Soup is one of the best meals for any time of day, for any time of year, and is one of the most popular meals. There is some kind of soup in almost every culture around the world and some cultures even have soup as the foundation of their diet.
The wonderful thing about soup is that it does not always have to be the main event, and it is often enjoyed alongside other parts of a meal or as a starter or entrée.
One type of food that is nearly always enjoyed alongside soup is bread.
This is because the subtle flavors of bread go great with the more intense flavors of a soup, and you can use the bread as a device for eating the soup in a different way, whether that be dipping, dunking, or swiping.
Almost every type of bread has been used with soup and everyone seems to have their favorite. But there are some bread types which work better with some soups than others.
Enjoying your favorite soup but with the bread that is a perfect pair for it is a much more interesting and flavorful experience than just using whatever bread you have lying about.
Also, if you plan to serve soup as a meal and of course want to serve it alongside bread, getting the perfect bread to go with it will give your guests an even better experience and will leave a good impression.
If you feel like you are always eating the same meals but do not want to shift the entire foundation of what you eat, making a change like getting a different bread to eat with your soup is a great way to shake things up.
This article will give some examples of which types of bread work best with different types of soup to give you ideas and inspiration for what to eat with this delicious meal to make it even better!
If you have any questions about what bread goes best with different types of soup, make sure to keep reading!
French Baguettes Go Great With Almost Everything
If you want a bread which goes great with pretty much every type of soup, look no further than baguette.
The crusty exterior has the perfect structure for holding and dipping in soup, while the soft and delicate inside is perfect for absorbing the delicious flavors of any of your favorite soups.
The duality of the crunchy exterior with the soft inside is what makes this bread such a perfect choice to go with soup. If you have not tried this combination for whatever reason, you should make your top priority trying this classic combination as soon as possible.
If you do not know a baguette is a thin long bread which originates in France and is most often made using a standard lean dough. This bread became popular all the way back in the 18th century and its popularity and global presence has grown since then.
The word baguette translates into a word similar to stick, baton, or wand all in reference to the distinctive length of this bread.
While if you want to, you can make this bread, you will usually need a specific type of oven to achieve the length of a standard baguette, because of this it is usually easier to just buy this, but if you want to attempt making a smaller baguette yourself, this is pretty achievable.
Sourdough Bread Goes Great With Cream Of Mushroom
One of the best matches for the distinct flavor of cream of mushroom is the equally distinct flavor of sourdough bread. This is a rustic bread which goes great with the flavor of cream of mushroom and its unique flavor is incredibly complimentary.
The sourdough bread has distinct earthy flavors which are not overpowering and the rich deep flavor of a cream of mushroom soup do a great job of balancing this out for an incredibly satisfying flavor combination.
Another great reason to eat sourdough with a meal like this is that its unique components will promote the health of your gut as well as improve your general digestion.
Sourdough is made through the dough being fermented by wild yeast and this gives it a slight sour taste which is what gives it its unique taste.
This bread has been made since 3700BC so the reason it has kept being made for so long is because its taste is so popular, especially in recent years.
Unlike baguettes, this is a much more easy bread to attempt to make yourself since you can start a sourdough starter with very few ingredients or materials needed and all you need is patience.
It is incredibly impressive if you can learn to make sourdough yourself, and you should be able to make it in a standard oven much easier than a baguette since it does not have a strict shape it needs to fit.
If you want a fun bread to start learning to bake with, committing to a sourdough starter is a great idea!
Naan Goes Great With Spinach Soup
If you are eating a spinach soup or something similar to this, one of the best choices of bread sides to go with this is naan bread.
Most people associate this bread with only being eaten with Indian cuisine like curry, but this is an underestimation of the versatility of this bread.
For a green veggie filled soup, a flatbread like naan is a great choice, and another fitting aspect of this bread is how versatile its flavors are with a massive variety of different naans available.
Naan is a leavened flatbread which is most commonly found in Asia, but it is now present in most countries and popular for its unique texture and versatile flavor profiles which compliment a variety of different dishes.
Traditionally this bread is cooked in a tandoor and this is how it cooks in such a quick and specific way to achieve its unique texture and flavor profile, however, those who do not have a tandoor have worked out ways of cooking this bread with more widely accessible methods, but if you want a completely authentic naan, this is the best way to get one.
When using naan for dipping in soup, have fun with it and take advantage of all the unique toppings and seasonings which go with this bread to get the most unique and fitting flavor combinations with your favorite soup and take full advantage of this breads unique versatility.
Pita Bread Goes Great With Carrot Soup
For a soup like carrot soup, similar to the previous vegetable filled soup, we have recommended another flatbread, only this time switching to pita bread.
This bread usually has a less distinct flavor than a naan, but they are a great choice for carrying foods and dipping and dunking in soup.
Their soft interior is also a great choice for absorbing soup, but the more solid outside gives you a good level of control for wiping up your favorite soup with.
This flatbread is Greek in origin and is popular worldwide for its versatility, but especially in Mediterranean regions.
This bread type has been popular for centuries with there actually being evidence that this bread was being eaten all the way back in the Stone Age around 14,500 years ago where in the country which is now called Jordan, there is evidence of a bread similar to Pita being made using cereal grains.
The modern pita is quite detached from its ancient origins with the name pita actually being relatively recent.
