The 26 Best Herbs For Soups (Recipes, How To Use Them and More) | Your Indoor Herbs and Garden (2023)

Tasty soups are perfect bowls of comfort for rainy days, chilly afternoons, and winter evenings. They’re great fillers for large crowds and better than medications for coughs, runny noses, or fevers.

Whether soup is clear, thick, cold, specialty, or cultural, 26 are the most common herbs used to provide cooling, woody, sweetish, bitter, sulfury, floral, fruity, spicy, pungent, nutty, or hot flavors or scents for your favorite kinds of soup. Below a full list of the most common ones with a recipe for it.

Although the simplest definition of soup is the watery, suppable part of any dish, soups are actually works of heart and art. The careful blend of flavors from meats, vegetables, spices, or herbs creates soups that cross cultures, borders, tastes, purposes, and occasions.

Let’s explore how that happens, all right?

8 Great Soups (and The Herbs To Use With It)

For those who traditionally begin with the main ingredient before deciding on the herbs to use, the following list should be useful. When experimenting to discover flavors you like, keep in mind that the following list are recommendations and serve as starting points.

Table 3: Soup and Herbs Combination Guide

What Flavors Do Herbs Add In Soups?

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, herbs that are heated or crushed to flavor and aroma to a dish are called aromatics. Each herb not only provides unique flavors but also various health benefits. Most spices have a complex flavor combination.

At the same time, the flavors of herbs can change according to what you’ve just eaten, or other dishes that you’re eating at the same time. Here are some rough approximations of herbal flavors that you can use:

• Cooling flavors: A chilling or ice-like flavor is associated with herbs such as dill, anise, fennel, lemongrass, sweet basil, and spearmint.
  
• Woody flavors: Spices that have a slight flavor of wood include cloves, rosemary, cardamom, sichuan peppercorn, Ceylon cinnamon, juniper, and lavender.
  
• Sweetish flavors: Various degrees of sweetness can be tasted in nutmeg, fennel, cloves, star anise, caraway, chervil, cinnamon, cardamom, savory. and dill.
  
• Bitter flavors: The bitter bite in soups can be created with herbs such as celery, clove, juniper, lavender, oregano, marjoram, thyme, and turmeric.
  
• Sulfury flavors: Some herbs with slightly sulfur scent rather than flavor include garlic, chives, and onion.
  
• Floral (flowery) flavors: The flavors of spring, tea, and fruits are often found in herbs such as lavender, thyme, saffron, sweet basil, rose petals, coriander, and lemongrass.
  
• Spicy flavors: Herbs with flavors that can be described as spicy include chili, nutmeg, coriander, bay leaf, cassia cinnamon, marjoram, ginger, curry leaf, cloves, cumin, and bay leaf.
  
• Pungent flavors: Herbs with strong scents and flavors include garlic, onion, horseradish, ginger, anise, marjoram, mustard, paprika, anise, wasabi, dill seeds, and spearmint.
  
• Piney flavors: Herbs that evoke the smell of pine trees include thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf.
  
• Nutty flavors: Herbs that we can associate with the flavor of peanuts and almonds are often seeds such as cumin, coriander, sesame, poppy, mustard, fenugreek, and black cardamom.
  
• Hot flavors: Herbs that taste like fire or heat include chili peppers, black pepper, white pepper, wasabi, ginger, and mustard, to mention a few.

Here’s an alphabetical table of herbs for those who need a quick reference:

Table 1: 34 Herbs and Their Flavors

How Do You Use Herbs in Soups?

Herbs are plant parts that can be used to add flavor, color, or thickness to soups. Whether you buy or grow herbs, whether you use them fresh, dried, or powdered, you can use them in different ways.

• Toppings of herbs such as oregano, parsley, chives, or basil can be added to hot or cold soups, either chopped, minced, sliced, or crushed.
  
• Garnishes of herbs are used to add a decorative touch to dishes, but they can also be consumed. Examples are rosemary, parsley, thyme or basil. A sprig or leaf is often enough to garnish.
  
• Herb purees are added as thickener or served alongside soup dishes. Examples are pesto (garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, dill, chives) and stir-in-cubes, which are frozen herb purees (usually leaves such as cilantro, parsley, etc) in ice trays.

