Of all the low sodium recipes, low sodium soup recipes can be some of the most difficult recipes to make. Trying to make them flavorful and yet still taste bland. You feel like all they need is a little salt and everything would taste good. Well, when cooking low sodium, adding salt is not an option. You must learn different cooking techniques and some small tips to increase the flavor. This is especially true when preparing soup recipes.
Here are some tips to help you add flavor to your soup recipes. These few tips will help you take mild-tasting soups and turn them into delicious, flavorful soups.
1. Use good, fresh, tasty ingredients. Many make the mistake of taking old or leftover ingredients, especially vegetables, to make a soup. This approach may be fine with adding salt, as the salt will pick up your flavors, but when cooking without adding salt, you want to use good, fresh ingredients. These should be at their peak flavor, usually not leftovers. The basic soup vegetables to start soups with are onions, carrots, celery, sometimes green and/or red bell peppers, and garlic. You can of course add other vegetables depending on your soup recipe.
2. Soups need bones. Unless you are a vegetarian (this is not an option), but for the rest of you this is important. You need a flavorful broth or broth. Soup bones are the key to making a flavorful broth. You will or should cook more at home on a low-sodium diet, so you’ll probably add bones to your freezer for this purpose. If not, you can buy any meat with bones or parts of meat that have more bones. You can buy a whole chicken and keep the non-meaty parts like the ribs or back for soups. Chicken wings make a delicious soup stock. If you buy chicken breasts, or a turkey breast, make sure they are with their bones. Remember the turkey carcass that turned into soup after Thanksgiving dinner? It was that bone that made the delicious soup. Beef legs, or beef ribs, make an excellent beef broth. Ham knuckles are not allowed on a low sodium diet due to their salt, but you can often find a fresh ham knuckle and add a drop of liquid smoke, or pork neck bones, or a pork shoulder, for a delicious soup broth. You also need fish bones for a good fish stock, even shrimp shells for a shrimp stock.
3. Use flavorful seasonings. Find good fresh flavorful seasonings without salt. Learn about some of the different herbs and spices. Learn about the different chiles (they range from mild to hot and are very flavorful), especially when added to some bean soups. Adding freshly ground black pepper (not from a can) to low sodium soup recipes can really make a difference and boost the flavor of any soup recipe. Seasonings are very important in making tasty soup recipes. Many people when cooking on a low sodium diet forget to use enough seasonings or seasonings to make a difference. Remember that when you cook without salt you need to increase the seasoning.
As you practice and use these tips, your low sodium soup recipes will become more and more flavorful. Plus, your taste buds will adjust and enjoy tasty low-sodium soups, instead of the salty soups of the past.
Remember to use good tasty ingredients, use bones, and most of all, use tasty seasonings. Also, take your time and let flavorful soups simmer for a while, or use a crock pot or pressure cooker. Make a lot and enjoy even more delicious low sodium soups the next day. Also, pop some in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner.
Just by following these few tips, you’ll have tastier low sodium soup recipes.