This is another bread that requires quite a bit of practice to learn to make, but if you can do this, making it homemade is one of the best ways to appreciate this bread and get all of its flavors.
Rye Bread Goes Great With Cream Of Celery
If you love a soup like cream of celery or something similar to this, a great healthy bread choice to try with this is rye bread which is very high in fiber making the meal much more stable for your digestive system to deal with and also including a lot of vitamin B.
This is not a bread type everyone has tried, but with its earthier tones, similar to the aforementioned sourdough, makes it a perfect choice for enjoying with soup complimenting the contrasting flavors.
The reason why this bread has such a distinct appearance is because it is made with varying different proportions of flour which originates from a rye grain which is a much different color from the traditionally used white flour.
This flour choice is what makes it so high in fiber and is also what makes this bread so flavorful compared to its more subtle alternatives.
While this bread is now widely available, it was originally most popular in more eastern European countries. It is thought to have become widely made in about 500AD and since then its popularity has grown.
There are also a wide variety of different types of rye bread available usually depending on the variety and ratio of rye flour which is used.
Because this bread is quite similar to traditional loafs just using different flour and slightly different methods, this is a relatively accessible choice to learn to make, which makes this a great choice for something to learn to make yourself.
Challah Goes Great With Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash (You might want to check out some Acorn Squash Recipes) soup has quite a unique flavor profile and what better to suit it than the relatively unique flavor profile of the traditionally Jewish plaited bread Challah.
While this bread looks quite complex with its design and beautiful glossy appearance, it is actually not too hard to learn to make, and on top of this is highly customizable making it, so you can change this bread to be either savory or sweet depending on your preference and the context you want to use it in.
Challah has a richer flavor than most other breads and has a quite spongy texture which makes it a great choice for soaking up soup with. If you have never tried this bread, you have to taste it soon because its unique flavor is delicious.
This bread is most commonly eaten on Jewish holidays, it can be eaten at any time of year, and the ingredients which are needed to make it are actually not too difficult to gather, and you may already own some.
If you already know how to make bread and want to try something new, making this bread is a great choice to try something completely different, but not too hard to achieve.
Soda Bread Goes Great With Cream Of Chicken Soup
If you are looking for a bread which works great with cream of chicken soup, look no further than the traditional Irish bread, Soda bread.
What makes this bread unique is that it is cooked with baking soda instead of yeast which is what makes the bread have such a specific flavor.
This means this bread was a really distinct and unique texture as well as taste which makes it compliment the warm comforting feel of cream of chicken soup.
If you really want this bread to go great with cream of chicken, you can make it even more luxurious by adding some butter to the bread to make it even more creamy.
What makes soda bread so unique is that it is a quick bread meaning that it does not need time to prove and instead can be prepared and baked successfully without needing to spend lots of time and energy waiting for it to prove.
Unlike many other breads, this bread has traditionally been made with buttermilk because this contains lactic acid and this lactic acid mixes with the baking soda to make carbon dioxide which is what makes the bread rise, instead of the usual yeast reaction.
If you want to try something completely unique, and you have never tried soda bread before, you could find your new favorite bread.
And if you want to try making it yourself, the process is not too difficult to do and does not need many specialty ingredients or specific tool to make.
Focaccia Goes Great With Vegetable Soup
Vegetable soup often has more subtle flavors, so to counter this, a more flavorful bread like focaccia greatly compliments it.
The wonderful thing about focaccia is that it comes in a wide variety of flavors like olive, tomato, rosemary, or just a salty plain variety, meaning that you can find a type of focaccia you like and get it to work with whichever type of vegetable soup you want to have.
This bread has Italian origin and is a flat-leavened bread which is usually cut into squares or rectangles making it the perfect shape for dunking and dipping into soup.
It also has a very light inside with plenty of air pockets which makes it very absorbent and perfect for soaking up soup.
The flavor of the seasoning and the rock salt which is used when making this bread makes it have a distinct flavor which is only strengthened by the addition of ingredients like olives or tomatoes to give an even more specific flavor.
This is also not a super difficult recipe to learn to make so if you want to try it yourself, it does not require too much effort or unusual ingredients to be able to make successfully.
Tiger Bread Goes Great With Cream Of Tomato
A bread which not everyone has tried is tiger bread which has a distinct mottled crust which makes it a great choice for dipping into soup as well as contrasting its light and fluffy internal texture.
This makes it a great pair for the simple but rich flavor of cream of tomato soup. There are also different versions of this Dutch bread which come with flavors added like cheese which goes amazingly with the tomato flavor.
The way this bread achieves its mottled crust is because a pattern is painted on top of the bread before it is baked in rice paste which will add a distinct flavor to the bread as well as the unique texture of the crust.
This bread otherwise has quite a standard flavor for bread so if you want to try something traditional but not too new with your soup, this is a great choice, and it is also not too hard to attempt making yourself with it being quite similar to a standard loaf of bread.
Takeaway
So hopefully this article has opened your eyes to all the great options for bread when it comes to eating them with soup.
All of these breads should work with any type of soup, so you do not have to follow this guide strictly, you might even discover a new flavor combination which no one else has ever tried!
My love of food extends challenges into cooking, trying new restaurants, and much more. That is why I’ve created The Gannet, as a place to teach people all my tips and tricks surrounding food and cooking. Don’t forget the food challenges!
So, stay a while and learn from someone that has been interested in food their whole life. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet you on a wall of fame somewhere.
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