PRO TIP: Soft herbs (such as parsley, basil, coriander) can be used in raw or uncooked soups but can also be used as garnish or toppings in hot or cold soup.

Herb blends

are pre-mixed combinations of herbs. These can be tied together or wrapped in muslin or cheesecloth for ease of removal before serving. Here are some examples:

Bouquet garni: Tie with a string or wrap in cheesecloth any fresh herbs (e.g., basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, sage, peppercorns). Use to infuse flavor in any soup, stew, or stock. Remove before serving.

Buttered herb: Combine with a stick of unsalted butter or margarine about 3 tablespoons of dried herbs 6 tablespoons fresh herbs, white pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. This can be used to thicken soups.

Carribean herbal blend: This can be used as a marinade or a seasoning for any soup or meat dishes. The blend is a combination of thyme, hot pepper, allspice, cloves, garlic, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Chinese five spice: This blend is spicy with a bit of sweetness: cloves, star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, and Sichuan peppers. Use to season soups, stir-fries, or meat before grilling or roasting.

Curry herb blend: You can use different blends such as cumin, green curry, coriander, red curry, turmeric, and red pepper. There are no rules. Use it as a table seasoning or to season vegetable, meat, or poultry soups, stews, and the like.

Fines herbes: This is a blend of delicate herbs (chervil, parsley, fennel, chives, oregano, basil, sage, tarragon, and saffron) that can be used with lighter soups, usually added just before serving or removing from the fire.

Herb coating: Coat fish or meat with a blend of garlic, paprika, peppers (white, black, red), thyme, and oregano. This can be used for making soups and stews.

Herbes de provence: This herb mix includes basil, thyme, lavender, and fennel. This can be used to add a light flavor to any kind of soup.

Italian herbal blend: This is a generic blend of basil, red pepper, oregano, rosemary, garlic, and thyme. Use this to season any kind of soup, stew, even pizza or bread.

Old bay herbal blend: This historic seasoning for all dishes includes cinnamon, paprika, cardamom, celery seed, ginger, bay leaf, mustard, pepper, mace, cloves, and nutmeg.

Poultry seasoning: This is a light blend of herbs such as marjoram, parsley, rosemary and sage. It is used to season poultry soups, but is also used for pork or fish soups and dishes.

Quatre epices (four spice blend): The blend of cloves, pepper, ginger, and nutmeg is perfect for stews and soups but also works with vegetables, pates, and sausages.

Vinegared herb: Heat (don’t boil) a quart of vinegar, let cool, and pour into a bottle or jar. Then, add about 4 ounces of fresh sage, thyme, tarragon or marjoram) Use to flavor any stock, stew, or soup.

PRO TIP: Woody herbs (such as thyme, rosemary, savory) are often too strong for uncooked soups. When using in cooked soups, first gently bruise or crush with your fingers and remove larger pieces before serving. For a stronger taste, chop and add just before removing the dish from the fire.

The 5 Types Of Soups You Must Know

Soup can be a dish by itself, or a part of a dish. Evidence of the oldest hot soup ever served was found in a cave in China dating back to 20,000 B.C. Since then, humans have created soups for its medicinal, religious, and nutritional values.

Did you know that there are thousands of different soup recipes from cultures around the world? To describe these types of soup, we can use five categories: clear, thick, cold, specialty, and ethnic.

1. Clear Soups

Definition: Clear soups are delicate, clear, with no thickeners or solids. To make a clear soup, simmer ingredients in liquid until all flavors are released.

Examples: The simplest versions of clear soups do not have any solids, spices, starch, oil, fats or additional flavorings. In addition, there are clear soups that include solids, such as onion soup and chicken noodle soup. Other examples are:

• Stock: Broth, bouillon or fumets (fish stock) that can be served as is or used in other dishes.
• Consomme: A stock soup rich in flavor. Egg whites are used to remove sediments or solids.

Use of herbs: Herbs used to flavor clear soups are removed before serving. For elegant presentation (plating) of soups, herbs may be used as a side garnish. In many cases, however, herbs are often used as toppings such as sliced chives sprinkled over chicken noodle soup. In this case, thin soup is best defined as transparent soup.

