If you thought chicken soup couldn't get any more comforting and delicious, just wait until you try it with lemon juice. For chicken soup in particular, lemon juice balances out the more rich and savory flavors, adding an overall brightness to the taste.

While you could easily add lemon juice to taste, Rachael Ray recommends using ¼ cup at the very end of the cooking process when the chicken soup is already done. Whereas herbs and spices take time to infuse your soup with flavor, the same doesn't apply to lemon juice because it reacts differently to prolonged heat.

It's not only the flavor of the lemon juice that's responsible for adding an overall brightness to the taste, but also its chemical properties. Lemon juice is an acid and when added to any dish, heightens taste, creating an umami effect.