Add rest of ingredients, season carefully, add 2 stock cubes once ingredients sauteed. Don't add too much water. It should be thick like porridge until you gentky add liquid as and when. Put your barley or lentils in. Leave on a low heat for 45 mins.

The Ninja soup maker is pricey but a gamechanger!!! Try not to have more than 4 main elements. Go easy on mixing herbs and season heavily!

Are you frying off/sweating the veg before adding the stock? That adds flavour. I'm not sure how you can end up with bland soup - if mine isn't tasty enough I just add another stock cube (not watered down) and salt/pepper until it tastes right.

I reduced the amount of water I use to make stock, now everything I use the stock in tastes better. Bones should be cooked first so there's added flavour from the browning. Just barely cover bones with water, they might be poking out a bit. I also use shallots or leeks instead of onions - both seem more savoury to me than onion, which is sort of watery and sweet - and add fennel for extra flavour (which only works if you like fennel I guess 😀 ). Fresh herbs (especially thyme, bay and rosemary) and a good quantity of butter and/or good olive oil make a massive difference. And add salt.

I found using a soup maker, and swissbouillon pretty foolproof- broccoli and Stilton is my favourite

Try a dash of either :-
sherry
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce.

I like to partially blend some soups, so I get chunks in a thickish liquid.

I make a gorgeous leek & potato soup every week in my soup maker. I hate lumps, so it is smooth blended and liquid, not sludge. I use leek, potato and onion, and add plenty of salt, herbs, and bouillion and then fill the water up to the line on the machine. It tastes fantastic and makes 4 portions.

I'm known as 'the soup queen' (that's what my family says anyway!! 😬)

So if I was making tomato soup, I basically make a purée first and then I 'thin up' as required. This works equally well with other veg combos (carrot and onion etc).

Use a wok and throw in a bit of olive oil and lots of garlic. Sometimes add a splash of white wine if there's any available. Stir fry in roughly chopped tomatoes, spring onions, salt, whatever seasoning and then my preference is to add beef stock pots. I drop in about 3 with the teeniest bit of water. The secret is to taste the juice at this point. It should taste too strong! Stick the lid on, leave on a low heat and cook till veg is soft. I then blend into a puree and add cream/hot water to get it to the right consistency and oh, a few pinches of sugar/sweetner which makes a nice contrast to the savoury of the stock cubes.

I think the key is a) don't try to make soup, make a strong tasting puree and 'thin up' instead and b) be patient and slow cook on a low heat.

This soup is lovely realfood.tesco.com/recipes/hearty-lentil-and-bacon-soup.html

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but wait til it's cooked, try the flavour and if needed a grind of salt and pepper. Another great tip I learned was take a couple of ladles of soup out once it's cooked and blend just that bit. Stir back in and it brings together the whole lot. Soup is lovely.