No crackers in my soup, please. It sullies the innate goodness of the soup for me. Plus, I prefer my soup quite hot, so any crackers therein will quickly mushify into an ugly mess. I will take a hot squishy, heavily buttered roll on the side, for dunking with obvious gusto. Inconspicuously in polite company, of course.

Nothing added to soup or chili.

We occasionally go to Spud Point in Bodega Bay for the BEST crabby sandwich and clam chowder! They give us a little packet of oyster crackers that we sprinkle on the soup, just enough to keep them crunchy! YUM!

There was, when I was a kid, a local spicy chili dish that I loved which basically a salad on top. Shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and onions, cheddar, and probably other stuff that doesn't come to mind. Oh, like a big dollop of sour cream. And ketchup and oyster crackers. This all got spead around and toned down the heat. Was there a fried egg? Anyway, I loved it, and will occasionall do that with chili.

Otherwise, I don't adulterate the soup unless it's lacking, and if so it's usually salsa picante or sour cream to fix it. Maybe spices if I'm reheating.

If I had a cracker, I could eat it with soup. Or toast. Or not. It also depends on the richness of the soup, if it's a starter or main, etc. I like the crouton on top of French onion soup, after it gets soft but before it disintegrates, but I don't like the cheese. I love cheese, but congealed mozz isn't nice, and I like the flavor of the soup and it doesn't need rubbery cheese. I might have baguette toast with minestrone, or a sandwich with vegan vegetable. A bit of sour cream or some basil leaves in plain tomato. So I guess I do add things, but not a lot. When I made a lot of soups, I put butter in the pot of vegetarian dill split pea, but that's part of the finished soup.

We eat chili with whole grain Tostidos, and always have oyster crackers with chowder. When I don't feel well, I heat up a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup - skimp on the water and crumble saltines into it to make my belly feel better...

@seagrass_gw Cape Cod I love Campbells chicken noodle soup. I like it so hot it fogs my glasses, with cold milk. Not healthy for sure, but maybe once or twice a year, it sure hits the spot. I will add some fresh ground pepper too. Sublime.

In general, I like my soup unadulterated by crackers.

I make a big old pot of white beans. With ham hock. I leave it brothy, so I can put a giant piece of cornbread in the middle of it.

I made a cabbage beef soup recently, and we're going to put Bisquick dumplings on top of that. Probably Tuesday.

Other than that, I usually just eat the soup

I put oyster crackers in my New England clam chowder, and sometimes dip bread in other soups. Otherwise, crackers in soup - not so much.

It was not always thus. Back in the day, crackers were a cheap way to make soup more filling, so grad school-me put all the Saltines in the soup. Kind of like how college-me would order one serving of fries then pile it high with onion, pickles, and sauerkraut from the burger condiment bar. Stretching the $0.50 fries, you know.

amylou, that's how my youngest daughter eats soup, with so many crackers crumbled in that it's just a bowl of soggy crackers. The crackers can be saltine, Ritz, Townhouse, she doesn't care as long as she can crumble them up and make them soggy. Whatever, it's her soup. Both girls liked grilled cheese sandwiches to dunk into tomato soup.

Seagrass, I like Campbell's Chicken Noodle only when I've been sick, that's when I crave that salty broth, I can take or leave the soggy noodles. Dry toast to dunk or plain saltine crackers crumbled. My grandma used to crumble saltines into warm milk when she didn't feel well, or pour warm milk over toast.

I add nothing to chili and don't add cheese to anything. I like cornbread crumbled into my beans and a roll or slice of bread to dunk into whatever soup I'm having or just a few crackers. I do add dumplings to beef stew sometimes. Most of the time, though, I just want a cup of hot soup to sip on and nothing else is required.

Annie

It's never occurred to me to put crackers into soup. I like buttered good bread to dip, and the crouton on French onion soup (with Gruyere cheese, never heard of mozzarella being used) and that's about it.

OH MY GOSH, I'm so glad to know that my husband isn't the only person that puts tons of crackers in his soup! I thought he was just a weirdo! HEEHEE! He puts about a half of a sleeve of saltines(they have to be Saltines) in his soups or chili! I remember once, after he'd eaten at Golden Coral, the young waitress picked up our uneaten plates and made a face when she saw the half eaten bowl of mushy crackers that used to be a bowl of soup! It really did look pretty disgusting! HA! He likes Zestas the best. He puts them in his soup and his chili and chili also gets a big hand full of cheese with that super hot sauce like they have at the Mexican restaurant in those tiny jars. It's too hot for me!!!!! We also have grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with our soups. He likes bread with tons of butter with his chili.

The only crackers I eat and have in the house is Wasa Crispbread, not exactly soup crackers. I will have soup as a main course with a baguette (real sourdough) and often a salad, depending on the type of soup.

Oyster crackers for most cream soups. For Chili I use crushed soda crackers. I too, like sourdough instead of oyster crackers in cream soups.

Crackers or bread with soup, for dipping, but not in the soup getting soggy.

When I have MY soup or chili, I eat 5 crackers :)

I like tortilla chips to scoop up a cup of red chili with cheddar cheese on top, no spoon. Yesterday I was busy, working on my wood floor....I ate Campbells bean w/ bacon soup right out of the can, did not add water. I keep Monet crackers on hand. Yes, for soups or crab dip or a slice of cheese.

I'm happy to read that other adults eat the pretty awful -- and salty -- Campell's condensed chicken noodle or bean soups when nothing else seems tolerable.

