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up vote 3 down vote favorite

Is there any way to add pasta to soup without the pasta doubling in size and getting mushy in the fridge later.I've even tried putting uncooked pasta in with the same result.

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4 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

First cook the soup. When it is ready get the amount you need and cook the pasta in there, then serve. You can add more pasta to the soup you put in the fridge when you reheat it.

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The only problem with this method is that if you mistake the amount of soup that you'll need, and you cook the pasta in that separate pan of soup, then you either end up with leftover soup with the pasta in it, or if somebody wants seconds, and you're out of the soup with cooked pasta, then you have no easy recourse, unless they want to wait 8-10 minutes while you make another batch with pasta. – MarkS Feb 6 '12 at 3:12
I also don't like the way that cooking pasta in the soup makes for a starchier soup. – MarkS Feb 6 '12 at 3:18
@MarkS: I guess that goes down to taste. I actually like to cook pasta in soup... Otherwise Doug's answer is probably fine (although my brain refuses the concept of storing plain pasta in my fridge... pasta has to be cooked at the moment :D). – nico Feb 6 '12 at 7:36
up vote 5 down vote

Negative!

As soon as cooked pasta is added to liquid, it keeps growing and growing and growing.

The only way to work around this is to add the cooked pasta at the last minute, so it can warm in the hot liquid.

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I agree with this. I cook the pasta separate, and then combine the pasta and the soup in the bowl. The pasta remains al dente and the soup doesn't get starchy. Left over soup and pasta goes in the fridge separately. For lunch the next day, I can still head up a portion of the soup and at the last minute, add the pasta and I still get al dente pasta in my soup. – MarkS Feb 6 '12 at 3:15
up vote 3 down vote

If you're going to hold soup with pasta in the fridge, store the pasta separately, and add it when reheating the soup. This also goes for soup with dumplings.

This does mean that you'll need to cook the pasta separately from the soup, which is another pot. If you look, though, this is what a lot of recipes recommend.

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up vote 0 down vote

Use egg noodles. They seem to do better and not get mushy. I once even froze some chicken noodle soup made with egg noodles and after it was reheated, the noodles where not mushy.

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Freezing is waaaay different than storing in the fridge. – nico Jan 30 '12 at 16:57

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