The Kitchen Appliance That's Your Secret For Thicker Soups

The changing seasons, shorter days, and cooler temperatures are the perfect backdrop for a cozy evening meal from the comfort of your kitchen. All that's missing is a soothing bowl of soup accompanied by a slice of oven-warmed bread with a generous smear of salty, melty, butter. When you're craving a deliciously creamy, easy-to-make soup, there's a well-known kitchen appliance ready to help — and it likely lives on your kitchen counter or in a nearby cabinet. The key to thick, velvety soup is your blender. 

Unlike recipes that call for heavy cream or half and half as a thickening agent, blending soup ingredients naturally adds a hearty, silky consistency by breaking down fiber-rich, starch-heavy vegetables into smaller, smoother spoonfuls. It's a great technique to incorporate if you're dairy-free or making a soup to share with a crowd. Plus, you don't need tons of fancy equipment to create a savory, satisfying soup.

Both standard and immersion blenders can be used to upgrade the texture and taste of your soup. 

Standard blenders allow home cooks to puree several quarts at once, which is perfect for making smaller quantities of soup. Thanks to a tight lid, soup is safely contained inside the blender's walls, without fear of escape. That said, it is best to let the soup cool slightly before transferring it to the blender, in order to minimize unwanted splashing of hot liquids. It's also possible that ingredients may get stuck near the blade, which can mean stopping, scraping the sides of the blender with a spatula, and then re-attempting to blend the soup. However, most standard blenders offer several settings, so it's easy to switch speeds up as needed. 

If you're making soup in a Dutch oven or stockpot, an immersion blender is a quicker way to puree, as you can stick it right into the pot, rather than needing to transfer everything to another vessel. This blending style allows the blade to move freely around the pot and gives home chefs the choice of how smooth or chunky to make their soup. Immersion blenders are also easier to clean and smaller, but may require practice to avoid spraying soup everywhere (pro tip: don't start the blender until it's completely submerged). Regardless of your blender choice, both produce the same outcome: beautifully blended homemade soup. 

Soups that blend well often call for tons of fresh (or frozen) vegetables. Think roasted tomato soup, loaded baked potato and leek soup, creamy cauliflower soup, or pumpkin and spice soup. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, asparagus, and beets are also wonderful to use as a base for blended soups, not only for their textures and flavors, but also the vibrant colors that they bring. The vegetables are typically tossed in oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, then roasted, steamed, or sauteed to draw out extra flavor before being blended.

Many recipes accompany these spotlight-stealing veggies with warm, aromatic spices and plenty of broth or stock. Milk, cream, or non-dairy alternatives like coconut milk may also make an appearance. Fresh herbs can be added to amplify flavor, and are a great finishing touch.

Remember, the key to a luscious, thick soup is letting the blender shine by breaking down your vegetables and broth.