This Vegetable Soup Recipe is ultra-nourishing and wholesome, made with fresh farmers’ market veggies. A simple, healthy soup that is easy to make and loaded up with healing nutrients- a great way to use up all those farmer’s market veggies! Vegan, gluten-free, with a video.
This vegetable soup recipe has been my secret weapon for decades. It’s cozy and healing, just what my body cries for when I feel under the weather. Gently nourishing, it is soothing and warming.
What I love about this recipe is how adaptable it is. You can use up any stray veggies in your fridge and swap the herbs to create different flavors. It’s a loving gift to give to a sick friend, family member, or neighbor; just pack it up in a mason jar and drop it off.
Why you’ll love this Veggie Soup Recipe
What I love about this veggie soup recipe is how adaptable it is. Use what veggies you have on hand. Then feel free to embellish if you like -adding cabbage, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, or even whole grains. You could easily thicken with beans or quinoa. Keep it tomato-free or nightshade-free, you decide. 🙂
To finish the soup, drizzle with olive oil, or homemade pesto or gremolata, or sprinkle with a hard cheese like parmesan or pecorino and serve with croutons or crusty bread. Do what feels right for your body.
Vegetable Soup Recipe Ingredients
Consider your vegetables. Some take longer to cook than others, like carrots and potatoes. Be thoughtful about when you add things to the soup and also when you are dicing your veggies. Bigger diced veggies will take longer to cook as well. Something to keep in mind. Here is a list of optional veggies- pick a few and give it try!
- Onions and garlic (or leeks, shallots, etc.)
- Celery or Fennel (or both!)
- Carrots or Parnsips (or both!)
- Optional additions (pick 2-3): bell pepper, green beans, peas, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, corn, broccoli, diced tomatoes, cabbage, wilting greens- kale, spinach, chard, collards, white beans etc.
- Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, bay leaves
- Fresh herbs: Fresh thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary or tarragon, or sub-dried thyme, or dried oregano.
- Splash of white wine or sherry, totally optional!
- Flavorful Vegetable broth (or sub chicken broth or stock or bone broth)
How to make Vegetable Soup
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until deeply golden and fragrant, 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots, celery, fennel, garlic and thyme. Saute 7-8 minutes, stirring often. At this point you could splash with white wine, dry vermouth, sherry wine ( totally optional), just a couple tablespoons and cook it off.
- Add any optional vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, and lower heat and simmer until carrots are just tender, about 10-12 minutes. Then stir in the fresh parsley.
- Taste. Often (especially if leaving the tomatoes out) I’ll add a tiny splash of acid- like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, be very conservative, 1/2 teaspoon, and add more to taste. Season with pepper and a pinch of cayenne or chili flakes.
- If broth tastes bland, it probably needs salt and acid. 😉
- Serve in bowls with a drizzle of good olive oil, crusty bread, or shaved parmesan or pecorino. Or try it with Gremolata ( Italian herb sauce) – a delicious way to finish the soup!
Expert tips!
- Use seasonal veggies! The most important thing to good-tasting vegetable soup is wholesome nourishing veggies! Organic or farmer’s market veggies have the best flavor!
- Use aromatics: onion, leeks, garlic, etc. to build layers of flavor.
- Use a flavorful veggie broth, chicken stock, beef broth or bone broth, whatever tickles your fancy. Here I went with store-bought veggie broth, and kept it vegan.
Variations of Vegetable soup!
- Make this Vegetable Soup “tomato-y” or totally leave them out as I did in the first photo. Up to you. If you love a rich tomato base, fresh tomatoes and a little tomato paste are a nice addition too.
- My husband loves this Vegetable Soup recipe topped with grated pecorino and sourdough croutons, or crusty bread – also an option!
- Meatlovers could plop in little meatballs right into the simmering broth.
Serving Veggie Soup
- Keep it vegan and serve with a drizzle of olive and sourdough bread.
- Add pecorino or parmesan cheese for extra richenss.
- If you like heat, serve with chili flakes.
- Add Fresh Basil Pesto (Nut-Free)
- Add Gremolata (a zesty Italian herb sauce)
- Add Arugula Almond Pesto
Veggie soup Storage
Veggie soup will keep 4-5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed , airtight container or can be frozen for up to 6 months in the freezer!
