Slow Cooker Soups are the Winners: Top Six Seasonings

How do I season a dish?

1. The best times to think about seasoning your soup is at the beginning and at the end. It is best to put some salt in early to give it time to spread throughout the dish during the many hours of simmering in your slow cooker. Besides the salt, adding other seasonings at the end can be the best way to go. 

2. Tasting the soup before serving it is a great way to make sure you have seasoned it properly. If you are unhappy with the taste, take a small amount out and put into a different bowl. Start adding some sea salt or other type of salt and pepper and keep doing it until you reach a desired flavor. 

3. Think about the ingredients you have in your recipe. How much salt do they contain? How salty is the dish before even adding any seasoning? With ingredients such as bacon, olives or capers, there may be sufficient salt. You may not need to add anything to increase the flavor. 

4. When tasting a dish several times you need to be aware that your taste buds could become desensitized to the flavors if you taste it too many times in a row. Sometimes it is prudent to take a 5-minute break from tasting and drink some water. Then when you return to your dish, you can come back at it with some fresh taste buds and be able to tell if the flavor is correct or needs something more.

5. Think about the temperature you are serving a dish at. Always taste at the same temperature you will serve your dish. Remember that when serving at a colder temperature the flavors in a dish become more dull. So in that case more seasoning is critical to bring out the flavor. At a warmer temperature the flavor is more apparent. 

6. Keep in mind that famous cliche, which also happens to apply in cooking: Less is more. When thinking about seasoning, once you have put in too much seasoning it is very tough to fix your dish to have a lesser flavor. Better to slowly add in your seasonings and work your way up to a desirable flavor.

Top 6 Slow Cooker Seasonings

1. Lemon juice is a great seasoning to add into a variety of soups just before serving. You need less salt when adding lemon juice.  

2. Mrs. Dash is a great salt substitute to consider. It is a great salt-free way to add flavor. 

3. Copycat Chipotle Powder is great to add if you are trying to add a bite to your soup dish. It does so without making the soup too spicy. 

4. Pepitas, or toasted pumpkin seeds, are a great way to add some flavor just before you serve your soup. It adds a roasted flavor to the dish. But you cannot put pepitas in too early or they become soggy. 

5. Adding a clove of garlic into your soup for the duration of the cooking process, maybe 8 hours, can add some nice flavor to your dish. You remove the clove when the soup is done. You will be amazed at the flavor it has left behind.

6. A half teaspoon of paprika can really spice up your dish. This spice is good at giving your dish the desired kick you are looking for. 

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