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
Units
- 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