I hope you are having a relaxing holiday weekend.
xoxo
More Favorite Soup recipes!
- Harvest Vegetable Soup
- Homemade Vegetable Stock
- Simple Cabbage Soup
- Lentil Soup
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Best Homemade Tomato Soup
Vegetable Soup Recipe Video
Best Vegetable Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups
- Category: soup, vegan, vegetarian
- Method: Stove top or Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This nourishing vegetable soup recipe is easy to make and loaded with wholesome nutrients- a great way to use up all those farmer’s market veggies! Great for Sunday meal prep. Make on the stovetop or instant pot.
Ingredients
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced ( or a large leek)
- 2 cups diced carrot (2 medium carrots)
- 2 cups diced celery (2 stalks)
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme ( or sub, oregano , rosemary, sage, or tarragon- or sub 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or dry Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence )
- 2 tablespoons white wine, vermouth, sherry cooking wine- all optional (feel free to leave out)
- 5 cups veggies of choice (chopped small): zucchini, fennel bulb, summer squash, green beans, peas, cauliflower, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper, cabbage, kale, etc.
- 4 cups veggie stock or broth, chicken or beef stock, or bone broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- pinch cayenne
Garnish:
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until deeply golden and fragrant, 5 minutes.
- Add carrots, celery, and garlic and thyme. Saute 7-8 minutes, stirring often. At this point you could splash with white wine, dry vermouth, sherry wine ( all totally optional) just a couple tablespoons and cook it off.
- Add your longer-cooking veggies, water, broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer until carrots are just tender, about 10-12 minutes. Add any quick-cooking veggies (spinach, kale, corn). Cook 3-4 more minutes, then stir in the fresh parsley.
- Taste. Often (especially if leaving the tomatoes out) I’ll add a tiny splash of acid- like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, be very conservative, 1/2 teaspoon, and add more to taste. Season with pepper and a pinch of cayenne or chili flakes.
- If broth tastes bland, it probably needs salt and acid 😉
- Serve in bowls with a drizzle of good olive oil, crusty bread, or shaved parmesan or pecorino. Or try it with Gremolata ( Italian herb sauce) – a delicious way to finish the soup!
Notes
Soup will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator and freezes well.
Feel free to add cooked beans (white beans or chickpeas are nice) to add protein and a big handful of chopped greens ( spinach, chard, arugula) to the soup at the end!
INSTANT POT Instructions:
- Using the saute function, heat oil and add onion and saute until deeply golden and fragrant, 4-5 minutes.
- Add carrots, celery, fennel, garlic and thyme. Stir 2 minutes. At this point you could splash with white wine, dry vermouth, sherry wine ( all totally optional) just a couple tablespoons and cook it off for a minute.
- Add zucchini and green beans ( and optional tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, or bell pepper) stock, water, bay leaves and salt. ( You will add the corn at the end).
- Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Manually release and set back to “saute”. Add corn. Cook 3-4 more minutes, then stir in the fresh parsley. Taste. Often (especially if leaving the tomatoes out) I’ll add a tiny splash of acid- like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, be very conservative, 1/2 teaspoon, and add more to taste. Season with pepper and a pinch of cayenne or chili flakes. If broth tastes bland, it probably needs salt and acid 😉
- Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, crusty bread, or shaved parmesan or pecorino. Or try it with Gremolata ( Italian herb sauce) – a delicious way to finish the soup!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups- with veggie broth
- Calories: 192
- Sugar: 13.4 g
- Sodium: 838 mg
- Fat: 8.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 6.7 g
- Protein: 4.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Excellent. I have made homemade soup for years but in the last few years I have desired to refine my soups. I wanted a formula so to speak to obtain a great tasting broth. Thank you for assisting me in my journey! Using all homemade vegetable broth for the liquid, my soup had rutabaga, zucchini, carrots and garlic freshly from the farmers market. Also tossed in some lentils to cook with vegs. Loved using cider vinegar and dry vermouth to obtain that delicious taste .
Glad you enjoyed Deborah!
