Why Soups Taste Better at Restaurants, According to a Chef

I don’t believe in “soup season.”

There is no time of year, hot or not, that can deny the ecstasy that a good, soul-healing bowl of soup delivers. But I’m a simple man—easy to please. A purplish-brown cup of French onion with jammy alliums, a sodden raft of crusty bread and gooey Gruyère on an oppressively overcast day? Twist my arm. A giant bowl of clean and anise-y chicken pho with some aromatic Vietnamese coriander, bird’s-eye chile rounds and a juicy wedge of lime? In the middle of July? Give it to me, dammit.

These days, since I left the restaurant industry, I make most of the soup I eat at home. Cooking—and making soup, in particular—has long been a love language for me. The first time my partner got very sick, I made her chicken soup in between changing out her icy washcloth bandanna. I religiously keep a stockpile of bones of various animals in my freezer to save for stock day: the day where, to the dichotomous joy and dismay of my partner, I fill up our tiny Manhattan apartment with a bounty of aromas and fill our much tinier fridge with containers full of gallons of freshly made bone broth, just begging to become soup.

But it wasn’t always this way, and neither was I. Before I became a line cook, my soup sucked. It was watery, flavorless, sadly speckled with flecks of mushy carrot or tough chicken breast. In the early days of my first real cooking gig, I made many large pots full of the worst coconut lamb curry you’d have ever tasted, until I learned from the much better cooks around me where my game was off. It’s not as easy as following the recipe—whether from the restaurant binder or the internet. If you don’t know the techniques, your homemade soup will never stack up to the silky, savory, slurp-worthy stuff of the big leagues.

But hey, I got sucked under the weeds and kicked off my station so you don’t have to. You don’t need to brave the fire of the hot line to make restaurant-grade soup—you just need to learn the tricks of the trade.

Start with Homemade Stock

First and foremost, good stock is the backbone of all good cooking, but that’s especially true for soup. Why? And why won’t good, old-fashioned water do just fine?

Think about the difference between water and stock. Water is—well, just water. Stock—when done right—is water that’s been infused with aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices, plus loads of collagen and umami from animal bones, if you choose to use them.

Now, think about building a good, strong house. Will your house weather more storms built on a pile of loose sand or on concrete, which is sand mixed with cement, stone and water? In this analogy, water is to sand as stock is to concrete. Taking the time to make your own hearty stock will lay the foundation of flavor for your soup to stand tall upon.

Layer the Flavors

Ever wonder how a good restaurant manages to get so many flavors packed into such a seemingly simple liquid in such a tiny bowl? That’s what we call “depth of flavor” in the restaurant world.

There’s no shortcut to creating a flavor depth. It happens over time, gradually, like a snowball becoming an avalanche. Think of depth of flavor like an orchestra: just as you need a range of pitches from high to low to create sonic harmony, you need high and low notes in your cooking, too. 

Each step in making soup is an opportunity to add flavor. Sweating aromatics—like garlic, shallots and ginger—and caramelizing harissa paste will create the base flavors of a good curry. Building on that, a rich chicken or mushroom stock, combined with fish sauce, adds the deep, low pitch of umami. Coconut milk, cilantro, chiles and lime balance that rich depth with bright, herbaceous and acidic notes.

If you can find a balance between the five elemental flavors—sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory—you can make a good soup.

Invest in a Vitamix

Think about the best bisque, chowder or tomato soup you’ve ever had. Was it smooth or pithy? Smooth, of course. Silky, even. But how?

It’s not magic, it’s a blender. There’s no half-steppin’ when it comes to restaurant-grade kitchen equipment, and there’s only one blender to rule them all: Vitamix. Time and time again, competitors of the Vitamix brand arise and are thwarted just as quickly as they came. Nothing holds up to the Vitamix’s ability to transform the chunkiest, toughest, most fibrous ingredients into a silken puree.

I’ve never worked in a restaurant that doesn’t have a Vitamix. I’ve staged or interviewed in one or two that lacked one, and I didn’t go back. Without one, you’ll never get your soup silky-smooth. If you can, definitely get your hands on a pitcher Vitamix blender. They’re not cheap, but trust me: it’s worth it. If you need to puree large pots of soup, it might be worthwhile to also invest in an immersion blender, so you can blend the hot liquid directly in the pot. 

Contrast Your Textures

What’s a life without ups and downs? What’s lemonade without lemons and sugar? What’s soup without a little smooth and a little rough?

The texture of a dish changes the way you perceive it. Generally speaking, it’s more satisfying to eat a dish that has a range of textures than a homogeneous one. Soup is no different, and any good restaurant is no stranger to this. After all, why do you think a piece of griddled bread floats atop any good bowl of French onion soup?

You, too, can do this at home. Try adding toasted breadcrumbs and some fresh basil to a bowl of tomato soup. Sprinkle some air-fried shallots and garlic atop a spicy-sweet panang curry. Throw some roasted pepitas over your silky-smooth pumpkin soup this fall. 

Get creative with it, and don’t be shy. The crunch is worth the bite.

Bottom Line

You don’t need to be a professional chef to make restaurant-quality soups at home; you just need to employ some time-honored restaurant techniques. The next time you find yourself wanting a bowl of soup that evokes a restaurant experience, be sure to start with homemade stock, add various flavorful ingredients and don’t overlook texture. For the smoothest soup, use a Vitamix. For contrast, add toppings with different textures. With these tips, you’ll be making soup like a pro in no time.