Easily Thicken Soups With Just Two Ingredients In Your Kitchen

Soups are relatively simple dishes, but making a truly exceptional bowl requires attention to detail and a few chefs' tricks. Balancing flavors is the first step in getting a soup right. The next is its consistency. Very often, if a soup is watery, all those flavors you worked hard on developing will be too diluted to appreciate. Fortunately, there are several ways to thicken a soup, though many will leave some trace, either in terms of flavor or texture. Seasoned chefs will use specific thickening methods, like the pantry staple Jacques Pépin uses for watery soups. One of the most versatile methods that can bring real flavor is a simple yet powerful mixture of flour and butter.

Called beurre manié, which is French for "kneaded butter," this is a straightforward mixture of butter and flour. However, unlike a roux, which is a fat-flour mixture that is cooked at the beginning of the process before other ingredients are added, beurre manié is added at the end. Gradually introduced to control the thickness of the soup, it adds a rich buttery flavor as well as a sheen to the finished dish.

To make beurre manié, start with equal parts unsalted flour and butter. Soften the butter — a rolling pin can help if you're short on time — then use a utensil or your hands to work the flour and butter together. Since the raw flour taste still needs to be cooked out, always add this thickener while the soup is still simmering and gently cook it for a short amount of time. The longer you cook the soup, the thicker it gets, so add the beurre manié gradually and continue to mix and taste until you achieve the desired flavor and consistency. Depending on how much of the butter-flour mixture you use, you may have to season the dish some more.

Beurre manié works so well because the butter coats the flour and prevents it from clumping in the soup, allowing it to thicken evenly. The paste is also quite easy to store, so you can make a large batch and place it in the fridge ahead of time. Make sure to bring it to room temperature before using it.

You can also use vegan butter here, but there's no escaping the flour, which is the main thickening agent. If you're making a gluten-free version of beurre manié, you may wish to consider another type of flour, though the flavor and thickening properties may differ depending on your choice.