introduction

SOUP IS A FOOD WITH A PAST. ONE THAT CONJURES UP ALL KINDS of pleasant food memories: Grandma’s matzo ball soup, Dad’s corn chowder, tomato soup from that famous red and white can, or umpteen packages of ramen consumed in college. There is no question that few dishes are as satisfying as a bowl of soup, the original one-dish meal. And it’s a superior comfort food, one that can warm you inside and out, and literally take care of you when you’re sick.

A great soup recipe is one that you’ll make again and again and keep forever. But there’s a whole big world of soup; every country, every culture, every family has its traditional and well-loved recipes. With so many different soups out there, how do you find the keepers, the very best recipes to add to your repertoire? You look to Cook’s Illustrated. We know a thing or two about making soup. Our test cooks have been making and testing soup recipes for more than 20 years. In this carefully curated collection, you’ll find Italian Wedding Soup and New England Clam Chowder as well as Turkish Tomato, Bulgur, and Red Pepper Soup and aromatic Provençal Fish Soup for a taste of the Mediterranean. Foolproof versions of the classics are here too, from Ultimate French Onion Soup and Hearty Minestrone to Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup. We also put our test kitchen know-how to work when using no-prep chicken thighs to make the intense meaty broth for our Classic Chicken Noodle Soup and oxtails to create deeply flavorful Beef Bone Broth, which can be used both for cooking and drinking (if you’re into “souping”).

This All-Time Best collection presents 75 recipes that we feel are our greatest contributions to the world of soup. Each has been tested over and over again until we came up with the “best” version; sometimes that meant making a recipe 30 to 50 times or more. What does that mean for you, the home cook? Recipes that you can trust and that are guaranteed to be interesting, full of flavor, and most importantly, foolproof.

Making a great pot of soup isn’t hard, but it does require attention to detail, the right ingredients, well-made equipment, and a good recipe. All-Time Best Soups provides all of these things and more to support your efforts in the kitchen. Whether you want to learn how to make a homey chicken noodle soup from scratch, a quick weeknight beef and barley soup for dinner, a healthy super greens soup, or an elegant shrimp bisque for guests, All-Time Best Soups has you covered.