17 Simple Frozen Items To Add To Canned Soup

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Canned soups are the quintessential convenience food and can live in your pantry for a long time, making them readily available whenever you need a quick meal. Similarly, frozen foods have enabled many American home cooks to prepare a wide variety of dishes from many different cuisines, as well as effortlessly adding vegetables or protein to a meal. If you combine these two categories of kitchen staples, you can actually create a pretty impressive array of dishes, ensuring you'll never get bored of home cooking without having to labor over a hot stove for too long.

From freezer staples like frozen spinach to international ingredients like chewy rice cakes, below are several frozen items you can add to canned soup to jazz up quick suppers and last-minute lunches. You can find most of these products at major supermarket chains, although some of them may require a bit of hunting. But you can rest assured that your efforts will pay off. These tips also allow for your own creative spins, including personalized seasonings and garnishes.

Tomato soup is a classic pairing for grilled cheese sandwiches, but it's also a great base for countless recipes, including the beloved Southern French soup bouillabaisse, which combines a fisherman's bounty of seafood with a flavorful tomato broth. Adding a pouch of mixed seafood to a can of condensed tomato soup can make quick work of a busy weeknight version of this rich Provençal recipe. Enjoy it as is, or add herbs, saffron, white wine, and other aromatics to give it a more traditional flavor. A shot of pastis is optional but highly recommended.

Campbell's makes a rich and creamy Garlic Parmesan Bisque with Herbs that goes particularly well with frozen stuffed pasta, like tortellini. Dump some of these bellybutton-shaped Italian dumplings into a saucepan of boiling water, and once they're tender, add your condensed soup. Include some frozen grilled chicken pieces for a lightning-fast take on chicken Alfredo tortellini. This tip also works well with any other creamy soup, like cream of celery or cream of mushroom. Make it extra rich by stirring in a pat of butter, and don't forget to top off each serving with lots of cheese.

Many supermarkets now carry a selection of frozen dumplings, and the variety is exponentially greater if you visit an Asian grocery store. Adding a few of them to a bowl of chicken noodle soup is a quick and easy way to enjoy a taste of wonton soup. Any type of dumpling will work here, but try to get frozen wontons — they're traditional for a reason. For an even more authentic touch reminiscent of the original Cantonese version, add some instant ramen noodles.

Steak-umm, which is available on Amazon, is a brand of frozen shaved beef that can be sauteed to fill Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, but you can use any brand to create a soup version of this emblematic Pennsylvania export. Simply cook some shaved meat in a saucepan, then add cheddar cheese soup and thin it with some milk. If you want a fully loaded sandwich-turned-soup, add a bag of frozen fajita vegetables.

Avgolemono is a favorite Greek soup featuring chicken and rice in a lemony, egg yolk-enriched broth, and canned chicken and rice soup is a perfect shortcut to get this Mediterranean comfort food on the table fast. Adding frozen spinach to the mix is a common variation of this soup. Finish your verdant twist on a Hellenic classic with a generous squirt of lemon juice, and you can also stir in an egg yolk to make it extra velvety. A shower of feta cheese crumbles will elevate it to Mount Olympus levels.

Tteok are chewy rice cakes similar to mochi and a staple ingredient in Korean cuisine. They are most popularly enjoyed in a must-try Korean street food called tteokbokki, which bathes these glutinous rice flour dumplings in a fiery chili sauce. Adding them to a can of tomato soup, however, can give you a milder take on this popular snack, which you can then tweak with traditional seasonings like gochujang and sesame oil. Tteok are available in many Asian supermarkets and come in a variety of shapes, from little logs and coins to cute peanuts.

Black beans are a key ingredient in many Latin American dishes, and their onyx hue and silky texture make them a showstopper in soups and pottages. While not challenging to make at home, a can of black bean soup lets you go from stove to table in minutes. By adding some frozen fire-roasted corn, you take your soup to the American Southwest while also giving it more textural variety and pops of sweetness that contrast with the beans' savory qualities. Add some chopped Hatch chiles to transport your taste buds to Santa Fe.

