Making something out of seemingly nothing is one of the best kitchen tricks imaginable. It's a skill that can save you time, money and ingredients, helping you take care of yourself and the environment. Not all dishes lend themselves especially well to improvisation. Soup, however, does.

On a recent weekend afternoon, I found myself with a few hours to cook while my family was away at a baseball tournament. The weekly trip to the supermarket hadn't happened yet, and I had no car and no interest in walking to the store and hauling groceries home. I knew it was time to pull out the turkey carcass I had stashed in the freezer from last Thanksgiving (no judgment, please) and make the broth I'd been intending to for, oh, 11 months. Into the Dutch oven it went with water and my bag of frozen vegetable scraps. After a small course correction with salt and a few fresh vegetables - turns out you can simmer scraps for so long that they turn bitter - I had a pot of gorgeous golden broth.

I scrounged around for other odds and ends lurking in the pantry and fridge - pasta, a pair of onions, a big potato. Onions showed the most promise as a backbone for a soup, so I more or less caramelized them to start, then added the broth, potato and“noodles” (more on that below). I was close to something filling, but maybe not hefty enough to call it a meal. Taking inspiration from egg drop and hot and sour soups, I swirled a few eggs into my soup at the very end, still on the burner with the heat off. The feathery eggs were visually arresting and amped up the satisfaction quotient.

For my next iteration, I swapped in boxed chicken stock for the homemade broth and a bit of chicken for the potato, about the amount you might have left over from another meal. A mere tablespoon of tomato paste brought savory umami. This soup was even more hearty and richly flavored despite its short list of humble ingredients.

While it may be out of keeping with the spirit of such a throw-together dish, I am sharing the actual recipe here, too, which you can follow to the letter or use as a starting point depending on what you have and enjoy. If you like the sound of choosing your own adventure, here are my tips and approximate ingredient amounts for pulling together an improvised soup.

Broth: 6 to 8 cups

There are many paths to broth satisfaction depending on how much time, energy and ingredients you have. If there's a carton of store-bought broth or stock in your pantry, grab that. I prefer no-salt-added options to limit sodium and give greater control over the seasoning. If you're looking to stock (pun intended) the most versatile options, go for chicken or vegetable.

No ready-made broth? Now's the time to dig out that jar of concentrated broth base, such as Better Than Bouillon. The jars will last nearly indefinitely in the fridge, and all you need to do is reconstitute it in boiling water, typically 1 teaspoon of base per cup of liquid, making it easy to make as much or as little as you need. Flavors abound, but again, chicken or vegetable will give you the most room to play.

There's always the homemade route, too. Because we're talking about scraping together things on the fly, you may not have a whole chicken or even whole vegetables on hand. But that's where scraps - vegetable peels and ends, or chicken carcasses - come in handy. A scrappy broth needs to simmer for only 30 to 40 minutes before it's rich, golden and ready to use.

If you have bean cooking liquid hanging around, use some or all of it in lieu of the broth, or swap it in for the water as the base of your chicken or vegetable broth.

Save the bones from a roast or rotisserie chicken to make broth. Photo by: Rey Lopez; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Seasoning: 1/2 to 2 cups diced or sliced vegetables (or as much as you like), 1 tablespoon flavorful paste

Every good soup needs a flavorful foundation or you might as well not bother (or drink hot water). Thankfully, you probably have all sorts of MVPs waiting in your kitchen. There's a reason so many soups start with sautéing aromatics, including onions, carrots, celery and bell peppers, so use any combination of what's in your crisper. When I went to pull together my flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants soup, I found myself with only onions, so I started my recipe by almost completely caramelizing them, as in that beloved classic, French onion soup. Other alliums can lay a strong foundation, including shallots, leeks, garlic and scallion whites. Ditto fennel and fresh ginger, depending on your desired flavor profile.

Along with whatever produce you brown to start, scrounge your fridge for aromatic pastes to go into the pot. Tomato paste is one of my go-tos, as is miso. Curry paste crams many flavors into a single convenient package. Briefly sautéing, 30 to 60 seconds, can bring out their flavors even more. The same goes for your favorite spices and herbs. (Dried herbs do especially well when simmered in soup). Use salt at several points throughout the process.

If by the time you get to the end of your soup, you find it lacking in punch, add a splash of lemon juice, vinegar or soy sauce, or a dash of salt or pepper, until it tastes just right.

Sautéing aromatic vegetables lays the foundation for a flavorful soup. Photo by: Scott Suchman for The Washington Post, food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Starch: At least 1/2 to 1 cup

Some kind of starch will add heft and texture to your soup, and thankfully, there are tons of pantry-friendly possibilities. I only have myself to blame for the multiple boxes of partially used no-boil lasagna noodles hiding in my cabinets. But broken into pieces and simmered for about 10 minutes, they made a fantastic, silken addition to my first off-the-cuff soup. Nearly any type of pasta you have will work here, especially small and tiny shapes, such as orzo, elbow macaroni, ditalini and conchiglie (shells). How much you use is up to you, though I like 1/2 to 1 cup dried pasta for a standard batch of soup with 6 to 8 cups liquid. The timing will vary depending on the shape, but expect the pasta to cook through in 8 to 12 minutes.

