Tea’s not just a drink. It’s an ingredient. And soup is a great way to incorporate it as such. Whether tea is used as a broth or its leaves are used as a spice, tea diversifies the flavor profile of any soup, all while adding zero calories. Check out these five soups that use tea to mix things up:
1) Green Tea Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken noodle soup is a classic for the bedridden in search of a bowl-based cure. So is tea. Why not combine the two? This recipe for Green Tea Chicken Noodle Soup does just that and gives this sick day staple a Japanese makeover with soba noodles, miso, and green tea leaves.
2) Smoky Tomato Soup
Give your tomato soup a smoky transformation by using a broth made from lapsang souchong tea. Smoked over fir tree roots, souchong tealeaves will transport your nose and your soup back to nights sitting around the campfire. Vegetarian and gluten-free, this recipe will certainly take your tomato soup up a notch.
3) Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup
Ceylon tea gives this pumpkin soup something extra. Ceylon tea hails from Sri Lanka and has some pretty striking health benefits: it increases mental altertness and may help prevent a bevy of health problems, including cancer, Parkinson’s, and heart attack. Ceylon’s citrus notes add a hint of tang to this creamy, pumpkin soup, perfect for chilly fall nights.
4) Vegetable Pho With Tea Broth
This recipe remixes the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup with a Lapsang Souchong tea-based broth seasoned with hoisin sauce, Chinese 5 Spice, lime, and cilantro. Soaked in this spicy broth are shitake mushrooms, carrots, and peppers. Meeting your daily vegetable quota has never been so flavorful.
5) Chamomile Cauliflower Soup
Cauliflower’s everywhere. In the last four years, it’s grown 29% on American menus. Chefs are experimenting with this versatile vegetable in all sorts of new ways, from using it in pizza crust to combining it with new flavors and ingredients. This creamy, vegan cauliflower soup does just that. It uses cauliflower cooked in chamomile tea as its base. Sautéed shallots and celery combine with cauliflower in a blender to provide nutrition by the spoonful, and parsley provides a pop of color and garnish to finish things off.
