BEST Dutch Oven Soup Recipes! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in soup? ›

It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.

Dutch ovens are great for stews, sauces, soups, braises or any other moist-heat cooking method. This pot can cook a casserole or a whole chicken. You can brown meat and vegetables on the stove and let them simmer away or transfer your pot to the oven to finish cooking there.

Is a 3-quart Dutch oven too small? If you live alone or only cook for one or two people, a 3-quart Dutch oven should do the trick for most dishes.

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

Foods that have a great deal of acidity, like lemon juice, vinegar, white wine, and tomato puree, can help liven up the flavor of bland-tasting bone and other broths. "The acidity of these ingredients works to complement and enhance the broth's flavors, not mask it.

Add a splash or two of ACV when the soup is done cooking. The vinegar helps lift and highlight flavors.

Its cast-iron walls are better at retaining heat than stainless steel, which helps keep temperatures more stable. It also redistributes that heat efficiently, so the oil can rebound quickly after temperatures drop when food is added.

Lodge's enameled cast-iron Dutch oven outperforms expensive competitors. Large handles and a spatula-friendly shape make it a breeze to move from oven to stovetop, and the finish cleans up easily. Even after years of regular use, its performance has not faltered.

Le Creuset earned a high score in our Lab's heat distribution tests. That means the cookware absorbs and distributes heat well, which equates to even cooking throughout the pot with minimal hot spots. This top level of performance is one of the reasons this pot earned a GH Kitchen Gear Award.

What is the most important ingredient in soup? ›

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

The Foundation: Broths and Stocks

The homemade soup recipes that are most memorable are ones that require a long simmer, with carefully browned bones, vegetables, and seasoning added in.

Garlic and roasted onions add depth. Simmering mushrooms down concentrates flavors for mushroom soup. Simmering most vegetables down also adds more concentrated flavors and reduces the water in them. Herbs, salt and pepper also help.