By Sara Butler
If there’s one good thing about fall and winter, it’s soup. It tastes good, it’s warming, and it’s soothing -- what’s not to love? Well, it turns out there are several things in soup not to love. Many soups can be full of saturated fat, sodium, and MSG. Yes, some soups can be soothing but not great for your overall health and wellness. Here are some of the worst soup ingredients that you should avoid.
Heavy Cream
Heavy cream creates an inviting texture for soups but that’s where its positive contributions end. Soups that are cream based are often full of fat and calories. It’s best to choose soups and recipes for soups you make at home that have broth as a base. Just make sure to keep an eye on the sodium!
Juice
You may not think of juice as an ingredient for soup, but there are plenty of soups that use fruit juices to raise their flavor profiles. Fruit juice is often full of sugar and calories, so it’s not a great addition to the soup.
Turkey Bacon
Bacon makes a soup taste good -- there’s really no denying it. But if you think you’re helping to make a soup healthier by using turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, then you might want to rethink it. Turkey bacon, while lower in saturated fat and calories, has a lot more sodium. If you have high blood pressure, then that’s a no-no. You’re actually better off with regular bacon in this case because it has monounsaturated fats as well as more protein than turkey bacon. Just be careful how much you add -- you don’t want to pig out.
Cheese
Most soups already tip the scales when it comes to fat and salt but adding cheese will only make that worse. Cheese-based soups are definitely not good for your health since a small bowl can have more than its fair share of fat and calories.
Croutons
Sometimes it’s nice to add a little crunch to your soup in the form of croutons, but it’s probably not a good idea. Croutons usually lack any fiber or whole grains and only add calories to your soup. Plus, they’re high in sodium. So, skip the crouton and have a slice of homemade whole grain bread with your soup instead.
Soup can be a healthy and satisfying meal as long as you steer clear of the pitfalls!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Memphis, Tenn.
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FAQs
The Worst Things to Put in Your Soup
- By Sara Butler. If there's one good thing about fall and winter, it's soup. ...
- Heavy Cream. Heavy cream creates an inviting texture for soups but that's where its positive contributions end. ...
- Juice. ...
- Turkey Bacon. ...
- Cheese. ...
- Croutons.
May induce weight loss: Though evidence for soup-based diets is lacking, some research has found that eating soup as part of a regular diet may have some health benefits, including weight loss. In a 2011 study, soup intake was associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and smaller waist circumference.
Can you boil bacteria out of soup? ›
To be completely safe, you'll have to boil the soup vigorously for 10 minutes. Doing this will not only kill off any active bacteria, it will also inactivate -- but not destroy -- botulinum spores.
What are the common problem of the soup? ›
The 7 Biggest Mistakes You Make Cooking Soup
- Boiling instead of simmering. You want a small bubble or two to rise to the surface of the liquid every few seconds. ...
- Not using enough salt. ...
- Ignoring water. ...
- Overcooking the vegetables. ...
- Adding tomatoes at the beginning. ...
- Neglecting to garnish. ...
- Not trying a pressure cooker.
Avoid bitter greens and members of the brassica family (kale, cabbage, Bok Choy). Other greens can be used in small quantities. Good in small quantities (no more than 1/5 of the stock ingredients). Foods in the Brassica family, such as kohlrabi, are too strong for stock/broth and can impart a bitter taste.
What is an unhealthy soup? ›
Other types of soup you should watch out for are instant and canned soups, which are often loaded with sodium. High sodium intakes are associated with high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart and kidney disease, and stroke ( 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ).
What bacteria cannot be killed by cooking? ›
Myth: If you let food sit out more than 2 hours, you can make it safe by reheating it really hot. Fact: Some bacteria, such as staphylococcus (staph) and Bacillus cereus, produce toxins not destroyed by high cooking temperatures.
Is 5 day old soup ok to eat? ›
For best safety and quality, plan to eat refrigerated soup within 3 to 4 days or freeze it. And avoid letting soup set at room temperature for more than TWO hours.
Why put a stone in soup? ›
Stone boiling is an ancient cooking technique to heat food with directly exposing it to flame, reducing the likelihood of burning, and allowing the construction of stews and soups.
Why add tomatoes to soup? ›
While chili, minestrone, and vegetable soup wouldn't be much without the robust flavor and acidity natural to tomatoes, a quirk of culinary science is that lowering the pH of a dish can prevent the breaking down of beans and other tough veg.
For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.
What mistakes do cooks do when cooking soup? ›
Common Mistakes Everyone Makes With Soup
- Failing to thicken it properly. Marian Curko/Shutterstock. ...
- Forgetting to add an acidic component. ...
- Sticking to salt and pepper. ...
- Overcooking your vegetables. ...
- Forgetting to garnish. ...
- Adding your aromatics too late. ...
- Forgetting to caramelize your onions. ...
- Adding grains too early.
Soups are not to be blown. If the soup is hot, patiently wait 1-2 minutes, and then fill the spoon, skimming from the top of the soup. Clear soups, broths and heartier soups are eaten by placing the spoon point first in the mouth. No slurping allowed.
Can you put anything in soup? ›
You can use just about anything. The nice thing about soup, aside from the fact that it's warm and cozy and just about all I want to eat during the winter, is that you can make the dish with pretty much anything.
What vegetables should not go in stock? ›
What Not to Use for Making Vegetable Stock
- Moldy or rotten vegetables. ...
- Anything with a very strong, specific flavor (or color)—Cabbage, broccoli, artichokes, and beets are a few examples.