American moms knew to serve grilled cheese sandwiches and bland tomato soup when a classmate of their child was invited for lunch. It worked for me, except with one of my son's friends. His mother always sent him with a single slice of baloney between two slices of spongy white bread -- nothing on the bread.

I think adding a lot of cheap crackers to soup was a common way to stretch the meal. It becomes one of the 'right ways' to do something that we learned at home.

No crackers in my soups, except my homemade Old Town Soup: creamy chicken and green chile soup. I sprinkle some broken tortilla chips on top before serving.

Very much depends on the soup. I make a southwestern style soup and I like to add a handful of crushed corn chips to my bowl. Definitely added crackers to tomato soup and Manhattan chowder when we were kids.

I do like to make biscuits with stews for dipping/sopping.

No crackers for us but definitely sour cream to top off chili, taco soup or tortilla soup. I’m making Ina’s Winter Minestrone tomorrow. The recipe includes Garlic Bruschetta to serve on top, but the soup’s good either with bruschetta on the side or none. Her Easy Tomato Soup With Grilled Cheese Croutons on top is also good. Again, no problem with on the side or none.

No crackers at all for me with soup or chili. DH will eat crackers with any of the soups & stews if they are available. I do like to sprinkle a few crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese, & a spoon of sour cream on top of taco soup and chili. Not on white chicken chili though.

Bread - only the bread that is used in french onion soup.

I will occasionally, no, make that almost always, make a grilled cheese sandwich to eat with a bowl of tomato soup. It just goes together.

No Campbells chicken noodle for me when I’m sick. I started keeping a few of those Ramen noodles packets on hand. I cook the noodles, throw away the highly salted packet and season with a half tsp of low sodium Better than Bouillion. Adjust the amount of bouillion to your taste, plus you can always stir in a shake of onion powder, parsley flakes, etc.

For me, sick soup is minestrone.

I don't put crackers in my soup but will sometimes eat crackers with it. I prefer chili with saltine crackers. I will more likely put rice in my soup than eat them with crackers.

I like to sprinkle pine nuts on top of my tomato soup. Sunflower seeds also work in a pinch.

Your SO has a carb addiction. Crackers to spaghetti?

I wouldn't spend my time making soup that was to become Keebler cracker stew. Canned soup is good enough for that.

I love oyster crackers but don't even add those to my soup.

Nothing added to soups, esp crackers as the soup is already salty. My soups are more like a stew with extra liquid. If I add anything, it's maybe a sprinkling of parm cheese depending on the type of soup.

I'm with ladypat. We like oyster crackers in our clam chowder. If they are still around I might then throw them in chicken soup.

And speaking about crackers.

Side story: I worked for over 20 years part-time on the sensory side of a market research company. We used unsalted saltine crackers and room temp water to clense our palettes between samples. It was only supposed to be a bite not an entire cracker but we all became ”addicted” to those crackers. And , sometimes aside just for fun we would rate and analyze the crackers served that day.

I grew up on a farm in the 40's and early 50's. Soup was always homemade, brothy, and loaded with vegetables. And we always had saltine crackers with it. Except split pea soup, it was very thick and we never had crackers with it. I would still enjoy a couple of saltines crumbled into a bowl of soup if it weren't for the salt factor. I really do try to stick to the low sodium routine,

Depending on my appetite, and the variety of the soup it can be a complete meal or a part of the meal. A good-sized bowl of a hearty soup doesn't need anything else. But a cup of soup isn't much, so a sandwich (or half of a sandwich), a salad, or maybe just a nice chunk of a crusty bread is nice.

Rusty

I don't understand the appeal of soggy crackers. Why protect crackers from damp, then soak them in soup? I'm calling 'filler' here. And, no, I don't appreciate having to struggle with that soggy bread on top of French Onion Soup. More filler.

Everybody has their own ideas of what's nice to eat. I don't crumble crackers into my soup, but I have occasionally soaked a piece of one. If you like crisp, it's not for you, but if you're good with tender to gooey, the soaked or even soggy cracker can be good. Some people hate soup. They hate the whole spooning hot liquid into their mouths, which they find most unpleasant. But some do like the flavor of soup and are good with the texture of cream of wheat, so they soak up the soup with crackers and eat something like savory, salty soup flavored cereal. I was terribly embarrassed at camp when we had soup for lunch and the counselor pointed out the proper way I was holding and using my spoon. I wasn't trying to be fancy. It's just how one ate soup! But I guess some of the other kids were doing their own thing. I didn't have special manners! We just ate soup at home. I say, so long as you're not sloshing or making weird noises, not spilling your cracker crumbs all over, or otherwise being obnoxious, how you eat your soup is up to you!

pillog -- Yes, to each his own.

It sounds as though your counselor insisted on following the herd -- plunging the point of a spoon into the mouth, not the 'proper' method, sipping from the side of the spoon. I suppose that went out along with proper (round) soup spoons -- or were those only for creamed soups?

So many 'manners', so little time for lunch.

Yes, those round ones are called cream soup spoons, but are also used wth other thick soups like split pea. The oval ones are for brothier soups. Supposedly they work better for each, though I don't have a problem with whatever shows up at my plate. My mother, when she was very elderly, found a cream soup spoon easier to use, and I found some to match her kitchen flatware for her. :)

So, yes, I was sipping from the side of the spoon, held gently from beneath, when the counselor told the whole table that I was the "proper" one. I wanted to sink in the proverbial hole. It wasn't that kind of camp! It was mostly sports, and a little arts, not "finishing" or whatever they call it. And I had no desire to be "better" or "right". That was so horrible! It's not like my peers were slopping or spilling or anything bad! Totally mortified.

Giggles to the little time for lunch. :)