Give Chicken Noodle Soup More Depth With One Simple Addition

A hearty bowl of chicken noodle soup is a classic for a reason, but everything gets old after it gets played on repeat. A simple, and perhaps unexpected, solution to elevating a boring bowl? Adding a little bit of miso paste to the mix.

Miso is a fermented paste made from soybeans, salt, and koji, a simple yet powerful ingredient packed with umami flavor. Even just a spoonful of the stuff is hyper-concentrated. While miso soup is simple to make and delicious, adding a hint of miso to a chicken soup mix makes for a truly rich bowl, exposing all those hidden flavor layers inside of an otherwise simplistic dish. While some chefs might assume you have to simmer a pot on the stovetop all day to achieve maximum flavor, miso can mimic the same nuanced taste in no time at all. (Hint: Bright yellow turmeric can do the same.) Flavor benefits aside, miso brings additional thickness to chicken soup too, turning a watery bowl of soup into a lusher and creamier one.

To reap all these benefits, add a tablespoon of miso paste to your chicken soup recipe while sautéing the veggies and before adding broth. Actual measurements will depend on the salt called for in the recipe, so adjust the amount of miso you use to taste.

After adding broth to the pot, stir the mixture well to avoid any unsightly clumps of miso appearing in the final product. Also make sure to simmer the soup and not to boil, as this can destroy the delicate aromatics in the miso paste. Once simmered and done, stir and serve the soup immediately to prevent the miso from settling at the bottom of the pot. There might be a few extra precautions involved when adding miso, but trust us, it's worth it.

While adding a dash of miso to a soup is a simple choice, there are over 1,000 different varieties of this paste, so choosing just one container might not be so easy. Luckily almost any variation of this paste will work in a chicken soup, as each lends a similar boost of umami flavor. Generally speaking, a lighter miso, like a yellow or white version, will be milder in flavor and might mesh better with the wholesome ingredients included in most chicken soup recipes. Darker shades of miso, like red or brown, will taste much richer and stronger. Both of these options should be available at your local grocery store and Asian market, so choose which option will best suit your taste. Wondering what to do with all that extra miso? Try adding this umami paste to your pasta water next.