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I have made some celery soup following a recipe, however it is extremely bland can anybody help with suggestions of what I could add to it

  • 1 potato (about 300 grams)
  • 1 head of Celery
  • 2 vegetable stock pots
  • 600 ml water
  • 125 ml of milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt

It was a slow cooker recipe cooked on Auto for 5 hours

Spagirl
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Rosie Dyer
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  • Well, we can't read your mind to find out what you put in it. :-) Please edit your question to include the entire recipe. – Sneftel Sep 26 '19 at 09:46
  • I put in celery, potatoes, salt and pepper and vegetable stock cubes it is extremely bland but that is all the recipe said to put in it – Rosie Dyer Sep 26 '19 at 10:17
  • Rosie, ingredients alone don’t tell us enough - what are the ratios? – Stephie Sep 26 '19 at 10:19
  • Sorry not very good at this am I 1 potato about 300 grams 1 head of Celery and 2 vegetable stock pots, 600 ml water and 125 ml of milk 1/2 tsp salt – Rosie Dyer Sep 26 '19 at 10:22
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    @RosieDyer Please *edit your question* to include the *entire recipe* (the ingredients, the steps, etc.). Use the "edit" link, don't add it as a comment. – Sneftel Sep 26 '19 at 10:23
  • Are you per chance using low-sodium stock? – Stephie Sep 26 '19 at 12:02
  • Try adding salt and msg. –  Sep 26 '19 at 17:19
  • Hi Rosie, I am afraid that we typically close this type of question. You could add anything that has lots of taste, so such questions end up with a long list of random answers. – rumtscho Sep 27 '19 at 09:25
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    How about a different recipe? All recipes are not tasty.. and this one does sound bland –  Sep 28 '19 at 00:32

2 Answers2

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Alliums

It doesn't matter if they are garlic, onions, leeks or shallots, but every online recipe I can see for croc-pot celery soup has at least one of them.

If you are trying to rescue a batch you have already made, I would suggest experimenting with adding onion power and/or garlic powder or puree, be sure to get powders, not salts though. Add a little at a time and give them time to become integrated in the soup to adjust the flavour, the result won't be instant, the powder needs to rehydrate before it fully releases its flavour.

The other element that I belatedly note is largely absent is fat. Fat carries flavours and adds satisfying mouth-feel to dishes. Again, most recipes I'm seeing online have more fat than the modest amount you will be getting from the milk. A couple of glugs of olive oil or a couple of table-spoons of butter will help bring out a richer flavour. https://www.thespruceeats.com/functions-of-fat-in-food-1328452

Spagirl
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    Good point on rescuing the soup rather than adjusting the recipe. Personally, I find that onion granules *really* pull focus -- the soup will taste industrially oniony before it tastes non-bland -- so probably best to use both onion and garlic. Another thing to consider is that store-bought vegetable stock is mostly salt, aliums, and HVP, so it can also be used to rescue a soup as long as it's not going to make it too salty. – Sneftel Sep 26 '19 at 11:10
  • I don't often use powdered garlic or onion, and I think that you are right that its easy for the onion to become overpowering, but I do think much of that is down to its intensity sneaking up on one as it rehydrates, which is why I described the addition as I did. It is a fine line though, and I would always recommend using fresh alliums if adjusting the recipe. (Garlic puree excepted I find a tube of that stuff very handy, especially for crock-pot cooking if there isn't a sautee stage.). – Spagirl Sep 26 '19 at 11:29
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    Thank you very much I am trying to rescue it and I am succeeding – Rosie Dyer Sep 26 '19 at 12:01
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I'm kind of surprised that that recipe is coming out bland. One stock pot is meant to make about 500 ml of stock, so at the very least it should taste like, well, vegetable stock.

When you're looking at a recipe and it's too bland, the first thing to ask yourself is "what more". What flavor isn't coming through that you'd like to come through? Is some ingredient overpowering everything else? Are the flavors too simple, or too subtle?

If it doesn't taste brothy enough, and particularly if you're not used to non-meaty-tasting soups, you might want to try swapping one or both of the vegetable stock pots for chicken stock pots. You could alternatively try adding a third stock pot (but if you do that, don't add the salt).

If it tastes like just celery (a certain bitter astringency), reduce the celery to half. (That is a lot of celery in the original recipe.) I know it sounds counterintuitive, but decreasing an ingredient can increase the taste if it helps balance the flavors and let subtle ones come through.

If you'd like it to taste more herb-y, thyme would be the normal approach. 1/4 tsp of dried thyme, or 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, added at the start.

For a more vegetable-y taste, another option would be adding leeks... at the start, thinly slice the white and light green parts of one leek, then saute over medium heat for 5 minutes with 2 tbsp of butter, then put the mixture in the slow cooker and go on with the soup. That pulls the recipe closer to a classic leek-and-potato soup, though, which is maybe not what you're looking for.

Sneftel
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  • Thank you I would prefer it to be more leek and potato than how it is at the moment, but I think I will try adding some Thyme to it and see if it helps. I van see what you saying about adding too much of an ingredient – Rosie Dyer Sep 26 '19 at 10:53