- Something sweet (sugar, honey, etc.)
- More liquid (water or broth)
- Something starchy (like potatoes, rice, or pasta)
- Something acidic (tomatoes, wine, citrus, etc.)
- Dairy (yogurt, sour cream, milk, cheese)
How to Tone Down Spicy Soup
You may be itching in your seat right now, dying to finally know the way to even out the spiced dish you accidentally made…
The Newly Found Kitchen Hacks
When it comes to making spicy soup, it’s really a relief to know that you’ve got some tricks on hand when things go south.
Chili Too Spicy, How To Make It Mild?
Whether you slop it on a hot dog or eat it with your favorite nacho chips, Spicy chili has become everybody’s comfort food all thanks to the mouth-watering combination of flavor it gives out.
The Final Words
A spicy soup that’s making your head spin, or chili that makes you feel like your breath has caught fire, you now know how to tone down spicy soup.
Help! My Soup Is Too Spicy!
Did tasting your soup make you (and possibly an innocent bystander) a little wild around the eyes? Fear not! Most kitchens have at least one of ingredients needed to douse the fiery inferno you've created without butchering the taste.
7 Ways to Make My Soup Less Spicy or Salty
Adding any or all of the following ingredients can help reduce the heat:
1. Add Sugar
Take a tablespoon of granulated sugar and stir it into the soup until it has dissolved. It is better to add a little sugar (or honey) at a time to make sure the dish does not become too sweet and likely to send the kids plowing through the kitchen on a sugar high.
2. Dilute With Water or Broth
You probably thought about this one already, but it still must be mentioned. Adding extra liquid to the soup will dilute its overall spiciness and result in a tamer ratio of spice to soup.
3. Add Starch
If you add a starch like potatoes or rice, you can soak up some of that excess spice. Think of it as death by potato: The quasi-miraculous absorbing powers of the potato can kill some of the burn quite efficiently. Slice a potato into several sections or add a half cup of dry pasta and let it simmer for around 20 minutes, with the flame on low.
4. Add Acidic Ingredients
Acidic things (like lemon or lime juice, wine, vinegar, tomatoes, etc.) can all help cut the spiciness of a soup. If your too-spicy soup is tomato-based, an easy solution is to simply add more tomato. Add a cup of white wine to your too-spicy pot and call it "drunken chicken soup."
5. Use Dairy (Milk, Yogurt, Sour Cream, Cheese)
There's a good reason why you see all those glasses of milk lined up on the table at the World Chile Eating Challenge. Dairy is the most-common go-to solution for dousing the flames.
1. Add more ingredients to dilute the spiciness
The easiest way to tone down a dish that’s too spicy is to add more ingredients to lessen the proportion of the spicy element. If it’s a soup or stew, try adding more liquid. Add more vegetables, protein, or starches, too — whatever ingredient you have extra of.
2. Add dairy
Dairy is great at counteracting spiciness and can add a nice cooling effect. You can add milk, sour cream, or even a dollop of plain yogurt over each serving, but beware of adding and then cooking the dairy over higher heat, as it may curdle.
3. Add acid
Take this trick from Thai cuisine, which happily uses lots of chiles. To counteract spiciness, a lot of their dishes use a liberal amount of acid from citrus, vinegar, or even ketchup. A spoonful can really do wonders to balance out and counteract the spiciness.
4. Add a sweetener
Like acid, sugar or other sweeteners add a different element of flavor that can tame spiciness. This one comes with a caveat, though, as you want to add very small amounts and taste constantly so your savory dish doesn’t end up tasting like dessert.
5. Add nut butter
A fun trick I’ve read about is to add a spoonful of nut butter, like almond or peanut butter, to soups and stews. Apparently it will help mellow the dish out but won’t be really noticeable when you eat it. Has anyone tried this trick before?
6. Serve with bland, starchy foods
Let’s say your overly spicy dish tastes perfect otherwise, and you don’t want to mess with it by adding other ingredients. My simple solution is to serve it with something bland and starchy so when eaten together, the spice is diffused a bit. Rice, pasta, crusty bread, or potatoes are all great candidates.
This Simple Technique Will Help Dial Down the Heat
Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.
Taste As You Go!
Just like when you use too much salt or too much sugar, there's no way to actually cancel out the spiciness. This is why the adage "taste as you go" are words to live by—or at least cook by.
Diluting a Spicy Dish
But suppose, during the course of tasting as you go, you discover that your dish is, in fact, too spicy. This is better than discovering the mistake only after your guests are eating. Still, now you've got to fix it.
Balancing the Heat
Once you've halved the spiciness, you can now start to tinker around the edges by balancing the remaining heat with other flavors and ingredients. Generally speaking, this means adding a dairy product or adding sweetness (or both).