For many, a trip to Ikea isn't complete without dining on a plate of Swedish meatballs with gravy. You can easily recreate a spoonable version of this Scandinavian classic by picking up a bag of frozen Huvudroll meatballs at the Nordic home store and combining them with a can of cream of mushroom soup. You can make a thinner soup with a generous pour of milk, or make a richer sauce with cream. If you're nowhere near an Ikea, this tip will work fabulously well with any brand of frozen meatballs.

Gumbo is a spicy specialty from southern Louisiana consisting of okra, meats, and bold seasonings served over rice. Many brands' canned versions may already include sausage, but some manufacturers may eschew this ingredient, which adds so much flavor to the soup. If you can find frozen andouille — a spicy local style of sausage — that's great, but some diced-up heat-and-serve breakfast links will also work well to add rich savoriness to this hearty dish. Don't forget to add a few dashes of Tabasco or Krystal hot sauce before digging in.

Canned French onion soup can cut back on a lot of the time required to make this bistro classic, but without the traditional topping of a slice of baguette smothered in molten cheese, it can feel incomplete. Nevertheless, using a pricey imported cheese on canned soup can seem a little excessive, which is why frozen cheesy Texas toast offers a perfect, fuss-free solution. Heat it according to the package instructions, and top each serving with a slice for a Lone Star State twist on a French classic. And be sure to add a little drizzle of bourbon to your soup to make a truly American original.

Canned chicken and rice soup is a classic for a reason, but it has two features that may not appeal to everyone: It's brothy and high in carbohydrates. Whether you're monitoring your glucose levels or just trying to avoid starchy foods, adding some frozen riced cauliflower to a can of cream of chicken soup will give you a fresher version of the dish that still feels hearty. This substitution will also prevent your soup from turning into porridge overnight, meaning you can make a big batch to enjoy later.

Frozen stir-fry kits are convenient because they include all the vegetables and sauce needed to make a colorful Asian-inspired meal, but they often result in soggy stews. Nevertheless, they are a perfect addition to brothy soups, and adding one to canned beef consommé or broth can give you a quick and easy riff on takeout-style hot and sour soup. Add a generous amount of white pepper and swirl in some vinegar before serving to give it that signature punchy flavor. You can always enrich it with a cornstarch slurry for a velvety mouthfeel.

Cream of celery soup may often get overlooked, but the vegetable's unique flavor, coupled with the soup's creaminess, makes this canned pantry staple a perfect pairing for so many ingredients, especially potatoes. Frozen hash browns are a convenient freezer essential that can be added to any soup to create a filling meal in minutes, but combine them with cream of celery, and you get a rich and creamy chowder that you can customize with anything you want, from bacon crumbles and eggs for a breakfast-plate soup to dill and sour cream for Eastern European-inspired comfort food.

Black beans play a major role in Cuban cooking, along with sweet fried plantains, or maduros. Their custardy texture and caramel sweetness offset the flavors of many traditional dishes. You can find presliced frozen maduros in many supermarkets these days. Chop a few up and add them to your soup for a sweet-and-savory flavor combination that would be perfect with a scoop of rice and a few slices of avocado.

Sofrito is a wet blend of aromatics that forms the flavor base of many Spanish Caribbean cuisines, including Puerto Rican cuisine. Available in the freezer section of many supermarkets, a spoonful of this seasoning paste stirred into some chicken and rice soup will turn it into a nearly instant asopao, a traditional favorite that's best described as a soupier version of arroz con pollo, or Latino-style chicken and rice. Add some frozen peas and diced peppers for a more substantial meal, along with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro for freshness.

Potato soup is hearty and comforting but can be a little bland without some add-ins. Fortunately, it's such a versatile soup that you can add pretty much anything to it and get delicious results. It's also a good base for a plethora of hearty root vegetables, and by adding some frozen sweet potato chunks to this humble canned soup, you can create a satisfying dish that would be a perfect addition to a fall table but can also be enjoyed throughout the year.

Scallion pancakes are a flaky, buttery flatbread common throughout the Chinese diaspora and also similar to Indian parathas. The texture of both will remind you of a cross between a flour tortilla and a croissant, which makes them the perfect crust for a pot pie. Simply empty a can of your favorite chunky soup into an oven-safe container, cover it with one of these layered breads, and place it in a hot oven to bake. Make sure to add a few slits to your crust to let steam escape, and in a few minutes, you'll have an easy yet impressive-looking entree.