Grains, including rice, barley and farro, are especially welcome in hearty soups. More processed versions, such as pearled farro and barley, will cook faster than their whole counterparts. Just pay attention to the package instructions, adding time accordingly. Diced potatoes, whether regular or sweet, also lend starchy power to soups.

Short pasta shapes are great for soup. Photo: Scott Suchman for The Washington Post, Food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Protein: 10 to 15 ounces/2 to 3 cups, or at least 2 large eggs

Here's where we start to really turn the soup into a meal. If you have leftover cooked meat, preferably shredded or chopped, add it in the last few minutes of cooking just to heat through. Ditto diced tofu. Raw meat will need longer, but keep the pieces small so they cook through relatively quickly. Consider browning them in the pot at the start of cooking for the best flavor. Beans are another ideal option for improvising, particularly canned. Especially if you're using no-salt-added canned beans, consider using the bean liquid, too, as it lends more body than water or broth. If you, like me, are in the habit of making a big batch of home-cooked beans over the weekend, a cup or two rounds out a wide variety of soups. Barring any of those, there's always trusty eggs.

Garnishes/toppings: As much as you want

This is the most whimsical part of the formula. Almost anything you like is fodder for topping soup. Sort through your pantry and fridge for such ready-made options as tortilla chips, potato chips, croutons, chili crisp, fried onions, breadcrumbs, shredded or crumbled cheese, and even dried stuffing mix. Or drizzle or swirl in a bit of pesto, chile oil, barbecue sauce or yogurt. With a minimal amount of knife work, you can adorn your soup with sliced scallions or jalapeños, minced herbs or chopped nuts. Even more ambitious? Crisp up pieces of bacon or prosciutto, or candy your choice of nuts.

While not a garnish per se, you can treat more tender greens, such as arugula or spinach as such, stirring them in at the very end to gently wilt into the soup.

Use homemade or store-bought croutons as a crunchy topping for soup. Photo: Lauren Bulbin - TWP; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky

French Onion Chicken Noodle Soup

This mashup of French onion and chicken noodle soups is richly flavored and satisfying, despite its short ingredient list. It's also a great example of how you can use pantry staples and leftovers to improvise a soup on relatively little notice. Of course, it takes well to all kinds of riffing, whether you want to switch out the type of onion, pasta shape, broth or even the protein. See Substitutions for a few ideas. The soup needs no additional garnish, but feel free to dress it up with fresh herbs, croutons or any other topping you like.

Servings: 4 to 5 (makes 7 cups)

Total time: 50 minutes

Substitutions: Yellow onions >> white onions or shallots. Tomato paste >> shiro (white) miso. Chicken broth or stock >> vegetable broth. Cooked chicken >> cooked pork; one (14-ounce) package firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and diced; 1 large potato, scrubbed and diced; or one (15-ounce) can white beans or chickpeas, liquid reserved for adding with the broth. Or swirl 2 large eggs, lightly beaten, into the hot soup on the turned-off burner, stirring constantly; the eggs should cook immediately and look like long, yellowish-white strands. Instead of meat or another protein >> just use more pasta: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium yellow onions (1 pound total), halved and sliced

1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

6 cups chicken broth or stock, preferably no-salt-added or reduced-sodium (see Notes)

2 cups (10 ounces) cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (see Notes)

1 cup (3 ounces) small dried pasta, such as rotelle or elbow macaroni

DIRECTIONS

In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onions and cook, stirring a few times, until they just start to soften and turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the salt and sugar, reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat as needed to prevent scorching, until the onions are caramelized, 10 to 13 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic and darkened, 30 to 60 seconds. Stir in a splash of the broth and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot, then add the remaining broth, the chicken and pasta. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the liquid is at a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 10 to 12 minutes, or according to the package instructions. Season to taste with more salt, if desired, ladle into bowls and serve.

Notes: If you're using leftover roast chicken or a rotisserie bird from the store and would prefer a from-scratch broth, pull the meat off the bones and use the carcass along with a few vegetables to make one; see Leftover Roast Chicken Soup in related recipes for one method. When making the soup, add any of the jellied bits at the bottom of the rotisserie container or bag along with the broth. They'll contribute loads of flavor and body.

Nutrition | Per serving (about 1 1/2 cups), based on 5: 247 calories, 21g carbohydrates, 49mg cholesterol, 7g fat, 1g fiber, 24g protein, 1g saturated fat, 773mg sodium, 6g sugar.

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian's or nutritionist's advice.

From recipes editor Becky Krystal.

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