Simple Secrets to Making the Most of Delicious Homemade Soups

When it’s cold outside, nothing’s quite as comforting as a big bowl of warm, delicious soup. Homemade soups are easy one-pot meals with endless ingredient and flavor combination options. Make the most of your flavorful, fulfilling soups with these simple tips.

Stretch Your Soups
Help soups go further throughout the week and boost their nutrition with these hearty, healthy ingredients.

• Legumes add fiber and plant-based protein. Try black beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, lentils and split peas. You can also purée a bean soup for a velvety texture.

• For a burst of color and nutrients, toss in a handful of fresh baby spinach or arugula towards the end of cooking. Try spiralized veggie noodles too!

• Add fiber and texture with grains like rice, quinoa, farro, barley and couscous.

• Give soups extra crunch by topping with nuts like almonds, walnuts or pistachios. For a creamier garnish, add avocado slices, a soft-cooked egg or Greek yogurt.

Freeze For Later
Make large batches of soup and freeze leftovers, so on busy weeknights they’ll be ready to heat and eat. Use these tips and tricks when freezing soups to preserve their freshly cooked flavor for months.

• Cool it down: Storing hot soup in the freezer causes uneven freezing and ice crystals. Let the soup cool to room temperature before storing.

• Use freezer-friendly containers: Store soup in containers designed for freezer storage. If using zip-top freezer bags, freeze them flat.

• Portion it out: Soups cool, freeze and reheat better in small amounts, so freeze soup in one or two-person portions to help it freeze more evenly and make it more convenient to reheat. But no matter how you portion it, always leave room for expansion.

• Hold the dairy and starches: Cream, cheese, pasta and grains don’t freeze well. Avoid freezing soups with dairy and starches, or add these ingredients after reheating.

• Label it: You can store most soups in the freezer for two to three months. Label soups with the date, recipe name and reheating instructions as reminders.