How to nail the perfect autumn soup
Hearty, comforting and often packed with nutritious veg, soup is a cold-weather staple. Here's how to nail the perfect soup, along with some inspiration for mixing up your ingredients.
Seema's curried pumpkin soup with a spiced tarka makes the most of autumn squash.
There’s nothing I don’t love about soup. It’s one of my death row meals. I could drink litres of chicken broth in one sitting.
In my mission to cook my way around the world’s cuisines it seems that every nationality has an incredible soup. There’s bouillabaisse, spicy laksa, mulligatawny, borscht, gazpacho, hot and sour Asian broths … The range of styles, flavours and textures is almost endless.
Soups like my curried pumpkin number are amazingly easy to make, cheap and filling – but to make a good one, there are a few basics it helps to understand.
Stock
So many soups are made with stock. Using the best stock you're able to get your hands on – whether it’s veg, meat or fish – can make all the difference to the result. And that applies to stock cubes too; some are definitely better than others and if your main ingredients are delicate and mild in taste, then dodgy stock cubes could make a dodgy soup.
If you have a carcass left over from a roast chicken – brilliant. You can whip up a simple stock and you’ve got the foundation of a delicious chicken soup. If you feel the need to make quick vegetable stock as the base for a soup, just put an onion, two celery sticks, a carrot (all chopped or grated) a bay leaf, some peppercorns and salt in 500ml of water, simmer for 10 minutes and strain. Leeks, mushroom stalks, parsley stalks, fennel – they’re all good too.
Sometimes a clear stock will be the very foundation of the soup – I’m thinking of clear Asian broths where aromatics are added in, like chilli, ginger, star anise and coriander, and the flavours are layered on top of one another. There are some really great ready-made stocks on the market now but it’s good to know how to make a great one.
Slow-cooker French onion soup
One good stock turns 4 ingredients into amazing French onion soup in the slow-cooker.
Vegetable soups
Vegetable soups are brilliant for using up bits and pieces that might be past their best in the bottom of the fridge. They’re filling and a great way to hide veggies for fussy children or to encourage them to try different tastes. And if you do want to add a little meat, just a little bit of bacon can be transformational.
When it comes to vegetable soups, onion is so often the flavour base and generally you need to start with the gentlest heat and fry (soften) it with a little salt in butter or oil so that it turns sweet and translucent.
Vegetables bring in not just the flavour but often the colour as well. You can even combine them according to colour, grouping spinach, pea and broccoli together, or carrot, sweet potato and squash. Putting the same colours together normally gives a vibrant result, while blending red-orange and green vegetables can end in an off-putting brown, so mix your colours carefully.
You can cook vegetables, especially roots, before adding them to the soup. Roasting pumpkin, sweet potato, parsnips, beetroot and even tomatoes, gives the soup a sweeter and more concentrated flavour, with caramelised bits adding another flavour layer. Leftover roast vegetables make a brilliant soup very quickly.
Thickeners
Potatoes are classic for thickening and adding body to a soup. They need a little longer cooking than some vegetables, so you may want to simmer them with the onion before adding peas, spinach or other greens that you want to stay bright.
Don’t forget about pulses for thickening. Carrots and red lentils are so delicious together. Pappa al pomodoro is an amazing Italian bread and tomato soup where the bread does the thickening. Mulligatawny is thickened with rice, and minestrone (depending on which Italian you talk to) is thickened with beans, potatoes, pasta or rice.
Soup is brilliant when it comes to the no-waste lifestyle. Leftover rice and pasta is the perfect addition, either used to thicken or chucked in at the end. Leftover cauliflower cheese, dauphinoise potatoes and baked potatoes will all help thicken up a loose soup, while pasta sauces, curries and roast dinner leftovers – all make great bases.
Whether you blend your soup or leave it chunky is up to you. You can even blend some of the soup in and then add it back to the veg pot for a thicker, chowder-style soup with extra texture. If you are blending your soup for a smooth finish, don’t be afraid to really go for it, or even sieve it if you want a silky texture.
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Flavour combinations
It’s really useful to think about classic flavour combinations and herbs and spices that might work with your basic ingredients. Try and build up your spice rack. The little jars aren’t expensive but can raise a soup from ordinary to sublime. Carrot loves coriander, sweet potato and squash enjoy cumin or ginger, pea and mint is a classic, as is chicken and tarragon. Spinach goes a treat with nutmeg.
Carrots, potatoes, spinach and parsnips all work really well with curry spices. Prawns or fish work well with Asian flavours or sweetcorn in a chowder.
When thinking about flavour, it sometimes helps to think about where in the world your soup comes from. Pea and ham soup is a traditional British classic and probably not the perfect partner with coconut milk. But it could definitely handle a splash of cream at the end. On the other hand, if you’re starting with a more Asian flavour base – onion, garlic and ginger or curry – then that’s definitely the time to bring in coconut milk.
A little note on seasoning: if you’re using a stock that’s already seasoned (or a stock cube), beware of over seasoning your soup. It's much better to taste and add more salt at the end.
Jazzing them up
You can jazz up soups with sizzling tarkas. A tarka is basically whole spices (for instance cumin, fennel or mustard seeds), with chillies or garlic or onions fried in oil or ghee until they pop and release their flavour, then poured over a soup. Or you could try crisp croûtons – make them in minutes in a frying pan or air fryer. French onion soup wouldn’t be the same with a giant croûton and lashings of gruyère. Or swirl in some cream or flavoured olive oil – this is next level souping and makes all the difference.
Here is a list of easy vegetable soup flavours and garnishes to start with, but there are literally thousands of others. Have fun experimenting!
| Vegetable | Pair with | Style it out |
|---|---|---|
| Beetroot | Carrots, tomatoes, garlic, celery, cumin, caraway seed, or orange zest | Crumbled feta or horseradish cream |
| Broccoli | Leeks, potatoes, strong cheese like cheddar or stilton | Swirl of cream, crumbled cheese |
| Carrots | Red lentils, tomatoes, other root veg, fresh coriander, garam masala, ginger | Yoghurt and chilli-garlic tarka |
| Cauliflower | Potatoes, leeks, celery, curry powder and coconut, or mustard, cream and cheddar | Crisp fried cauli or chilli flakes |
| Leeks | Potatoes, fennel, dill, lovage, parsley | Crisp fried bacon or pancetta cubes, or parmesan crisps |
| Parsnips | Apples or carrots, curry powder, chilli flakes or rosemary | Spicy fried ‘nduja or gruyère croûtons |
| Peas | Potatoes, spinach, leeks, mint, tarragon, chives or lovage | Mint sauce and yoghurt or torn cooked ham hock |
| Spinach and greens | Potatoes, garlic, leeks, cream or chunky with white beans | Fried chorizo crumb and/or a swirl of tahini |
| Squash | Tomatoes, roasted garlic, cumin, ginger, coriander | Harissa blended with yoghurt, or chilli and garlic tarka |
| Sweetcorn | Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, smoked paprika and cumin | Chipotle paste and soured cream with chopped coriander |
| Tomatoes | Garlic, red peppers/chillies, thyme, basil or chives | Swirl of pesto and chilli oil |
