Beef and Bean Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What thickens bean soup? ›

The most obvious being a slurry — or a combination of the broth and flour (or starch). Other options for thickening a soup include blending some of the cooked soup vegetables and adding them back in; throwing in some bread; or adding in a beurre manié — aka the “reverse roux” — made from flour mixed with butter.

Garlic, sage, onion, carrot, celery, thyme, a bay leaf, and a bitter green like kale, escarole or broccoli rabe would make up the soup. A rich and flavorful chicken broth is also a must have and I would finish each bowl with a grind of black pepper, a drizzle of good olive oil and parmesan cheese.

If you are adding meat to a soup, sear or brown it in a sauté pan before you add it to the soup. This adds a deeper savory flavor to the whole soup.

Go Bold. A punch of flavor at the end of cooking can make your soup a standout. Mix herbs like parsley, thyme, and oregano, or spices such as cumin, coriander, and cardamom, into some olive oil, and let it infuse for at least an hour or two. Pour it over soup just before serving.

About this method: One of the most common ways to thicken sauces and soups is with a starch-based slurry, and cornstarch is a popular choice. Cornstarch is flavorless, easy to mix up, and versatile, which makes it a go-to pantry ingredient.

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute.

To season it, we recommend starting with our Vegetable Soup Mix. It contains celery salt, parsley flakes, garlic powder, sea salt, summer savory, marjoram, thyme, black pepper, turmeric and sage, which are all excellent with root vegetables, so you can incorporate things like carrots or potatoes into the soup.

Making a delicious soup depends on building flavors as you go along. Aromatics, which include garlic, onion, leeks, carrots and celery, are the basic flavor-building blocks of most soup recipes. Sautéing these vegetables in oil or butter is the first step to boosting your soup's flavor.

The best cut of meat for beef soup is either a chuck roast, chuck shoulder, chuck-eye roast or top chuck – with chuck roast being my personal favorite. These are the most tender cuts.

How do you fix bland beef soup? ›

The best way to ensure a flavorful soup is to brown the beef and onions in the beginning. If the soup tastes bland at the end of cooking, add more spices and herbs. After adding, allow the soup to cook a little longer so the flavors to meld together.

Seasoning the chicken before cooking is a great way to add flavor to your soup. You can marinate it with your preferred spices, herbs, and sauces, or simply season it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder for a more basic taste.

Not only that, but any liquid that remains in slow-cooked dishes is likely to be soaked up by any starchy ingredients, creating more nuanced, developed flavors.

Ok, this may be a little obvious, but just adding water is going to make your soup go a little further. If you stick to a 50/50 ratio between water and whatever flavoured liquid you're using in your soup (be it tomatoes, a stock type, or a cream), you're unlikely to dilute it to the point of making it unpalatable.

You can add a pinch of flour to thicken the sauce. Depending on what you're doing, I'd probably go with the flour option and a bit of water to ensure that it mixes in well, and then cook them until the extra water boils out. Drain the cooked beans retaining the liquid.

Use starches to thicken beans

Simply add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water or to the liquid from the baked beans (scoop it out into a separate bowl and let it cool first) and mix. Once the starch is thoroughly incorporated, pour the slurry into the baked beans dish and stir.

Rice, lentils, and beans release a lot of starch and naturally thicken soups simply from simmering, but you can also mash half the cooked rice/lentils/beans before adding to the soup for a simple way to thicken your dish. Alternatively, blend half or all of the soup for a smoother texture.