Whatever You Want Soup

By Samin Nosrat

Updated April 10, 2023

Whatever You Want Soup
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
About 45 minutes
Rating
4(1,371)
Comments
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This basic recipe can serve as a canvas for any kind of chunky soup. Mix and match ingredients to suit your cravings, using an aromatic base of onions and garlic, seasonings, flavorful stock (or water), and whatever main ingredients you choose. This recipe, like a similar one in Julia Turshen's cookbook "Small Victories," highlights soup's basic transformative qualities. With just a bit of time, ordinary ingredients can become an extraordinary winter meal for tonight, and for days to come. Covered in the refrigerator, it will last for up to five days, but it also freezes exceptionally well for up to two months. Just return it to a boil before using.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 4tablespoons butter, olive oil or neutral-tasting oil
  • 2medium onions, diced
  • 3cloves garlic, sliced
  • Kosher salt
  • 6 to 8cups meat, vegetables or other add-ins (see notes)
  • About 1½ pounds raw, boneless chicken (optional)
  • About 8 cups water or chicken stock, preferably homemade (see notes)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

401 calories; 23 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 1024 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Set a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat and add 4 tablespoons butter or oil. When the butter melts or the oil shimmers, add onions and garlic, and a generous pinch of salt.

  2. Step 2

    Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 15 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Place the meat, vegetables and other add-ins in the pot, along with the raw chicken (if using), and add enough liquid to cover. Season with salt. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

  4. Step 4

    Cook until the flavors have come together and the vegetables and greens are tender, about 20 minutes more. If you added raw chicken, remove it from the soup when cooked, allow to cool, shred and return to the soup. Taste and adjust for salt.

  5. Step 5

    Add more hot liquid if needed to thin the soup to desired consistency. Taste and adjust for salt.

  6. Step 6

    Serve hot, and garnish as desired.

Tips
  • For add-ins, you can use a combination of vegetables diced into ¾-inch pieces (use one or more of carrots, fennel, celery, leeks, winter squash, potatoes or parsnips); cooked beans, lentils or chickpeas; up to 4 cups of sliced kale or green cabbage; or up to 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken or pork, if not using raw chicken.
  • If desired, replace some of the liquid with bean broth, heavy cream, chopped tomatoes in their juices or full-fat coconut milk.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,371 user ratings
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Comments

Teri

My aunt made it every Sunday night.
She called it Weekly Review

Renee Daivis

Have you been looking into my kitchen? Every so often I do Step One and then go mining in my refrigerator and freezer for whatever I've been pushing out of my way day after day. All goes into the pot with that stray parsnip, wilting escarole, errant frozen slice of meatloaf, whatever. Add some miniature pastas if on hand. So long as the broth is well seasoned and the bread is first rate, contentment reigns at the dinner table.

Kathleen

I have a friend, much cannier than I, who saves (freezes) all her vegetable-cooking water, all her vegetable trimmings, and any such left-overs, and turns them magically into soups.

Diane

So, I make this soup almost once a week. Tend to add diced potatoes with the skin (inspired by the Moosewood potato peel broth recipe). But I have not put any poultry in it until today. Of course, the chicken breasts added depth. But I didn’t shred them. Instead, I took them out and used them for sandwiches with the soup. Poached in the broth! Delicious and a time-saver!

TaiL

This is an excellent basic soup recipe to consult! My favorite thing about NYT Cooling is actually that there are so many no-recipe-recipes you can play with. Ours was mostly stuff we actually planned to use. So, we needed to use up our mushrooms but bought spinach, zucchini, chicken and celery new. We used about 12 cloves of grated garlic (because Latinx households use garlic, we use a lot more than NYT ever suggests).

Natalie B

Second time following this forgiving and loose recipe. This time I used my own homemade chicken stock, and added chicken thighs, fennel, carrots, 2 sweet potatoes, and a can of creamed corn (because it was on hand and I had no idea what else to use it for). It was AMAZING this time. Topped it off with cilantro and hot sauce. Everyone had seconds.

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