Another perfect soup recipe, Sylvia! I took this to a Lammas/Lughsanadh gathering (“First Harvest”) last night. I made it using the “Better than Bouillon” vegetable paste; sherry cooking wine and assorted veggies. I did not add kale or spinach this time. I DID prepare Quaker’s Quick Pearled Barley separately and added it to each soup bowl right before serving. Sooooo delish! I also served it with your gorgeous Gemolata drizzled across the top (with the Pecorino cheese too!). Heaven in a bowl! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed Melissa!
I loved the soup though the next time I would probably leave out the kale as it has too strong a flavour for this subtle soup.
Yes totally adapt to your taste!
I decided to make this on a rainy NC evening! Questions from this novice chef;
1. Broth – how much to saute vegetables? I guessed 1 Tbls?
2. Stew – when to add celery or did I miss this? Also, do you cut the mushrooms? Lastly – when to add the soy sauce? At this point, it smells fantastic, cannot wait to taste with toasted garlic sourdough! Thank you so much for all your spectacular recipes!!!
Hi Stacy, I am wondering if you are talking about a different recipe? I don’t see the mushrooms or soy sauce.
Oh, my bad! I was talking about the vegetable stew dated 2/16/2024.
Oh gottcha 🙂 Just added the olive oil amount for broth. All the other questions about details are in the recipe card.
So delicious in any number of creative ways! I added a touch of chipotle and used roasted corn, squash and beans for a Southwest take. I didn’t see mention of broth in instructions?
Opps, the recipe card is adjusted! So glad you are playing around with the recipe!
I like this soup but I am looking for another veggie soup you make, where you cook the veggies in layers (one layer is fennel and celery) and the tomato is optional. Can you help me find it? I have searched 100 ways!
Hummm, I can’t think of what you are thinking of… is it brothy?
This recipe taught me how to make a great soup! It’s my go to.
Love hearing this Ellen!
This soup is light, nutritious, and delicious. I made a double batch planning to freeze it. It was gone in 2 days!
So glad you enjoyed Denise! Such a great way to eat all those veggies!
A wonderful fresh soup, perfect for a cold April! My favorite part is the semi firmness of the veggies. Thank you, now back to my second bowl.
Thanks Mary! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow! Best soup ever. So flavorful. Swapped out a couple veggies just based on what we had on hand. Will definitely make again.
Great to hear Debbie!
Made this delicious soup a few times now, and each time it gets better and better. A few different veggies thrown in, Parmesan rind, fresh or canned corn, a leek, tons of garlic, red chili flakes or jalapeño, beans or quinoa, it’s always so very very good Enough for heathy lunches and dinner throughout the week!
Love it- glad you are enjoying!
Our first wintery storm was brewing and I needed a good veggie packed soup. This was it! Sooo flavourful! I added two small golden beets and two small purple beets, cubed. For protein, chickpeas. For the broth, “Better Than Bouillon” Seasoned Veggie Base and Voila! Perfectly delicious, nourishing to the bone, soup!
Sounds lovely and nourishing Anna!
Terrific soup! I’ve made vegetable soup many times but it always seemed lacking. The addition of sherry during the initial phase and then apple cider vinegar at the end makes ALL the difference! This recipe will be in rotation at our house from now on – thanks, Sylvia!
Thanks Brita!
Another winner! So easy to adapt and was delicious! Used fire roasted tomatoes and tomato paste as well as many different veggies. Also added some sliced shiitake mushrooms for some umami flavor. Soooo yummy! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Sylvia – I love this recipe and its flexibility! I was searching for a vegetable soup recipe without tomatoes…. not so many out there! This one however was perfect. There were some things I didn’t use (fennel, onion) and I added ditalini pasta (cooked separately and added at the end). Also added the 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (new to me!) and cayenne. I wanted to thicken it up a little so used tapioca flour (1 tbl maybe?) with soup broth to dissolve, then added it slowly at the end and got the consistency I was looking for. This really is a great recipe and one I’ll make again (and have already passed along the link to friends). Thank you for sharing it and teaching through it, too! – April
Thanks so much April- glad this worked for you and happy you made it your own!
I literally make some variation of this soup every week depending on what I have on hand — so delicious and filling but still feels very healthy! love!!
Awesome Jac- great to hear!