A food journalist has spilled the beans on what he says is a game-changer for cooks wanting to take their soups to the next level. Ross Yoder,  who works for Tasty, said there is one unlikely ingredient that will make your soup both tastier and thicker — killing two birds with one stone.

In an article for Tasty, Ross discussed how to 'up your cooking game' and emphasised that it was less about "fancy cooking techniques" and more about experimentation. Some of the tips he offered aspiring kitchen aficionados were using tarragon on fries, adding a bit of sugar to savoury dishes to evoke sweetness, and the tiniest bit of cayenne pepper to your banana bread. 

One of the most surprising tips, however, concerned how Josh improves his soups. He recommends adding a secret ingredient that most of us would not normally consider as a way to raise the bar on your first course or guilty pleasure offering. Instead of using cream or a roux, Josh suggested using instant mashed potatoes.

Some readers may consider this a faux pas, but as someone who cooks for a living, Josh recommends it as a way to thicken soups and improve their taste. The food writer even went so far as to say it will make a massive improvement to your liquid meal.

Josh said: "It is such a game-changer."

While most people usually associate dairy products with thickening agents, instant mashed potatoes definitely do not fall into this category.

The food item is more widely known for being a side for those who don't have time to peel or boil potatos, but it makes sense that this stuff could be used to add texture, depth, and flavour to a soup. Best of all, it would probably take someone with a discerning palette to guess what the secret ingredient is in the soup if you were to use it.

The instant mash products are renowned for how fast and easy they are to use, making this a relatively smooth transition to make if you want to experiment with improving your soups.