Your Canned Soup Doesn't Taste Quite Right Because Of This Common Microwaving Mistake

Ever heat up canned soup and find the flavor off, like it's not tasting quite right? Well, you've probably made one of the most common mistakes everyone makes with canned soup: not heating it enough in the microwave. When canned soup is lukewarm or cold, the flavors often taste muted, underdeveloped, and even tinny, like you're tasting the can itself.

See, most soups, unless they are meant to be enjoyed cold, like our delicious green gazpacho recipe or our refreshing chilled beet and tomato soup recipe, have more depth in flavor and taste better when they're piping hot. Why, you ask? Well, according to a 2017 study published in the International Journal of Food Properties, "taste compounds" like umami flourish at higher temperatures.

So when you pour canned soup into a bowl, microwave it for a short minute, then forget to stir it to distribute the heat, the result is a bowl of soup with cold, unappetizing spots. More often than not, lukewarm soup just doesn't taste as comforting, delicious, or cozy than sufficiently warmed up soup, and science backs that up.

There are a few steps you can take to ensure even heating throughout your soup in the microwave. Start by pouring the canned soup into a microwave-safe bowl. Stoneware and porcelain retain heat and usually indicate whether they're microwave-safe on the bottom. Give the soup a stir and cover it. Microwave it on high for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave and give the soup another stir. Heat the soup for another minute, stir once more, and repeat these steps until it's hot enough to please your palate. Remember to take care in removing the bowl, as it can get quite hot.

Alternatively, if you have time to spare, heat that soup in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium to medium-high heat. Once the soup is brought to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Soup heated on the stovetop lets you adjust the flavors as you cook, creating a more comforting, homemade feel. You can add seasoning, such as MSG and soy sauce, and add personal touches to make the soup taste even better. As you're heating the soup, you can also taste it to get a good sense of when it's hot enough for your liking. The benefit of the stovetop method is that a full boil prevents unappetizing cold spots in your soup in the first place.