If Your Soup Isn't Creamy Enough, Use This Canned Addition

When it comes to soup, creamy textures are king. Sure, brothy chicken noodle hits the spot when you're under the weather, but nothing comforts like a rich bowl of butternut squash soup, savory New England clam chowder, or creamy mushroom. These soups not only fill you up, but are also the perfect consistency for dipping the grilled sandwich of your choice or embracing crushed saltines without making everything soggy. Dense, creamy soup also makes an easy and delicious pasta sauce in a pinch, something broth-based versions simply can't do.

Of course, all this is provided you can get your soup rich enough. There are few things more disappointing than a watery bowl of tomato bisque that's lacking in both texture and flavor. This is just one of many reasons you should be keeping canned evaporated milk in your pantry — not only is it a shelf-stable, versatile emergency food, it's also the perfect pantry staple for elevating disappointingly thin soups and related dishes, like chili and stew.

Also known as unsweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk is ordinary whole dairy milk with over half of the water removed from it via gentle heating and evaporation — hence the name. With less than half the amount of fat per tablespoon than heavy cream, it's still thick enough to bring that velvety, luscious texture you're looking for without overpowering the other flavors and making everything taste too rich. Rather, evaporated milk's flavor sinks beautifully into the background to support the other ingredients in your soup.

Using evaporated milk in place of heavy cream is especially advantageous in soups that need to be simmered for long periods of time — which is most of them. Since heavy cream has a higher water content than evaporated milk, it's notorious for separating (and even sometimes curdling) if it's cooked too long. Evaporated milk doesn't separate or curdle because it's so concentrated, meaning you can let it simmer along with all the other ingredients. Not only does this eliminate a step and make the recipe simpler, it helps deepen the flavor, making your soup taste richer.

As for how much to use, that depends on whether you're modifying a recipe or creating one from scratch. If you're modifying a recipe that calls for heavy cream, just use the same amount of evaporated milk — they're similar enough in texture that a clean swap works just fine. If you're building a recipe for the first time, consider how many servings you expect to make. About 2 or 3 tablespoons per serving is all you need to create a rich, velvety texture, so you'd use a whole can (about 24 tablespoons) in a batch of soup expected to serve at least 8 people.

The final thing to consider is what kind of soup you're making. Thick bisques and homemade cream of mushroom are a given, but you can also use this trick to thicken up acidic chili or add body to beef stew.