Classic Toppings for the Home Cook

Take your soups from standard to stunning with a simple, tasty garnish.

Soup is well loved around the world. Found in every culture, soup is versatile for how it easily uses both fresh and leftover ingredients. The combination of flavors and textures are seemingly endless. And you can enjoy it all year long from chilled summer soups to hearty beef stew in the deep freeze of winter.

If your experience with soup has primarily been canned versions, typically consumed on days home sick, you may not realize what you are missing. You may even accuse soup of being simple and boring. Don’t get me wrong, there are some days when all I want is Campbell’s classic condensed Chicken Noodle Soup. But most of the time when it comes to making soup, I’m amazed at the combinations that exist. When flavors and textures combine through the use of a well paired garnish, soup is a satisfying meal in its own right.

By introducing additional textures and temperatures a garnish will elevate all the ingredients of the soup. It’s amazing what a splash of acidity can do to a vegetarian lentil soup. Or how a dollop of sour cream and green onions will round out a potato soup. Use this list as a starting point and be creative!

5 Versatile Soup Toppings

Toasted croutons. Keep the ends of bread in your freezer so you can easily toast up some homemade croutons or crisps to top a bowl of soup. Toast them plain or pair with salty meats (pancetta, bacon, etc.) or cheese. Need a recipe? Click here.
Fresh Herbs. A garnish of fresh herbs is a great way to brighten up a bowl of soup. For Asian, Indian and Latin American soups, cilantro is almost always a winner. When it comes to Italian or standard veggie soups, lean on parsley and/or chives.
Crisped Protein or Shallots. A little bit of fried bacon, toasted seeds/nuts, puffed quinoa, or fried shallots add a nice bite to many soups; especially those that are thick enough that the crisps can float easily on top.
Julienned fruits and/or veggies. Be creative as you pair flavors that typically work together. Apple matchsticks with a bit of arugula is a great topping for a beetroot soup while finely cut radish, lettuce with cilantro is a perfect garnish for pozole.
A fancy drizzle of cream or infused oil. Using a spoon or a squeeze bottle, drizzle cream or oil on top of soup in an artistic way to round out flavors and elevate the presentation. These work particularly well on thicker soups like the curried pumpkin soup shown below.

Whatever garnish, or combination of garnishes, you choose remember to pair flavors that work well together. Heavy, rich soups will benefit from a pop of acid, a crunch of croutons, and cooling fruits/vegetables. Likewise light, refreshing soups will sing with a drizzle of oil or cream.

Contrast flavors and textures.

Bright, citrusy herbs and tangy cheese contrast perfectly to a spicy, meaty chili.

Soup Recipes & Topping Suggestions

We eat a lot of soup around here! Check out all of our ad-free Soup & Stew Recipes and consider these toppings:

Beef Chili: top with cubed avocado, lime wedges, diced red onion, and a dollop of sour cream.
Potato Soup: top with crisped bacon, a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar and chopped green onions and/or chives. Get the recipe here.
Butternut Squash Soup: swirl in heavy cream and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and/or puffed quinoa and matchsticks of apple.
Hearty Lentil Soup: serve with shaved parmesan, a splash of lemon juice, and freshly chopped parsley. Get full recipe here.
Tomato: make fresh croutons and toast with cheese, then float on top of a bowl of silky tomato soup with crumbled goat cheese and a sprinkle of julienned basil leaves or chives. Get the full recipe here.
Pork Ramen: top with a garlic corn bomb, diced jalapeños, and chopped green onions and cilantro.
Lobster Corn Chowder: top with a light salad of diced tomatoes, red peppers, radish matchsticks and green onions.
Chicken Noodle Soup: herbs are a simple topping for classic chicken noodle soup.