If your soup is too thin, or you want to bulk it up into a more substantial meal, there’s a simple ingredient that can help thicken it up
Angela Patrone Senior Lifestyle Reporter and Ellen Jenne U35 Spare Time Writer
14:29, 27 Oct 2025
If your soup is too thin, or you want to bulk it up into a more substantial meal, there’s a simple ingredient that can help thicken it up(Image: GMVozd via Getty Images)
There’s no denying it: It’s the season for soup. Whether you’re a fan of traditional potato leek, creamy chicken noodle, or robust minestrone, there’s nothing quite like a large pot of soup bubbling away on the hob when it’s chilly outside, reports the Express.
Even if your soup doesn’t turn out exactly as you’d hoped, it’s usually still tasty, or can be easily fixed with a few clever tricks. If your soup is too thin, or you want to make it more filling, French chef Jacques Pepin has revealed a simple ingredient he likes to use – instant mashed potatoes.
The television chef and expert in French cuisine suggested this method in an episode of Jacques Pepin: More Fast Food My Way. In the episode, he demonstrated his recipe for a quick leek and potato soup by sautéing chopped leeks and mushrooms, simmering them in chicken stock, and then stirring in the instant mashed potatoes.
When you think about it, instant mashed potatoes are essentially just dehydrated potatoes, so it’s similar to using powdered potato starch or cornstarch in a soup, but without the worry of lumps forming.
While there are other things you can do, such as adding a cornstarch slurry or making a roux to thicken soups, these methods involve additional steps. The plain potato flakes thicken the soup with minimal effort and without altering the flavour.
French chef Jacques Pepin recommended thickening soups with instant mashed potato powder(Image: Getty)
Jacques revealed: “I’m using an instant mashed potato here, and those are potato flakes that you put directly in there, and it gives you the thickening, the richness of it, and that’s what you want. It’s great.”
Including thickeners in any soup or stew is nearly always down to personal taste.
Towards the conclusion of your cooking time, simply incorporate a couple of tablespoons of instant mashed potatoes, mix them thoroughly into the pan and allow it to bubble for a further five minutes.
Sample it, and if you desire it thicker, include another tablespoon. Clearly, there are soups you wish to thicken and ones you don’t.
For example, you might want to add some extra body to your plant-based vegetable noodle soup without incorporating animal by-products.
Conversely, there are plenty of soups that should certainly stay thin, such as Vietnamese noodle soup and bone broth.
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Dining and Cooking