4 Ways to Make Better Soup Fast
Cook smarter, not harder. These soups take only 40 minutes or less to prepare, but you wouldn't know it from their robust flavor. Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
By Ali Slagle
Ali Slagle is a recipe developer and regular contributor to NYT Cooking who specializes in low-effort, high-reward recipes. She is also the author of the cookbook 'I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To).' Published Feb. 27, 2025 Updated Feb. 27, 2025
The steam, smells and stirs of a long-simmered soup can be therapeutic, sure, but so can a warm bowl of soup that's on the table as soon as possible.
Making soup doesn't need to take hours to be soothing and fortifying, as these recipes for classic soups, stews and other brothy numbers prove. Each employs a smart trick that delivers deep flavors in fewer than 40 minutes. You'll still cozy up to something delicious and fill your house with good aromas. It'll just be sooner rather than later. Sizzling sturdy vegetables and blooming spices in fat creates an aromatic before any liquid hits the pot. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero.
To build a sturdy foundation, sizzle big-impact ingredients like chopped vegetables, cured meats, dried spices or pastes in fat before adding any liquid.
This step rids the ingredients of flavorless liquid, wakes up slumbering spices and intensifies the savoriness of vegetables and proteins. For example, in this vegan chili, Jocelyn Ramirez builds an intense base by browning chopped mushrooms, onion, hot and sweet peppers, and garlic. Then, she adds a mix of dried spices and chiles. In the jar, their scent is muted. But after they bloom in the hot oil, it fills the room. That mix's full might puts the chile in this chili.
Bloom a few choice ingredients to not muddy the waters. This version of shiro, a silky chickpea stew beloved in Ethiopia and Eritrea, starts by simmering 10 cloves of garlic, an onion and two whole tablespoons of berbere, a red chile-based spice blend, in a shallow pool of oil. That fat then becomes infused with their flavors and carries them through the broth.
Remember that the fat contributes flavor, too. Butter or olive oil are often go-tos, but to create the toasty nuttiness essential to panang curry, Naz Deravian warms Thai red curry paste, chopped peanuts and spices in thick coconut cream. Once the liquid from the cream evaporates, the aromatics sizzle in the remaining coconut oil, staining it bright red. The fat then carries their essence throughout the curry, much farther than they could have traveled on their own.
Black Bean Chili With Mushrooms | Shiro (Ground-Chickpea Stew) | Panang Curry You need only water to start your journey to soup. But staples like broth or stock, brines, dairy and other flavorful liquids get you to bolder soups, faster. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Samin Nosrat, the chef and author of 'Salt Acid Fat Heat,' wrote that 'if you have water around, you can have soup.' Water is essential, but pantry and fridge staples like broths, stocks, dairy, wine, pickle brines and canned tomatoes offer far more flavor — and faster.
Broth and stock can be the backbone to any soup. Keep frozen homemade broth, store-bought box broth or bouillon on hand. Chicken, beef and mushroom are all great, as is dashi, either homemade from seaweed and bonito flakes or from instant granules. It contributes enough savoriness to keep a breakfast udon soup satisfying but not so rich that you'll want to crawl back under the covers.
Milk of the dairy or coconut variety can add silkiness without heft. Milk provides a sweet backdrop to the cheese, eggs and bread in Colombian changua. Moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew, is buoyant thanks to juicy tomatoes and peppers and the sea spray that seeps from cod and prawns, while coconut milk gives it lusciousness and a floral undertone.
Breakfast Udon | Changua (Colombian Bread and Egg Soup) | Moqueca (Brazilian Seafood Stew) In lieu of more time, ingredients like potatoes, rice, bread and beans can add body to broths. Evan Sung for The New York Times
A soup that hasn't simmered long enough might be so thin, it drips and dribbles like water. For one that's just thick enough, you could reduce the liquid for longer. Or, quicker yet, pick a recipe that incorporates a starchy ingredient, such as bread, potatoes, pasta, beans, lentils, nuts, tortillas or rice. As they cook, they'll add body to the soup.
Rice is an especially gentle addition. The tender grains will fray at the edges, releasing starch as in Melissa Clark's avgolemono-inspired lemony egg soup with escarole, which is so creamy, you might think it has cream. But it's so light that it couldn't.
Red lentils are another good choice, since their starches easily and quickly dislodge into their cooking liquid. That's why Priya Krishna's everyday dal turns stony red lentils, turmeric and just the right amount of water into a soothing porridge in only eight minutes.
And two starches are better than one. In this sopa de fideo y frijoles, thin noodles and puréed beans simmer with chicken broth, canned tomatoes, crisp chorizo and other aromatics for just 12 minutes, but the result has the stewy consistency and deep flavor of a much longer game.
