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Cosy autumn days call for a warming bowl of soup. After a good walk, the sight of a steaming pot of soup on the hob is most welcoming. Whether it's classic leek and potato, tomato soup, healthy lentil soup, the options abound.

There is one handy ingredient to have on hand no matter what soup you're making and no, it's not flour. Not just delicious, potatoes are a convenient way to thicken soups. What's more, it also doesn't steal the limelight from your intended soup recipe. Not all spuds are the same, however, and there's one type of potato that won't work - waxy potatoes.

Floury potatoes work best for thickening soups, like King Edward or Maris Piper. When cooked, these potatoes are fluffy inside, which makes them ideal for mash, roasties or jacket potatoes. Their starchiness thickens soups, stews and sauces.

Waxy potatoes, like new potatoes or Jersey Royals, are indeed waxy inside and out. These spuds have a shiny exterior and smooth interior that holds together even after cooking, making them well-suited for potato salads and eating cold.

Another handy soup thickener is instant mashed potatoes, which takes all the legwork out.

Using floury potatoes

Make your soup heftier by trying one of the following methods:

• Add diced potatoes to the soup as it cooks.
• Boil potatoes separately, mash, and add to soup.
• Add mashed potatoes.

Using instant mash

The easiest way to make soups thicker and creamier with potatoes is with a packet of instant mash.

All you have to do is add a tablespoon of instant mash at a time, stir and allow a few minutes for it to mix in with the soup. Check the soup has reached your desired level of thickness.

The Kitchn tested seven ways of thickening soup and instant mash scored eight out of 10. It was "by far the easiest method of the bunch" in comparison to eggs, blended tortilla, blended white bread, blended white beans, cornstarch and butter-flour paste.

"The soup was very smooth, pleasantly thick, and had a richness that made it taste like a heavy glug of cream had been added instead of potato.

"The only potential drawback is that it definitely made it taste like a potato-based soup. As a staunch potato-lover, that's OK with me, but if you wanted it to be closer to the original, this might not be the winner for you. However, due to ease of use and overall texture, it still gets a high ranking."