A fabulous homemade soup without a suitable soup garnish is a lost opportunity. Serviceable and magical are at opposite ends of the enjoyment spectrum.

Which is not to say that the soup embellishment should upstage the soup. How often have you been wowed by the appearance of a restaurant soup for instance only to be disappointed with the first spoonful?

Soup garnishes should do more than add a visual flourish. They should not be a careless afterthought. At best, they add a needed flavor, texture and/or color spark that brings all elements of the soup into clear focus on the eyes and on the palate. When I create a new soup, the garnish is on my mind right from the beginning of the creative process.

Balance is Key

Take the soup above for instance. It beautifully combines the flavors of earthy celery, tart apple, silky coconut, curry, and lime. I consider it to be suitably, albeit subtly, garnished. It’s elegant, right? The visual elements are not just for show though. They contribute mightily to the flavor and texture experience of the soup. This is the way I’d serve it as the first offering of a multi-course meal.

Now here’s the same soup, with the same garnish elements, finished a little differently.

To my eye and palate, it too is beautifully garnished. It has a more casual, robust feel with the garnish moving to center stage without taking over entirely. This is the way I’d serve it as the heart of the meal.

Now, how would you like this soup with no garnish at all? Use all your senses to try to imagine that. A sea of pale yellow. No visual focal points. The silky smoothness of the puree. Bite after bite after bite. No texture to break the monotony. No sharp flavor contrasts to refresh the palate between spoonfuls. Not great, right?

But how do we know when enough is enough?

Here’s another celery soup, this one with celeriac, celery, celery leaf, leek, garlic, and parsley.

The soup garnish consists of parmesan, parsley, garlic croutons, parsley oil, and torn celery leaf. But rather than let the garnish do its work, the bowl and table covering grab the stage.

To my eye this soup is “overdressed” and has lost much of its appeal in the process. That gutsy bowl is stealing the show.

Here’s a better approach. Which one do you want to eat?

One More Example

Let’s try this again, with an even trickier soup to garnish. Mushroom! I LOVE this soup to the moon and back. But alone, without a garnish, and before the first spoonful, it gets groans at the dinner table.

So to make it look warmer in color than it actually is, I serve it in a green bowl, on top of a green placemat. (Oh how that art degree comes in handy sometimes.) And then I center-stage large slices of sautéed mushroom so that eaters know immediately what savory deliciousness awaits them in that bowl of brown.

A large chunk of toasted French bread (crostini) adds both texture and appeal. The final touch isn’t just for show either. Rather than the all too customary sprinkling of chopped parsley, this soup gets a mixture of parsley, green onion, and garlic. A simplified chimichurri. It’s like a one-two punch straight to the taste buds.

Above is the same soup reimagined from the inside out, with key ingredients proudly displayed. The garnish is the same and yet the experience is dramatically different.

And now that you have the basic idea of how to think about soup garnishes, here are the garnishes I use most often.

Soup Garnishes A to Z

Basically anything is worth considering as a potential soup garnish, as long as it makes sense for the soup it will embellish.

This list is by no means comprehensive but will get you started in the right direction. When trying a garnish for the first time, ladle a small amount of your soup into a bowl and test an even smaller amount of the garnish with it. Better to ruin a few tablespoons than an entire soup. I learned this early– with pickle juice!

Aromatics

Aromatics are added at the beginning of the soup making process and are foundational seasoning rather than finishing flourish. Nevertheless, they set the stage for what elements can be effectively incorporated later in the process, so must be considered in conjunction with those.

Consider garlic, shallots, onion, leeks, chile, ginger, and a wide array of herbs (fresh and dried).

Dairy

Greek Yogurt: This thick, creamy yogurt is tangy and cooling, thus a great balancing act for a wide variety of soups. A spoonful adds richness, body, and fatty contrast. Use it, dolloped or drizzled, to temper a spicier soup or spark a pureed soup. Tip: Thin with a little milk if you want a fine drizzle.

Sour Cream: A richer, lusher option to yogurt.

Cream Cheese: Plain or flavored, then thinned with a little milk, or whipped with cream, cream cheese can be drizzled or floated on a bowl of soup. It’s rich and distinctive though, so a little goes a long way.

Drizzles

Just about any tasty sauce, flavored oil, cream, nut butter, or puree can be thinned and drizzled over or swirled into a bowl of soup. Flavor enhancer is job one of course but contrasting color plays a close second.

Fresh Herbs

Garden Fresh: Nothing wrong with straight from the garden, a sprinkle of this, a sprinkle of that. But! With just a little more thought, you can have spectacular.

Chimichurri: Consider this Argentinean pesto made with chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. It takes only minutes to make, drizzles easily, and packs a memorable flavor wallop.

Pesto: As a concept pesto goes way beyond basil. Check out The Wonderful World of Fresh Pesto and consider Umami Potion #9 and Sweet Carrot Bisque with Umami Pesto on our sister blog, The LunaCafe.

Fries

Tobacco Onions: On The LunaCafe blog, we call them Frizzled Onions. Toss thin onion slices with a smidge of flour, fry in hot oil until a gorgeous shade of caramel brown, and you have crunchy, addictive flavor bombs. Be forewarned though. They mysteriously disappear. Makes lots and hide them!

Fried Garlic/Shallots: Thinly slice and proceed as with Tobacco Onions. Irresistible.

Oils & Dressings

Liquids

Changing the liquid changes the soup. I almost always choose stock (vegetable, chicken, or occasionally beef) rather than water. It’s another opportunity to infuse the soup base with flavor. Various beers and wines are great choices too, used in moderation, with the harsh alcohol evaporated early in the cooking process. For these I typically add a splash after the aromatics are softened and then reduce to almost nothing before proceeding with the soup. Dairy options are typically added at the end of the process and in moderation. They add richness and can help to meld and round out the flavor profile.

• water
• stock
• wine
• beer
• sherry
• madeira
• port
• vermouth
• milk
• cream
• coconut milk

Mayo Dressings

• Aioli
• Rouille

Oil Dressings

• Olive Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Herb Oils

Pastes & Sauces

Tahini (Middle East, Mediterranean)

Tahini tastes like its source ingredient—hulled white sesame seeds. The best tahini has a flavor that is rich, savory, earthy-nutty and only slightly bitter. But you’ll have to wade through a heap of store-bought tahini to find the few gems in the lot. I’ve always used Joyva Sesame Tahini and was happy to see that it placed second in the Epicurious taste test. It might have been a contender for first place but was deemed too savory for use in desserts. Mighty Sesame Tahini placed first and is now on my shopping list.

Nuts and Seeds

Many soups are enhanced with a finishing sprinkle of chopped or sliced toasted nuts or seeds.

Pickled

Pickled veggies works marvelously well as toppers for a wide variety of soups. I especially like fresh pickled garnishes that align with the main ingredient in the soup, such as pickled mushrooms scattered over a silky cream of mushroom soup.

Spice Blends

A cross-culture spice blend is an easy way to give a soup the character of a particular culinary tradition.

Toast & Croutons

This topping is brought to you by your friendly neighborhood French Onion Soup. A crisp slice of toast, whole or chunks, soaks up the soup and adds textural crunch—a godsend when it comes to pureed or liquid soups that don’t offer a lot of body.