Warm up the whole family with this nourishing from-scratch hoemeade vegetable soup recipe. It’s perfect for making up a nice big batch to ladle out for everyone. Delicious and hearty, you don’t have to worry about everyone getting enough vegetables when you serve it!
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Best Vegetable Soup Recipe
Brimming with tons of veggies, this is the best vegetable soup recipe you’ll find. A combination of fresh, frozen, and pantry staples come together to create a healthy and tasty soup everyone will want to fill their bowls with again and again!
Homemade Vegetable Soup Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil – To sauté some of these veggies with first.
- Yellow onions – Chop them up!
- Celery – Chop these up too.
- Carrots – Peel and chop for added color and nourishment.
- Butter – Works with the olive oil for sauteing.
- Garlic – Mince it fresh.
- Vegetable stock and chicken broth – This healthy vegetable soup recipe calls for both to add to this veggie soup. For vegetarian soup, simple omit the chicken broth and substitute with more vegetable stock.
- Potatoes – Use the golden ones, peeled and diced up.
- Diced tomatoes – You’ll need 2 cans and do NOT drain the juice!
- Fresh herbs – You’ll need chopped parsley and minced fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary. The perfect blend of vegetable soup seasoning.
- Bay leaves – The quintessential ingredient in any vegetable soup.
- Frozen veggies – You’ll need green beans, peas, and corn.
- Salt and pepper – To bring out the flavor
- Kidney beans – For added protein.
- Ditalini pasta – It’s optional, but it makes the soup heartier.
- Fresh spinach – A great mega-dose of nutrients.
- Green onions – Chop them up for your garnish.
Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe
I know that looks like a LOT of ingredients, but this veggie soup is super-simple. You’ll have it prepped in 20 minutes and the rest of the time is simply enjoying the wonderful aroma it creates in your home.
How do you Make Vegetable Soup from Scratch?
- Get a large soup pot and heat olive oil and butter on medium-high heat.
- Once melted, add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté them for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Then add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the broth, tomatoes with the juices, parsley, potatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper and let it boil.
- Once boiling, add the green beans and corn, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Add the pasta if using 8 to 10 minutes before the end of the cook time, then add the peas and cook 5 more minutes.
- At the end, add the fresh spinach so it just slightly wilts, then serve!
Expert Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Veggie Soup Every Time
- Sauté those aromatics. Sure, your veggie soup will taste ok if you put everything together in the pot and boil. But by sauteing the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery, it brings out their best flavors.
- Fresh herbs make a difference. These deepen the base of the soup.
- Starchy veggies are a must. Without potatoes, it won’t be as filling. The same is true of adding the beans which gives it more depth.
- You can replace any green veggies in the soup. As long as you replace them with other greens.
- Texture is important. That’s why adding the beans, the light and wispy fresh spinach, and pasta will elevate your soup.
Happiness is…hot soup on a cold day.
Anonymous
What is the secret to making good soup?
The secret is in the layering of flavors and textures. It starts with aromatics and fresh herbs. The veggies themselves should have different textures while adding in beans, pasta, and something fresh like spinach all create a unique mouthfeel while enjoying the soup.
Which vegetables are good for soup?
Any vegetable makes for a good ingredient in vegetable soup however, you need to like that vegetable. If you hate green beans for example, you may want to use a different green veggie that you like instead.
What are the healthiest vegetables to put in soup?
Carrots, potatoes, spinach, celery, and green beans are all healthy options. Everything in this soup is a healthy vegetable so feel free to have second helpings!
How to Cook Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup is made in one pot on your stove for easy cooking and cleanup!
What vegetables go first in a soup?
The aromatics of onions, carrots, and celery get sauteed first followed by the garlic, making them first in the soup. Once the broth goes in, so too do the tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, and bay leaves. Then you add your frozen veggies. Fresh spinach will always go last since it will wilt quickly.
What can I add to vegetable soup for flavor?
Fresh herbs make a difference. They bring out the best in the vegetables and add flavor to your broth.
What can I add to vegetable soup to make it taste better?
Vegetable soup needs layers of flavor to taste good. That’s why you sauté those aromatics first, add the tomatoes in the juice with the broth, and put in fresh herbs and veggies.
What can I add to bland vegetable soup?
If your soup is bland, you should be sauteing those aromatics first. You should also add in fresh herbs. Don’t forget bay leaves either. They add a savory and rich flavor to soups.
What goes well with Vegetable Soup?
Vegetable soup like this is so filling, it eats like a meal. Still, I love to serve it with a crusty sourdough bread or cornbread. Salad is good too even though you have lots of veggies already. But the light and refreshing flavors of a pear salad will be a nice accompaniment to this soup.
How to Store Vegetable Soup?
Once the soup cools, you’ll need to store it in your fridge so it won’t go bad.
How Long Does Vegetable Soup Last?
In your fridge, you should use your vegetable soup up in 3 days. If you’ve made a ton though, turn to your freezer for help.
Can You Freeze Vegetable Soup?
Yes, and this works out so well for meal prep or when you need something to go with a meal but just don’t feel up to doing much. It will be good for a month or so, though ideally, you’ll use it up before then.
How to Reheat Vegetable Soup?
Simply warm it up on your stove until it’s hot!
