From hearty leek and potato in the winter to refreshing tomato and basil in the summer, soup is a quintessential British dish due to its simplicity, frugality and comforting nature. However, the difference between a soup you crave daily and one you’d rather avoid is quite subtle.
Too much liquid results in a weak, watery concoction; too little leads to a stodgy texture. I sought advice from four chefs on how they quickly strike this delicate balance, and they all pointed to one simple solution likely already in your pantry. The common thread is starch, used judiciously and sparingly.
Each expert prefers a single ingredient that adds body without overpowering flavour, then employs specific techniques to prevent lumps, sticky textures or loss of subtlety.
The aim is to achieve a velvety, spoon-coating consistency that doesn’t compromise the vegetables and stock. For Sean Dell, Executive Head Chef at Horwood House in Buckinghamshire, the answer is as traditional as it is dependable.
“Whatever soup I’m making, I always add a couple of large peeled chopped potatoes, it is a natural thickener and gives the soup a lovely creamy texture.”
Sean cautions against adding flour directly to the pot as “it can become lumpy,” and he’s also careful about using excessive cornflour: “You can go from a thin soup to a very thick very quickly!”.
John Burton-Race, head chef at The Nook On Five, supports the same principle but with a more precise tool: potato starch.
He advised: “Don’t put flour in to thicken it. This will just lump up. Instead, dilute a teaspoon of potato starch with a little water and stir it directly into your soup.”
He observes that this method works brilliantly for broths and meat-based soups, whilst creamy varieties might simply need additional cream.
French onion soup naturally develops body with increased onion quantities, and traditional dishes like pistou can be enhanced with egg yolk and cream – though John cautions to remove from heat first.
It’s not only hearty potatoes that can rescue watery soup. Lily Keeling, senior recipe developer at Green Chef UK, highlights another starch-rich solution through beans and pulses.
“Adding beans or pulses to a soup acts as a natural thickener; crushing or blending them releases the starches, which thicken soups and sauces for a nice smooth consistency-it’s also added fibre.”
Lily doesn’t avoid using flour as a thickening agent, but always combines flour or cornflour with water to form a slurry before incorporating it into the soup.
Timing proves crucial when attempting to enhance your broth’s consistency.
John suggests the optimal moment is typically during the blending stage, when you can assess whether there’s excessive liquid.
This is why moderation matters when preparing homemade soup. As Lily puts it, “You can always add, but you can’t take away,” so avoid flooding the pot from the start.
If the soup remains thin towards the end, either thicken it or “leave it to simmer and reduce… to deepen and develop the flavours.”
Vegan author, blogger and recipe creator Romina Callwitz suggests a different approach for flavour enhancement, relying on umami rather than dairy: “One ingredient I often add to soup to take it to the next level is a splash of miso paste.
“It instantly deepens the flavour and gives even simple vegetable soups a rich and savoury boost.”
While she’s not opposed to using store-bought stock when in a rush, she believes homemade stock “really makes a difference and adds depth of flavour,” and personally shuns vegan cream and butter as they “mask the natural flavours of the vegetables.”
