Why Lemon Juice Is The Powerhouse Ingredient For Next-Level Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup season means we're making all kinds of brothy goodness. Whether that's a rich Tuscan white bean recipe or using stale bread to make a delicious hearty soup, there's no end to how many bowls we plan on going through. And when it comes to classic chicken noodle soup, it's always a good time to curl up with a steaming mug and feel like a kid again.

And now that we're all adults on paper, it feels like making homemade chicken noodle soup comes with territory. So you may be wondering how you can elevate your recipe to take your version (or even your favorite canned variety) to the next level. Enter: lemon juice.

While lemons may not be your first thought when it comes to ingredients you'll need for a comforting broth (unless you're making a lemon-forward Greek avgolemono soup), their juice is often used to help balance all of the other flavors going on in the pot. In fact, acid is a common ingredient in soups because it helps to brighten the silky broth, bringing balance to the rest of the salty and savory notes. While vinegar and tomato are other acidic ingredients often used, lemon in particular is a classic pairing with chicken that we know you'll love.

When it comes to exactly how to use lemon juice for your soup, keep in mind that we're referring to fresh lemon juice — aka squeezed directly from a lemon. While the bottled stuff has its time and place, it has a more bitter flavor than the brightness of fresh, so we recommend going for the OG stuff in this instance.

Now when it comes to some other recipes, you may see citrus used early in the cooking process. For soup, however, you want to use it at the very end to protect its potency. Plus, when lemon juice is cooked in soup and eventually reheated, citrus can become harsh and bitter.

Because of this, it's best to squeeze your lemon directly into your serving bowls rather than into the big pot of soup (unless you're planning on using the entire pot right away). You could also consider serving lemon wedges on the side of your bowls, so your guests can squeeze them in themselves and choose how much they want to add. And make sure you deseed your lemon so that you don't accidentally lose seeds in the broth — nobody wants that.