Nothing warms you up on a chilly day like a hearty soup or stew. Looking for recipes? We’ve gotplentyof‘em. But, as you cook, you may find yourself wondering: What exactly is the difference between soup and stew?
Soup and steware very similar dishes. There’s a lot of crossover — some soups can definitely be considered stews and vice versa. However, there are a few distinctions:
1. Soup Uses More Liquid
In soup, the liquid is the primary ingredient. Soup can be completely liquified or it can consist of other elements (like meat and vegetables) that are fully submerged in water, stock, or broth.
Stew, meanwhile, is typically "chunkier." It contains just enough liquid to cover the main ingredients.
2. Stew Is a More Narrowly Defined Category
As recipe category, soup is much broader than stew. Soups are technically any combination of ingredients cooked and consumed in liquid. They can be thick or thin, chunky or smooth, and hot or cold. Some soups take hours, while you can whip up others in 30 minutes or less and may not require cooking at all (likegazpacho).
Stew is almost always served warm, is hearty and thick, and usually takes some time to prepare.
3. The Cooking Methods Can Vary Slightly.
Stew can refer to any dish that is prepared by stewing — a method by which something that is barely covered in liquid is simmered slowly in a covered pot.
Soup can be prepared in a variety of ways, but it’s often made by bringing ingredients to a boil and then simmering to deepen the flavors.
Soup is one of the oldest prepared foods we still consume today. In fact, it’s likely as old as cooking itself. Evidence of soup's existence can be found as far back as about 20,000 B.C., according toCampbell’s.
In French cuisine, soups are separated into two categories: clear (bouillon and consommé) and thick (purees and bisques).
Again, this is a very broad category that includes both thin miso soup and chunky minestrone — thus, it’s difficult to pin down an exact quality that makes soup, well,soup.
Like soups, stews have been made since ancient times. Stew can consist of any combination of solid food ingredients (vegetables or meats) cooked in liquid, such as stock. Common ingredients are: beef, chicken, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, beans, and peppers. The liquid in stew is oftenthickenedthrough reduction or with flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot to create a heartier, gravy-like base.
Amount of liquid: Soup typically contains more liquid than stew, as it has a higher ratio of liquid to other ingredients, such as meat, vegetables or legumes. Stew usually has just enough liquid to cover the ingredients and has less liquid than soup. Technique: Soup is made by simmering ingredients in liquid uncovered.
A soup could become a stew if cooked long enough that most of the liquid boils off or is absorbed by the ingredients. Or you could add more liquid to a stew to make it soupier.
In soup, the liquid is the primary ingredient. Soup can be completely liquified or it can consist of other elements (like meat and vegetables) that are fully submerged in water, stock, or broth. Stew, meanwhile, is typically "chunkier." It contains just enough liquid to cover the main ingredients.
Chili is often considered a separate type of dish in itself, with many different varieties falling under its umbrella. But technically, it's a stew. No matter which ingredients you include, you'll never see a recipe asking you to puree a chili, like you often do with a soup.
A chowder is typically chunky, filled with ingredients like potatoes, carrots and seafood in a thick liquid.The ingredients are often chopped into smaller pieces than you'd get with a stew. The word comes from the French word for cauldron (chaudron), which is the vessel fishermen used to cook their soup in.
Gumbo is a hearty stew made from combinations of seafood, meat (such as andouille, chicken and ham) or vegetables that's served hot over cooked rice. Gumbo can be thickened with okra, file, or a roux, a French and Creole method of cooking equal parts flour and fat.
Simply put, ramen is a Japanese noodle soup, with a combination of a rich flavoured broth, one of a variety of types of noodle and a selection of meats or vegetables, often topped with a boiled egg.
The secret to great stew is to simmer, not boil, the liquid. Since stews are best made with tougher, less expensive cuts of meat, slow cooking over low heat will allow the liquid to break down the tissue in the meat to tender morsels. Cooking it fast will yield firm tough, chucks of meat.
Broth is a thin soup made of the water in which flavor-enhancing ingredients like meat, vegetables, and herbs and spices have been simmered. The liquid is strained after cooking to remove the flavoring ingredients. The broth can be served on its own or used as the base for a heartier soup or stew.
A potage is a category of thick soups, stews, or porridges, in some of which meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form a thick mush. Bisques are heavy cream soups traditionally prepared with shellfish, but can be made with any type of seafood or other base ingredients.
Chowder is a soup with cream or milk mixed with ingredients such as potatoes, sweet corn, smoked haddock, clams and prawns, etc. Some cream-style chowders do not use cream, and are instead prepared using milk and a roux to thicken them.
Add 1/2 cup rice or pasta per 4 cups of liquid, providing just enough time for it to cook before serving (typically about 20 minutes for rice or 10-12 minutes for pasta). Adding rice or pasta too early can cause it to over-expand and thicken your soup into a stew.
The main ingredient of a bisque is usually a shellfish like lobster, crab, shrimp, or crayfish, but occasionally other ingredients such as tomato, pumpkin or chicken are used.
The word curry doesn't refer to one dish in particular, but it is a general term used for a stewed meat, tofu, or vegetable dish cooked in a spiced gravy or aromatic sauce, then served on a bed of rice with flatbread.
Pozole (Spanish pronunciation: [po'sole]; from Nahuatl languages: pozolli, meaning cacahuazintle, a variety of corn or maize) is a traditional soup or stew from Mexican cuisine.
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood.
Low heat is suggested for all stews, never a hard boil. Placing a lid, slightly ajar on the pot traps the escaping steam and allows it to condense and fall back onto the stew. You can also cook stews in a 350°F oven or on low in a slow cooker.
Add 1/2 cup rice or pasta per 4 cups of liquid, providing just enough time for it to cook before serving (typically about 20 minutes for rice or 10-12 minutes for pasta). Adding rice or pasta too early can cause it to over-expand and thicken your soup into a stew.
People who consider Merriam-Webster the authority on defining things point out that cereal doesn't meet the dictionary's definition of soup. While it qualifies as a liquid food when eaten with milk, and it does contain pieces of solid food, it doesn't contain meat, fish, or vegetable stock.
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