The Best Soup Hacks For When You Just Wanna Be Lazy

On days when you need a pure shot of comfort, nothing beats a bowl of slow-simmered, lovingly prepared soup. It’s a hug in culinary form. But – and here’s the downside – it can also take ages to prepare. Making a knockout soup often takes a lot of time, a lot of preparation, and a lot of ingredients, and honestly? Sometimes, it’s all too much work. 

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So, if you’re looking for ways to make your soup recipes way better in no time at all, or to turn a good canned soup into something great, then we’re here to deliver the goods. And by goods, we mean, of course, hacks. 

Use The Best Store-Bought Broth You Can Find

While you can build layers of flavor in soup by simmering it over several hours, sometimes you just don’t have the time (or patience) to do so. To cut out a significant chunk of cooking time, an excellent store-bought broth is the way forward. This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed at the difference between a good broth and a fantastic one – and opting for a genuinely flavorful option will make your soup taste restaurant-ready. 

Alternatively, for a speedy soup when you have no store-bought broth to hand, try making a big batch of broth ahead of time and then freezing it into cubes. Then, you have little flavor bombs that you can pop in at a moment’s notice, instantly amplifying your soup’s quality. 

Add An Easy Flavor Booster

Sometimes, you just need to make a soup taste way better near-instantly, without requiring endless cooking time. For these moments, rope in flavor boosters that deliver premium taste quickly. We’re talking here about ingredients that have several different flavor dynamics, like dill pickle juice or miso paste: The former can deliver acidity, salinity, and a herbal note, while the latter gives soup an umami punch and a big hit of salt. 

Dropping a parmesan rind into your soup can also give it way more flavor, imbuing it with savoriness, saltiness, and funk. Bear in mind that you’ll need to simmer it for a while to unlock its full potential, though. 

Create Texture With Toppings

One thing that soups (especially store-bought and canned soups) can often lack is texture. Instead, they descend into one mass of gloop and mush. It can be pretty depressing. 

So, grab some toppings that deliver both texture and flavor, and elevate your soup instantly. Sure, croutons are a good move – but try fried onions, chili crisp, or roasted chickpeas, too. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your soup develops an extra sense of vigor. 

A Quick Sear Makes All The Difference

We’re often told that soup gets its flavor from its lengthy simmering process, but devoting a few minutes at the start of the cooking process to searing your ingredients will save you a lot of time. When you begin your soup, crank the heat up to high, and sear your proteins and/or veggies before adding your broth. Don’t go low and slow, or aim for a gentle browning. Just get that heat up. 

You need to be careful not to burn your ingredients here, of course, but if you sear them correctly, you’ll create speedy caramelized notes in your soup, and you won’t have to cook it for nearly as long. This is especially useful in chicken noodle soup: Use skin-on chicken pieces and crisp up their exterior.