Remy’s soup

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Magpies

Remy's soup

Have you ever wondered what Remy puts in the soup that Linguini nearly ruins in Ratatouille? Of course you have! We all have. Well, here in the test kitchens of The Ordinary, we’ve done exhaustive research to arrive at the definitive version of the soup, with the precise ingredients that Remy used. Precisely definitive! We watched this scene dozens of times. We’ve listened to characters’ descriptions of the soup, and we’ve analyzed the inner workings of the kitchen to arrive at a soup that is a “spicy yet subtle taste experience.” Let us walk you through it. To begin with, when Linguini nearly knocks the pot off the stove, the soup looks like tomato sauce. We determined, decidedly, that it’s probably some sort of tomato soup. We kept that part simple, but we did add a spicy element, because nothing we saw Remy add could be described as “spicy.” Linguini adds tap water, an entire bunch of scallions, white wine, and salt, lots of salt. Noted. Remy adds broth, cream, garlic, thyme, black pepper, cubes of potato, leeks, parsley, chervil, more salt, bay leaves and, we believe, basil. He later states, when questioned by Linguini, that he DID NOT add oregano or rosemary, which they both identify as “spices,” although we, here at The Ordinary, would call them “herbs.” The soup turned out delicious! Spicy, yet subtle. My son, something of a Ratatouille scholar himself, ate three bowls, but declared that the color was too rosy. I’m not an imaginary french rat, for heaven’s sake! I’m not actually going to add an entire container of cream!

Here’s Souped Up from the Ratatouille soundtrack to listen to as you leap over the pot, gleefully adding ingredients.

2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 shallot – minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 t red pepper flakes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes – pureed (I used fire roasted diced tomatoes)
3 small potatoes – peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 leek – Trimmed, cleaned and sliced in half lengthwise, and then chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2 plump cloves garlic – finely minced
1 t thyme
1 t basil
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup parsley – chopped
small handful of chervil
vegetable broth (Start with a few cups, and see how much you need!)
1 cup (+/-) light cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

I didn’t make this quite in the order that it’s shown in the film, because I think the potatoes, in reality, would need to cook for a longer time than they showed us. So here we go…

Warm the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the thyme, basil, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, shallot and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until things start to brown, and then add the scallions, potatoes, leeks. Cook until the potatoes start to brown a bit on the edges, and until they seem a bit soft. Add the white wine, and cook until it’s reduced and syrupy. Add the tomatoes, thyme, veg broth and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes to half an hour, till the potatoes seem soft. Add the parsley and cream. Cook to warm everything through. Add the chervil right at the end – it’s very delicate. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve!

41 thoughts on “Remy’s soup”

Jane Wesby on March 11, 2012 at 9:27 pm said:

Great post Claire! Love that movie! One of the best food movies ever made. I loved your comment about when Ego tastes the ratatouille in the film in an earlier post. My favorite scene. We’ll be showing a food movie at the Acme soon called “Jiru Dreams of Sushi”. Check out the trailer!

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- Claire on March 12, 2012 at 10:21 am said:
  
  Hello, Jane! I’ve read a lot about Jiru Dreams of Sushi. It sounds wonderful!
  
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jake on September 28, 2012 at 3:45 pm said:

I really love your recipes and was wondering if you had tried to recreate remy’s chanterelle mushroom with tomme de chevre de pays creation?

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- Claire on September 28, 2012 at 10:02 pm said:
  
  I don’t…yet. It does look delicious, though. I’m not sure how to recreate the lightning-y part without actually getting electrocuted! I’ll work on it and let you know.
  
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Anonymous on December 3, 2012 at 11:37 pm said:

lol. lightning part without the electrocution….im sure a good stove or grill would do just fine

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Janel on April 3, 2013 at 9:53 pm said:

It was delicious!! I made this today with my girls and we of course watched the movie while eating it. I was surprised that even my pickiest daughter like it too! lol, she quoted the movie, spicy yet subtle 😀

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- Claire on April 4, 2013 at 1:02 pm said:
  
  I’m glad it worked out! Thanks for telling me. And I’m glad your little ones liked it
  
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Cheyanne on June 27, 2013 at 9:08 pm said:

My little sister loves this movie, we watch it 24/7. My older sister and I have always wondered what the soup tasted like; she found this. Can’t wait to try it! 😀

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- Claire on June 28, 2013 at 2:32 pm said:
  
  I hope it works out for you! I love ratatouille, too. We just watched it again because it was my birthday and I insisted on it!
  
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A on July 26, 2013 at 7:51 pm said:

They posted it officially here: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-26-ratatouille-recipe_N.htm

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Anonymous on August 12, 2013 at 4:49 am said:

Haha
leaping with joy, ❤

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Katherine on September 4, 2013 at 12:35 am said:

The soup turned out great! Although the appearance is a bit different from the movies, it tastes exactly what you think it would when they speak of it in Ratatouille! Will be making it very soon again.

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- Claire on September 4, 2013 at 9:37 am said:
  
  I’m glad it worked out for you! I agree about the appearance–my sons commented on it as well, but I think you’d have to add about a quart of cream to make it look like it does in the movie!!
  