Lemony Egg Soup With Escarole | Everyday Dal | Sopa de Fideo y Frijoles con Chorizo (Fideo and Bean Soup With Chorizo) The difference between a good soup and a great soup often lies in a final hit of acid, be that with a squeeze of lemon, a dollop or sour cream or a splash of vinegar. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
A finishing squeeze of lemon or lime, dribble of vinegar, dollop of sour cream or yogurt, or scatter of pickled onions or jalapeños teases out the nuances you so diligently, if expeditiously, created in the pot. Acid also balances richness and enhances the overall flavor. Its addition might even win you a chili cook-off.
Lemon or lime juice beams sunshine onto everything it touches, sweetly lifting and lightening. Millie Peartree's fish curry leans heavily on Jamaican curry powder, which is filled with grounding spices like turmeric and allspice. Wake up those earthy flavors with a final squeeze of lime, as well as fresh scallions and cilantro.
A teaspoon of vinegar can transform a ho-hum soup into so much more. Intensifying chicken broth for wonton soup, for example, might just take a few drops of vinegar, soy sauce and chile oil.
Top bowls with tangy garnishes. While sour cream and Cheddar add creaminess to baked potato soup, they're also sneaky sources of acidity, cutting through the richness of the potatoes, milk and bacon for more balanced bites.
Coconut Fish Curry | Wonton Soup | Baked Potato Soup
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'I was flying a C-123, bringing in munitions, supplies and fuel for 'the little birds,' which would then distribute it to other sites,' Hansen recalls. As part of his mission, he also transported 'CIA customers.' During one flight in 1972, Hansen was shot down over the Plateau de Bolevan in southern Laos. 'After getting my crew out and bailing out, I watched the C-123 fall out of the sky and explode,' he says, noting he was rescued by Air America helicopters shortly after. About 100 meters west of the airstrip stands a two-story house that once served as the headquarters of General Vang Pao, the leader of the CIA-backed Hmong army. From this remote compound, Pao worked closely with American operatives to coordinate a covert war, marshaling thousands of Hmong fighters while receiving US air support, weapons and humanitarian aid in return. Set behind a tall fence and overgrown garden, the house still feels separated from the rest of the village — distant, guarded. A sign on the front door, written in English, reads: 'No entry without permission.' It's the only English sign we've seen in the entire village, and it stops us in our tracks. With no one around, we circle the property, peering through dusty windows, unsure whether we can get inside. An older man in weathered military fatigues appears nearby. Without saying a word, he approaches, slowly dangling a key in front of our faces. He doesn't speak English, but types out a number on his phone. We nod and hand over the cash. A moment later, we're inside. The house is not what I expected. I'd imagined a preserved time capsule, cluttered with mementos or forgotten artifacts — but the rooms are eerily empty. No furniture, no decorations, no posters or portraits of the general. In the foyer, dozens of artillery shells are stacked neatly in one corner, with several mortar rounds resting nearby. It's surreal to see these instruments of war arranged with such quiet precision. Through a translation app, the man warns us not to touch anything — some might still be live. Upstairs, a single wooden desk and chair have been placed near a panoramic window facing the airstrip. I sit down, imagining General Vang Pao and CIA officers in this very spot, directing B-52 bombing runs on communist strongholds. The war — so vast, so devastating — had largely been coordinated from this small, simple room. It was almost impossible to reconcile the scale of the conflict with the modesty of this setting. We climb up to the roof. From there, the view stretches across the old airstrip and into the mountains that once shielded Long Tieng from attack. Today, the village is quiet. A few people walk slowly down the main road. Stray dogs nap in the sun. It's hard to believe that tens of thousands of people once lived here. Today, the impacts of the intense US bombing campaign on Laos are still being felt. Of the 270 million sub-munitions dropped on the country, an estimated 30% did not detonate, according to the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). These unexploded ordnances continue to kill, injure and hinder development across the country, according to MAG. Around the hills of Long Tieng, villagers still rarely venture off established roads and trails to avoid unexploded munitions. Full US-Laos relations were restored in 1992 and since 1995, the US has invested more than $390 million in a Conventional Weapons Destruction program aimed at addressing the legacy of the war. However, questions remain about future US funding of explosive ordinance clearance in Southeast Asia following the Trump administration's widespread suspension of foreign aid. 'I fell in love with Laos,' says Hansen. 'I look back on my time as exciting and a place where I could immerse myself in the culture. I was fulfilling a purpose where I knew I was accomplishing something that was needed.' Back in Long Tieng, children riding scooters zoom past my friend and me, their tires bumping over the broken concrete that once launched warplanes into the sky. I now understand why the community gravitates toward the airstrip whenever they can: it's one of the few open spaces cleared of unexploded ordnance. A rare place where children can play without fear of becoming another casualty of a war that ended 50 years ago. The legacy of a secret conflict — barely remembered back in the United States.
