Meet my go-to vegetable soup! This homemade vegetable soup is healthy, easy to make, and tastes fantastic. It’s also vegan when you use vegetable broth! Jump to the Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe
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Why We Think This is the Best Vegetable Soup
When we’re looking for a comforting meal packed with vegetables, this easy veggie soup is where we turn. It’s made with a light tomato broth and adapts to all seasons. Feel free to use any seasonal vegetables you have on hand. This soup is so good, you will want a batch in the freezer at all times. It’s perfect for busy nights as well as when we feel we’ve over-indulged.
Here are a few reasons we love this vegetable soup recipe:
- This vegetable-packed soup is easy to make and tastes incredible.
- There are no fancy ingredients and everything needed is affordable.
- You can take advantage of seasonal ingredients. Use fresh tomatoes in late summer or try hardy squashes in winter.
- It’s healthy, comforting, and completely vegetarian (when you use veggie broth).
- It keeps well and tastes better the next day, making it perfect to pack for lunches or make ahead for dinner tomorrow night. Leftover soup will last about three days in the refrigerator.
- You can freeze it up to a month, if not more!
How to Make the Best Vegetable Soup
Making vegetable soup is simple, and it all happens in one pot! Here’s an overview of how to make it (the soup recipe is below).
Sweat onions, carrots, and celery in olive oil and tomato paste. The tomato paste adds lots of flavor to the soup.
Add more flavor with garlic, ground fennel seeds (or use other spices), pepper, and salt.
Pour in vegetable or chicken stock, a can of diced tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, and bay leaves.
Simmer until the veggies are tender (about 20 minutes).
Add frozen peas and cook for five more minutes.
Season to taste with more salt, pepper, and a little acid like apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
My Favorite Variations of This Soup
This veggie soup has lots of possible variations. Here are a few of my favorites:
Add more protein by adding cooked or canned beans — white beans, chickpeas, and black beans would be excellent. (Take a look at our white bean soup with vegetables for inspiration.)
For a soup with pasta, add pasta about 10 minutes before the soup has finished cooking. Try adding tortellini like in this tortellini soup.
Make it creamy and add a splash of cream, milk, or unsweetened dairy-free milk like coconut. You can also stir in a little bit of unsweetened yogurt or sour cream. We do something similar in this creamy veggie soup as well as in this broccoli cheddar soup.
We love the combination of ground fennel, garlic, and red pepper flakes, but you can use other spices. Try Italian seasoning, Za’atar spice blend, Cajun seasoning, an Indian spice blend like curry powder, or chili powder (here’s our homemade chili powder blend).
Add in some extra veggies. The number of vegetables you add to the soup is up to you. Feel free to toss in a handful of other vegetables like cauliflower, summer squash, or corn.
More Easy Vegetarian Recipes
For a creamy blended soup, try our Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe. It has lots of rave reviews.
Our Lentil Soup with Lemon and Turmeric is hearty, nutritious, and delicious.
Use our Homemade Vegetable Broth for the base of your vegetable soup. It’s rich and ultra-satisfying.
For another veggie-packed meal, try our Vegetable Lasagna. The recipe is so popular, we made it into Vegetable Lasagna Roll-Ups.
Try our Homemade Veggie Burgers! Unlike so many meatless burger recipes out there, we add lots of vegetables to the patties.
Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup
- PREP
This hearty vegetable soup recipe is healthy, easy to make, and tastes fantastic. It’s also vegan when a vegetable broth is used! Since vegetables vary by seasonality, feel free to swap or add different vegetables for the ones listed below. Kale or spinach, for example, is an excellent substitute for cabbage.
Makes about 8 cups of soup or 4 to 6 servings
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (1 medium)
1 ½ cups chopped carrot (3 to 4 carrots)
1 ½ cups chopped celery (2 to 3 stalks)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
3/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional for heat)
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their liquid
6 cups stock or broth, see our ultra-satisfying veggie broth or homemade chicken stock
2 cups chopped potato (2 medium)
3 to 4 heaped cups chopped or shredded cabbage
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice, optional
Directions
Heat the oil in a stockpot pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring often until the vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent; 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the garlic, fennel, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the red pepper flakes. Cook, while stirring, for one minute.
Pour in the canned tomatoes and their juices as well as the stock/broth.
Add the potatoes, cabbage, and bay leaves. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Partially cover the pot with a lid, and then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer.
Simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes, and other vegetables are tender. Add the frozen peas and cook for five more minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and remove the bay leaves. Stir in the cider vinegar (or lemon juice). Taste and season with more salt, pepper or vinegar. Serve.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Fresh tomatoes: Substitute about 1 pound (5 to 6 tomatoes) for one 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
- Store leftover soup for up to 3 days in the refrigerator and up to a month in the freezer.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. Calculations included vegetable broth.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size 1 cup / Calories 137 / Total Fat 5.7g / Saturated Fat 0.8g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 677.5mg / Carbohydrate 20.3g / Dietary Fiber 4.9g / Total Sugars 7.5g / Protein 3.2g
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