Ina Garten's Secret Ingredient for Soup That's Never Ever Bland
Pot of soup
Say hello to soup season. Depending on where you live, you may be in month four of bundling up and still requiring a hot meal when you arrive home. Soup makes the perfect companion after a walk in a winter wonderland (or from your car or train to your home after work).
It's also the quintessential sick-season food, and that least wonderful time of the year is kicking into high gear as people return to work after holiday gatherings. Remember sick days when a parent would make you chicken noodle soup? Just the taste of nostalgia courtesy of a pot of homemade soup may make you feel better more quickly.
Reaching for canned soup is an option (especially when you're under the weather), but a from-scratch recipe lets you flex your home-cook muscles, earn bragging rights and/or try out the new gear like food processors you got for the holidays.
Yet, after a few attempts at a homemade soup, you might ask: "Why is my soup bland?" Despite your best efforts, your creation isn't as flavorful as the stuff that comes in a can or what you order at a restaurant.
Luckily for you (and soup makers everywhere), everyone from Ina Garten to TikTok influencers have a hot soup tip that'll take your recipe to the next level (or, as Garten says, "over the top").
Related: The Secret Ingredient That Makes Dolly Parton's Skillet Cornbread Sing
The Secret Ingredient for Fixing Bland Soup
In Garten's recipe for so-comforting Chicken Pot Pie Soup, she recommends adding a Parmesan rind while the soup simmers. Wait, back up and simmer down—Parmesan, what?
A Parmesan rind is waxy and sometimes tough and you might usually toss it in the trash. But instead of throwing it out, stash those cheesy bits in the freezer and then add them to your soup. If Garten's opinion isn't enough to sway you, here's another from Getty Stewart, the Professional Home Economist.
View the original article to see embedded media.
"Don’t toss your Parmesan rind," Stewart dished to her TikTok followers in a video. "Save them and them to soup. Add them at the same time you’re adding your bay leaves. Instant flavor guaranteed."
View the original article to see embedded media.
And The Barefoot Contessa isn't the only queen who uses Parmesan rind in her soup. Nadia Caterina Munno, aka The Pasta Queen, also swears by the trick to upgrade her minestrone. In a TikTok video, she showed followers how she whips up a to-die-for homemade soup. She starts with onion, carrots, celery and extra virgin olive oil. Then she adds in rosemary, tomatoes and potatoes. Next up: boiling water. Then, she scrapes off the Parmesan rind, adds it to the soup and lets it cook for 45 minutes.
Related: The Cool Kitchen Gadget You Can Buy at Olive Garden
Waiting is likely the most challenging part. When it's done, Munno adds some canned beans and grates Parmesan on it in a full-circle kind of moment.
"Just gorgeous," Munno finishes.
I'll say.
But should you really be chopping up the rind? Some cooks (like Garten and Stewart), add the rind and then fish it out before serving. Munno and acclaimed chef Lidia Bastianich (also a queen) are in the chop-it-up camp. Bastianich shared a blog post about the wonders of Parmesan rind, where she recommends using Parmesan with natural rind, rather than wax or paraffin and scrubbing it well to remove any markings before adding it to your soup pot. Unlike Munno, Bastianch likes to chop up the cheese rind after it simmers in the soup. It will be soft and pliable then, which will make it easier to cut.
