Why Soup From A Restaurant Always Seems To Taste Better Than Homemade

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When the weather gets colder and days get shorter, there's no food that hits the spot quite like a warm, hearty bowl of soup. But there's also nothing as disappointing as making soup from scratch only to find it doesn't taste nearly as rich and flavorful as it would from a restaurant. To find out what goes into cooking restaurant-quality soup and how to avoid the common soup mistakes home chefs make, Chowhound spoke exclusively with experts David Davidov, recipe developer and founder of The Cooking Foodie, and Michele Di Pietro, chef, recipe developer, and cookbook author behind "SOUPified: Soups Inspired by Your Favorite Dishes."

Both experts agreed the number one difference between typical homemade soup and the equivalent dish prepared by a restaurant chef is depth and layering of flavor. "Most [restaurant] soups start with a proper stock — often made from roasted bones or vegetables, simmered slowly, and enriched with umami-boosting ingredients like tomato paste, parmesan rinds, or dried mushrooms," Davidov explains. In contrast, he says, "At home, many people simply add ingredients to a pot of water, which means they're starting from a much lighter base."

Di Pietro adds that while putting all of your raw ingredients in a slow cooker and walking away technically works, it's not ideal for layering flavors (you might even say this common kitchen appliance is overrated when used lazily). "The main step that (most) home cooks skip when making soups is the sautéing, caramelizing, [or] roasting of ingredients, which dramatically increases flavor," she says.

The good news is with a little extra effort and culinary know-how, you can start making restaurant-quality soups in no time. According to Michele Di Pietro, restaurant chefs use highly intentional techniques to create deep flavors in soup. First, she says, they start by drawing out the flavor in aromatics like vegetables, garlic, and fresh herbs, before adding umami enhancing ingredients like tomato or chili paste. Then, they deglaze their pan and add the main ingredients along with a salt-free stock to simmer. Following these steps is a good start toward making better soup.

A few additional tricks also help take soup to the next level. Di Pietro recommends adding fresh elements to your dish with real lemon juice and chopped garlic, plus using fresh herbs both in the sautéing stage and later when serving. "While I love dried herbs, you cannot replace finishing a dish with a little bit of freshness," she says. For his part, David Davidov says: don't cut simmering time short. "In a restaurant kitchen, it's much more common to let [soups] go for one to three hours, which gives the broth body and richness," he explains.

Finally, when in doubt, create additional flavor with umami-boosting ingredients, like cheese rinds or Worcestershire sauce, and cooking techniques like caramelization. "I'm a big believer that almost any time a dish seems to need a little 'something' in the flavor department, it's usually umami," Di Pietro says.