What You Need To Look Out For When Thickening Soup With Potatoes

A thin soup can go from disappointing to decadent with the right thickener, and few ingredients pull off the job quite like potatoes. But not all potatoes work the same way. Some will melt right in, giving the broth a rich, smooth consistency, while others stay stubbornly intact, adding bulkiness but not much thickness. To break down which ones work best — and how to use them — Daily Meal spoke with Jill Silverman Hough, a recipe developer, cookbook author, and culinary expert for Real California Milk.

Of all the different varieties of potatoes, the starchiest kinds — like russets and Yukon golds — are the best choices for thickening. "It's the starch that does the thickening," Hough explains, making these two types the top contenders. These potatoes break down easily when cooked, releasing enough starch to give the soup a thick, creamy texture without the need for extra thickeners.

Of course, simply tossing potatoes into a pot won't magically transform a soup's texture. So, while Jacques Pépin's favorite shortcut to thicken soups might be instant mashed potatoes, Hough suggests a more hands-on approach — cooking potatoes directly in the soup base before blending them. But does that mean pureeing is always the best move? Not necessarily. There are ways to thicken a soup without blending, but the results will be noticeably different.

Potatoes are one of the many ways to fix runny soup, but how you handle them determines just how thick and creamy your soup will turn out. If you're skipping the blender, potato chunks will still release some starch as they cook, which helps add body to the broth. However, as Jill Silverman Hough points out, this won't have nearly the same impact as pureeing. "Potato pieces will also thicken a non-pureed soup, as they'll leach a little starch as they cook, but perhaps obviously that won't get your soup as thick as if all that starch is pureed into your soup base," she explains.

Pureeing is the way to go for soups that need a rich, velvety texture. The key is cooking potatoes until they're extremely soft, then blending them directly into the soup base. A standard blender will give you the smoothest consistency, but a stick blender is a convenient alternative with less cleanup. Just be sure to blend thoroughly — any lingering chunks can throw off the texture.

Those aiming for a thick, luscious soup should stick with starchy potatoes, blend them well, and enjoy the transformation. But if the goal is to have intact potato pieces rather than dissolve into the broth, "[stick with] waxier types of potatoes that won't easily fall apart during cooking, like reds, fingerlings, and baby or new potatoes," Hough says.