My Cooking Tip for Irresistibly Creamy Soup —Without a Drop of Cream
Kids are back to school, there’s a little chill in the air, and small dogs are wearing sweaters. You know what that means — soup season is upon us. I am a huge soup person. I have been lying in wait for months to start making broth from scratch and throwing everything within my eyeline into a Dutch oven.
Some of my favorite soups are the creamy ones: creamy mushroom soup, zuppa toscana, even a creamy take on a classic chicken noodle. The addition of cream gives soup a silky, decadent quality that I really enjoy. Unfortunately for me, my husband is lactose intolerant, so adding a bunch of heavy cream to soup is a no-go in my household. Over the years I’ve tried many different substitutes for cream to varying levels of success, but nailing texture and flavor has always been elusive. Many substitutes for heavy cream nail one but not the other.
I had all but given up on creamy soups until I came across a surprising trick: using silken tofu in its place. So here’s how to make the creamiest soups of your dreams, especially if dairy is a no-go.
Why Silken Tofu Makes the Best Creamy Soups
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve added a nondairy cream substitute to a dish only to discover it added a distinct sweetness or other off-flavor that throws the whole soup off balance. Silken tofu is the best cream substitute I’ve ever tried. It has the perfect texture when blended (no graininess like you can get with some nut-based subs), it’s inexpensive (some store-bought nondairy creams can get pretty pricey), and perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t add its own flavors to the mix.
How to Use Silken Tofu as a Substitute for Heavy Cream
I picked up this trick from Hetty McKinnon’s absolutely incredible recipe for creamy broccoli soup. In that recipe, she adds the tofu in with the other ingredients where it simmers until getting blended into a smooth puree.
I’ve tried adding the tofu closer to the end of cooking and found that works well, too. And I’ve also experimented with adding a little of the hot broth from the pot to a blender with the tofu and blending that separately so that I can add that mixture in at the same stage a recipe calls for adding cream — which is typically very near the end of cooking. This technique works better if you’re making a chunky (not pureed) soup and therefore don’t want to blend all of the ingredients together. Consult the particular recipe you’re cooking from and adjust the process as necessary.
Silken tofu isn’t just for soups, either, I’ve used it as a cream substitute in sauces like penne alla vodka, for example. Try it the next time you’re making a creamy pasta.
Recipes to Try with Silken Tofu Instead of Cream
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