Common herbs used: The most common herbs used in clear soups include parsley, leeks, chives, lovage, celery seeds, dill, and chervil, to mention a few. Try out different herb combinations.

2. Thick Soups

Definition: Any soup that uses cream, vegetables, milk, wine, or starch (rice, potato, or taro root flour) to thicken the soup into velvety-like smoothness is called a thick soup. Thick soup is opaque compared to thin soup which is transparent.

Examples: Thick soups can be categorized into seven groups.

• Bisque: After crushed crustacean shells (crabs, crayfish, langoustine, lobsters, shrimps, etc.) are boiled, strained and removed, the soup is seasoned and thickened. The crustacean meat is served as part of the soup.
  
• Chowder: This is a thick soup or stew using either fish or clams and thickened with onions, potatoes, cream or milk, crushed biscuits or crackers, cornstarch slurry, or a roux (flour and fat cooked to thicken soups or sauces).
  
• Cream soup: A cream soup can use any meat combinations. Before that, however, the soup itself is created by using stock, cream, milk, butter, salt and lard as well as herbs such as garlic, celery, pepper, and paprika.
  
• Potage: The name comes from the French for “food cooked in a pot” and is its simplest definition. To create a potage-type of soup, stew, or porridge, boil any combination of meat or seafood, vegetables, fruits, and/or grains until a slurry or mush is formed. Flavor or season with salt, oil, and available herbs and spices.
  
• Puree soup (potages purées): The main ingredient is broth or stock plus a pureed ingredient (meat, fruit, vegetable, etc.). You can use an electric blender, grinder, food press, or sieve until a creamy paste or liquid is created (examples: hummus, applesauce). For extra flavor, add herbs or spices.
  
• Stew: Tough meats can be boiled with vegetables, herbs, and spices until the meat becomes tender and the other ingredients turn into gravy. The slow-cooking of meat can include seafood, beef, sausages, poultry, or any combination. Since herbs are thoroughly incorporated, an herb garnish may be used for plating.

Thickeners: Aside from those mentioned, you should also know two common soup thickeners:

• Veloute: The name comes from the French word for “velvety” and is simply a blend of roux and clear stock of chicken, veal or fish. The result is a sauce with butter, cream, fat, and flour. It is used to thicken a soup or a dish.
• Bechamel: This is like a veloute, except that milk is used instead of clear stock.

Use of herbs: Herbs can be sliced, chopped, or pureed to flavor thick soups. The herbs are not removed before serving the soup. When used as garnish, an herb’s leaf can help identify the soup’s key herbal ingredient.

Common herbs used: The most popular herbs used in thick soups include spinach, watercress, parsley, dill, basil, winter savory, bay leaf, celery, cloves, and marjoram, to mention a few. Feel free to experiment.

3. Cold Soups

Definition: A cold soup can be the cooked or the uncooked type. Any soup that is served chilled or below room temperature is a cold soup. There are at least six types of cold soups.

• Sweet soups: These are dessert soups made of fruit syrup or fruit purees. Sweet soups can be served as a snack or to end a meal. Examples are:
  • Chè (Vietnam): This is a cold dessert soup with sugar and coconut milk. Varieties include adzuki bean, cassava, durian, mung bean, jackfruit, and taro. Some versions include mint, lemongrass, or ginger.
    
  • Ginataan (Philippines): This hot or cold sweet soup includes coconut milk, fruits and tapioca pearls. Some recipes call for mint or ginger.
    
  • Shiruko (Japan): This is a cold bean and mochi soup that can be flavored with mugwort.
    
• Semi-sweet soup: These are similar to sweet soups except that they have little or no sugar, and are enhanced with citrus or acidic elements from lemon, lime, or vinegar. Semi-sweet soups are often served as appetizers to start a meal. Example: tomato soup.
  
• Savoury soups: Either cooked and raw, these are highly textured soups that are served as appetizers. Examples are gazpacho (a chilled soup made from raw vegetables blended together), consommé, pepper and fennel purée, vichyssoise (a chilled puree of leeks, potatoes, and cream), chilled roasted tomato soup, chilled minted pea purée, and cold curried carrot soup.
  
• Fruit-and-vegetable soups: These are cold soups made from a blend of crushed or pureed vegetable and fruits.
  