  Thanks for leaving a comment.
  
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Elizabeth on January 11, 2014 at 12:06 am said:

I’ve been wanting fo maks his soup for years. Thanks for making it posible now!! Just a quick question: when you say “one can tomato puree”, how big a can do you mean?

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- Claire on January 11, 2014 at 10:26 am said:
  
  It’s a 14.5 oz can. I’ll fix that in the recipe! I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and puréed them before I put them in.
  
  Hope it works out for you!
  
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Ratatouille on June 17, 2015 at 10:27 am said:

Wow! This was so good! Because I’m a rebel and everything needs to be perfect, I put in a lot of cream – just so it would look legit. It wasn’t as spicy, but it was thick and creamy and I liked it better than the first time I tried it. Here’s a link to Ratatouille’s dish that Ego eats: http://www.shortlist.com/instant-improver/food/how-to-make-the-ratatouille-from-ratatouille
Hope you enjoy! #Ratatouille

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- Like Ego I Hate Ratatouille on June 17, 2015 at 10:30 am said:
  
  Hmm… I’m not quite sure what I think. I wish I liked the movie, but really? Come on! Rats cooking! Even if this did happen NOBODY would eat it. I mean, would you? I think not. The soup was good, I guess, but it’s just a soup! It’s not like Ratatouille himself made it.
  
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  - Like Ego I Hate Ratatouille on June 17, 2015 at 10:32 am said:
    
    Oh my gosh! So sorry! My little brother logged on and wrote that. I don’t know why he hates Ratatouille so much. Well, anyway, sorry about that again. Lol.
  - Claire on June 17, 2015 at 2:31 pm said:
    
    Funny! He does have a point…I’ve worked in too many restaurants not to be a little squeamish at the sight of a kitchen full of rats. I’m glad the recipe worked out for you. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Mallory on June 17, 2015 at 2:22 pm said:

Hi Claire!

I’m a writer for BuzzFeed Life working on a post featuring ways to prepare foods seen in Disney movies and I was wondering if I could include an image of your soup in the post. You’d be credited and I’d link back to this original post. Would that be OK? Just let me know and thank you so much for your time!

mallory.mcinnis(at)buzzfeed.com

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- Claire on June 17, 2015 at 2:30 pm said:
  
  Of course! I’d be honored. Let me know if you need anything else.
  
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Jacqueline Power on May 3, 2016 at 7:34 pm said:

By far the best soup I’ve ever made! Substituted the cream for coconut milk and used half a can of tomato purée. It was so good, I ate it for breakfast this morning!

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- Claire on May 3, 2016 at 8:18 pm said:
  
  I’m glad you liked it. Coconut milk is a genius idea. I’m going to try it that way, too. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a kind comment.
  
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poppyreid on November 17, 2016 at 10:40 am said:

Reblogged this on Writer in Tokyo and commented:
Just watched Ratatouille again and the soup always makes my stomach rumble. I’m going to cook this!

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Alejandra on January 14, 2017 at 7:46 pm said:

This was insanely good and so fun to make while we watched the movie as a family. It was a little too spicy for me, so I would reduce the red pepper flakes next time (but I’m also a wimp. 😉) Thanks so much for sharing, we will definitely make this again!

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iAaronicBird on August 31, 2017 at 5:54 pm said:

Great recipe! I loved it so much! It is indeed “Spicy, yet subtle”!

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Anonymous on September 19, 2017 at 10:39 am said:

how many servings does this recipe make?

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sammy on September 19, 2017 at 10:40 am said:

how many servings does this recipe make?

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Anonymous on November 17, 2017 at 11:06 pm said:

I made it for my science project. I got an A+

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Saptarshi Chowdhury. on December 11, 2018 at 11:16 am said:

U r a life saviour. Love from India

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Liberty on March 2, 2019 at 8:54 pm said:

I have 5 foster sisters, and we have a “Foreign Food Friday” every week where we watch a movie related to a culture and eat that culture’s food. This week was France, we watched Ratatoullie and ate this soup, Ratatoullie, bread, and various cheeses and grapes. This was the heavy favorite, and my family is very picky. I was told that this was “the best soup ever tasted” (by my EXTREMELY picky sister). This is an excellent recipe.

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- Claire on March 2, 2019 at 10:17 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much for letting me know. I’m glad it worked out for you.
  
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Jacqueline Sayer on May 4, 2019 at 6:39 am said:

My 13 year old son was obsessed with this show when he was little, has now become interested in cooking and wanted to make remys soup. Found this and made tonight with him. So yummy, he has full filled a wish.
Thank you so much for making this recipe as i would have had no idea where to start.

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- Claire on May 5, 2019 at 11:36 am said:
  
  I’m so glad the soup worked out for you! I have a 13-year-old son, too, and cooking with him is one of my favorite things!
  
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Katherine on November 24, 2019 at 7:23 pm said:

Years later, and this is still my go-to soup recipe. I’ve written a comment before on how unbelievably good it is! My boyfriend is French, and it’s his favorite soup. I make it for us frequently, and it never gets old.

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Kal on May 12, 2022 at 9:59 am said:

I think it’s watercress soup and no tomato. That looks delish though

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