How To Spice Up Lackluster Frozen Soup

Whether you've meal-prepped carrot ginger soup to eat later this week or have found yourself thawing out a packet of frozen soup you stored from last week's batch of easy slow-cooker chicken tortilla soup, there's an easy way to punch up the taste of your reheated meal. Muted flavors can happen after food spends time in the freezer, as sneaky ice crystals can dilute the soup you worked carefully to create. Should you find that your soup is missing some of that zing you remember tasting upon sampling the original batch, toss in some extra ingredients — think seasonings, spices, and herbs — to give your soup a second wind. 

A quick dash of salt or a splash of sauce is all you need to turn your meal into a more desirable affair. Fish sauce, hot sauce, or Worcestershire sauce can quickly pump up the taste of your soup, or consider adding a quick spoonful of vinegar or citrus to the recipe simmering on the stovetop. Lovers of spice can build layers of flavor with chili flakes, spoonfuls of chili crisp, and powdery finishes of smoked paprika.

When choosing which soup recipe to make in bulk, consider batch-making soups with flavors that can be layered. Use broth-based soups as foundations to build a whole new soup recipe on the fly by adding lightly cooked vegetables or handfuls of dehydrated onions to the reheated batch. Bulk up thawed-out tomato soup with shredded chicken leftover from last night's dinner, or plop in some of the cubes of grilled tofu you couldn't quite finish during the lunch hour. 

Once your warmed meal is ready to be ladled into bowls, garnish your soup with fresh croutons and crunchy pieces of crumbled bacon for even more textured flavor. You could also top off filled bowls with toasted nuts and seeds, dollops of sour cream or Greek yogurt, or boost your meal with a poached egg. Shredded cheese and a final finish of freshly ground black pepper can be the golden crown your quickly-made meal deserves. With the right additions stirred and sprinkled into your reheated soup, the taste of your finished meal may inspire you to continue to freeze soup in single servings so you have an easy way to satiate hunger when meal times roll around and afternoon cravings strike.