• Cream soups: These are cold soups that begin with a soup base thickened with velouté, béchamel, or a tuber such as potato, turnip, beet, yam, or taro purée.
  
• Clear soups – These are cold soups made from a rich broth that is clarified by straining. It can also be thickened gelatin. Example: jellied consommé.

Use of herbs: When served in more formal or elegant settings, cold soups often include a topping or garnish of fresh herbs.

Common herbs used: Many cold soup recipes call for dill, celery, scallion, garlic, onion, shallot, parsley, tarragon, arugula, or ginger.

4. Specialty Soups

This is a category based on personal viewpoint, and not on soup ingredients.

Definition: Any soup that’s made by using unusual ingredients or methods is called a “specialty” soup.

Common herbs used: Here are some of the most common herbs used in specialty soups:

• Cold cucumber cream soup: onion, garlic, dill, sumac, parsley
  
• African peanut soup: chili, chard, curry, parsley, cilantro, garlic, ginger
  
• Singapore turtle soup: bell pepper (red or green), packaged herbs
  including chervil, basil, lemon balm, marjoram, rosemary, sage, savoury, and thyme.
  
• Louisiana gumbo: chard, kale, collards, mustard, watercress, dandelion, bell pepper, onion, celery
  
• Cantonese snake soup: ginger, chrysanthemum, lemongrass, mushroom

5. Cultural or Ethnic Soups

Any soup that’s made with ingredients and cooking methods that are specific to a culture or country is called a cultural or ethnic soup. Again, this grouping is based on origin and not on ingredients.

You can find most of the main ingredients in cookbooks, but if you want to prepare a set of herbs before you start cooking or before you go shopping, ere are some examples:

• Goulash (Hungary): bay leaves, caraway, garlic, oregano, onion, paprika, black pepper
  
• Minestrone (Italy): chard, red onion, sage, garlic, celery, rosemary, paprika, bay leaf, basil, kale, red pepper
  
• Soto Ayam (Indonesia): chili, basil, turmeric, lemongrass, lime leaves, cardamom, white pepper, ginger, coriander, candlenuts, bay leaves, garlic, cloves
  
• Tom Yam (Thailand): kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, chili, coriander leaf (cilantro), white onions, shallot, cilantro
  
• Onion soup (France): onions, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, celery, paprika, black pepper
  
• Avgolemono (Greece): dill, bay leaves, parsley, pepper
  
• Borscht (Russia, Ukraine): dill, coriander, caraway, parsnips, pepper, thyme, celery, onion, red bell pepper, sorrel, black peppercorn, green onion
  
• Gulyas (Hungary): bell pepper (red, yellow), caraway, savory, lovage, juniper
  
• Gumbo (Louisiana): chard, kale, mustard, collard, garlic, spinach, onion, watercress or dandelion, bell pepper, celery, parsley
  
• Miso soup (Japan): scallions, mitsuba (Japanese herbs), chile (sauce), and optional garnish of parsley, cilantro, or chives
  
• Quinoa & peanut soup (Ecuador): cayenne pepper, leek, onion, cloves, red bell pepper, cumin
  
• Tortilla soup (Santa Fe): onions, bell pepper, cilantro, chili powder, black pepper, garlic
  
• Mulligatawny (South India): ginger, onion, celery, peppercorn, cilantro
  
• Pho Bo (Vietnam): star anise, cardamom, coriander, basil, jalapeno chili, cilantro, mint, chervil, marjoram, lovage, dill, shiso (beefsteak plant or Perilla frutescens var. crispa), parsley
  
• Caldo Verde (Portugal): kale, black or white pepper, garlic cloves, onion
  
• Zuppa di Ceci e Riso (Italy): onion, celery, garlic

Fresh Herbs or Dried Herbs?

When using herbs in soups, keep in mind that dried herbs are generally concentrated than fresh herbs.

• Fresh herbs: I generally recommend adding fresh herbs as a garnish, about 20 minutes before serving. This will keep the original color.
  
• Dried herbs: Dried herbs are more intense (sometimes slightly bitter) compared to fresh herbs. Use dried herbs at the start of cooking a recipe with long cooking time. This will intensify their flavor as well as allow other ingredients to absorb the flavor. The best flavor-retaining dried herbs are woody: rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc.
  
