The Canned Food Ina Garten Would Never Buy

It's not crazy to believe that celebrity chefs make everything from scratch and never take store-bought shortcuts in the kitchen. But the truth is, every chef cheats a bit now and then, whether that be to save time or because they prefer the pre-made grocery item to their own. Even Ina Garten, Food Network queen of seemingly perfect homemade recipes, reaches for store-bought puff pastry, pure vanilla extract, marinara sauce, and jam at times without a second thought. But there's one item she'd never buy at the store: canned soup.

"I love good soup. I always make it myself," she explained to "TODAY." While nobody can argue that canned soup is convenient, anyone could tell you that it just can't compare to a homemade pot — and Garten stands by that. Luckily for you, you can throw almost anything in a pot with some water or broth and call it soup; and there are endless combinations of ingredients that result in cheap, large batches to feed a crowd or meal prep and freeze. And although some soups might call for hours of simmering time, most are actually very easy and hands-off.

So she doesn't suggest buying pre-made soup. But as we said, even Garten cheats sometimes; she adds a store-bought jarred salsa to her homemade pork posole soup. That just goes to show that making your own soup doesn't have to be intimidating, as there are a few ways to get some help from a friend (the grocery store).

This is not to say that you should immediately toss all those cans of soup sitting in your pantry, though. You can play chef yourself by adding frozen ingredients to upgrade canned soup, like gnocchi. Your refrigerated items will come in handy, too; Italian sausage turns canned tomato soup into a meal. You can even look to your pantry for simple ways to make the meal gourmet; soy sauce will take a can of cream of mushroom soup to the next level and our top tip is to add truffle salt to any canned soup for an instant makeover.