Most soups are expected to be savory, so it comes as a shock to taste a homemade pot of soup and find that it is too sweet.
Today, we are going to give you some reasons why this may have happened as well as some fixes for the problem.
Sweetness cannot be removed, but it can be balanced with sour, bitter, or even spicy tastes.
Why Is My Soup Too Sweet?
1. Root vegetables
Root vegetables such as sweet potato, beetroot, onions, carrots, and leeks contain a lot of natural sugars and may be the reason for sweet soup.
2. Ripe summer squash
Some squash, such as butternut, becomes very sweet once they are ripe. While this is delicious, if one is roasting or steaming them, they may cause the soup to be overpoweringly sweet.
3. Too many sweet ingredients
Some soup recipes, such as tomato or squash soup, call for ingredients like sugar or honey. Others may call for a little chutney or sweet chili sauce.
While a small amount of these ingredients enhances the flavor, too much will leave the soup flavor unbalanced and too sweet.
4. Addition of commercial soup mixes
Some shop-bought soup packets or cans are extremely sweet, especially the tomato-flavored ones. Try to avoid these if possible and use only fresh, natural ingredients for the best nutrition and flavor.
How To Balance The Sweetness
There are ways to even out the soup’s flavor, so don’t despair.
- If the soup needs a little salt, add some. Just be very careful because it is easy to add too much. Add a pinch at a time, tasting in between. Alternatively, you may add soy sauce for saltiness if the recipe is suitable.
- A touch of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice may help, as their acidity can counteract the sweetness. Again, be very careful and only add half a teaspoon at a time, tasting in between. Acidity may also be added with chopped tomatoes if the type of recipe allows it.
- Garlic is another option. Although it will not balance out the sweetness, it can provide a strong flavor contrast that draws attention away from it. Be careful not to add too much!
- As we said earlier, bitterness will balance out the sweetness. Try adding some shredded kale, rocket, or radish tops. These will add extra nutrition to your soup as well as a touch of bitterness that might just do the trick.
- Hot spices can mask sweetness and add another dimension to the soup. Try adding a little curry powder, chili, or other sources of heat. Again, less is more here.
- If you are desperate and you know which ingredient caused the sweetness, you could make another batch of the recipe and leave out that ingredient in the second half. Once you have mixed the two batches together, the sweetness will be diluted.
To Conclude
If your soup is a little too sweet from root vegetables or a touch too much sugar, it is fixable and you will still be able to use it.
However, if it is too sweet because you accidentally added sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated or coconut milk, for example, you might have to throw it out and start again.
This is never the first choice, but sometimes it needs to be done. Whatever you add, do it in small increments, tasting in between additions. Good luck!