• Delicate herbs: Basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, tarragon, and marjoram are examples of delicate herbs that should be added at the end of cooking time. When dried, they provide less flavor than when fresh.
  
• Robust herbs: Sage, rosemary, parsley, oregano, and thyme are examples of herbs that should be added at the start of cooking a dish with long cooking time.
  
• Substitution: According to Martha Stewart, a tablespoon of fresh herbs is equivalent to about one teaspoon of dried herbs. In other words, for 3 tsp of fresh herb is equivalent to about 1 tsp of dried herb. Add in small increments rather than too much, too soon.

For more check the detailed guide on fresh vs dry herb.

The Top 3 Herbs For Soup

Here are my personal top 3 herbs and the soup I often prepare with them. I grow such herbs both outdoors and indoors (especially in the harsh UK winter) on the windosill of my living room ready to be picked at the first occasion.

Mint – The Pea Soup

This herb is fantastic for its refreshing flavour and can be used in a large variety of soup (including also to make pesto).

Here what you need for 2 people:

• Olive oil 2 tablespoon
• 5-6 Garlic cloves
• 1 Onion
• 200g green peas
• 1 cup of Mint and coriander
• Water
• Salt, black pepper, sugar

This is an easy recipe that requires most 15 minutes and will give you a soft green vellutata that will brighten up your plate and make everyone happy!

For more check the full recipe below:

Rosemary – Bean Soup

If you think that beans are just for breakfast (the red ones, if you live in the UK) then definitely not. White beans especially can give an amazing vellutata. This is one of my faovurite dish, especially during the cold January and February months. This is the best time to enjoy such hot and dense soup packed with energy.

Here what you need for 6 people:

• 2 tablespoons of olive
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1kg of cannellini beans
• 2 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
• 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
• 1/2 tablespoon of dried thyme
• 1 pinch of red pepper
• freshly cracked pepper to taste
• 11 teaspoon of Chilly

This is a very easy recipe that requires around 10 minutes.This is because you just need to drop all the ingredients together in the saucepan and no peeling involved. So pretty fast.

For more check the full recipe below:

Oregano, Basil and Thyme Lentil Soup

This is a more complex soup but its taste is quite outstanding taste and interesting texture

• 2 carrots
• 2 ribs of celery
• 1 large yellow onion
• Olive oil
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon drie oregano, basil and thyme
• 2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1kg Diced tomato
• Vegetable broth
• 1 cup of green lentils
• Kale

This is a recipe that requires around 10 minutes. Yeah, it does have lots of ingredients but they are (Except the veggie) just to drop in the pot (this is a so called one pot soup, everything is done using one single pot, making my life easy).

For more check the full recipe below:

Takeaways

Most soup names don’t include herbs (chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, cream of mushroom soup). That’s why this article focuses on herbs that are used in popular soups.

• Soup: Don’t be intimidated by the different names of soups. If you’re a foodie who doesn’t cook, these names can help you order from a menu. If you love to create dishes, these names introduce you to various ways of creating soups.
  
• Using herbs in soup: Herbs can be bruised by hand, crushed or pureed to thicken or add flavor or color to soups, or used as garnish for plating soups.
  
• Herbal flavors in soups: Herbs can add different flavors and flavor blends to your soup based on the flavor profile: cooling, woody, sweetish, bitter, sulfury, floral, fruity, spicy, pungent, nutty, or hot.
  
• Most popular herbs: While most soups don’t detail the herbs used, this list of most popular herbs list only soups with the herbs in their named titles.
  
• Fresh versus dried herbs: Dried herbs are great for out-of-season cooking times, but you’ll need to use more than fresh herbs.
  
• Soups that need particular herbs: This article lists particular herbs that have been tested to work well with vegetable soups, meat soups. poultry soups, meat soups, and seafood soups.

Finally, keep in mind that you can start with whatever herbs you’ve got and mix, match, or experiment with whatever meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, or fruits are available. Experiment, and come up with soups in new flavors.

Did I miss any herbal soup or an herb that you use for making soup? Let me know in the about me section. I’d love to hear from you.

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