This is the best vegetable soup! It’s loaded with fresh veggies and seasoned with plenty of spices and herbs for amazing flavor. Plus, it’s dairy-free and vegan.
Do you feel like it’s harder to get vegetables in during the winter?
If you’re like me, you crave smoothies and salads in the summer, but as soon as the weather turns, you just want warm, comforting food. Sound familiar?
The good news is, you can still pack in a ton of vegetables and nutrients in comfort food! This vegetable soup is a perfect example of that.
For this vegetable soup recipe, we’re using eight different fresh vegetables plus canned tomatoes and a variety of seasonings. It’s the perfect “clean out the fridge” soup that uses up veggies you might already have in your kitchen.
Plus, it makes about six to eight servings which means you can make one pot of this soup and eat veggie-packed meals for a couple of days. And, I have to tell you… the soup tastes even better on day two!
Ingredients Needed
vegetables – onion, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, potatoes, zucchini, green beans and frozen corn.
canned diced tomatoes – adds more liquid and flavor to the soup. I like to use plain diced tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor!
vegetable broth – this is the base of the soup along with the juices from the diced tomatoes. I like to use low-sodium broth so I can add salt as needed.
olive oil or avocado oil – to sauté the vegetables.
lemon juice – a touch of acidity to balance out the flavors. I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
seasonings and spices – bay leaves, curry powder, Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper.
fresh thyme and parsley – optional, but I love adding fresh herbs to my dishes when serving!
Substitutions and Variations
The options are truly endless with this soup!
Vegetables – Don’t love one of the veggies I’ve included or have another veggie in your fridge that needs to be used up? Toss that in! The addition of peas, cauliflower or bell pepper would be tasty.
Potatoes – I used red skinned potatoes, but any potatoes will do! You can even swap in sweet potatoes or butternut squash for white potatoes if you want.
Greens – Give the soup a boost of nutrients by adding in a handful of chopped greens (like kale or spinach) with 5 minutes of cook time left.
Protein – Add a 15-ounce can of chickpeas or white beans to the soup. Simply drain and rinse the beans and add them to the soup when you add the broth.
Cheese – This soup is delicious served with freshly grated parmesan on top if you’re okay with dairy.
Spice – I like to add a little crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to give the soup a little kick!
Broth – Feel free to use a mix of water and vegetable broth if you prefer. If you don’t need this soup to be vegan you can also use chicken broth or bone broth.
How to Make Vegetable Soup
Sauté vegetables – Start by heating a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop. Add olive oil or avocado oil and once warm, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and fragrant.
Add seasoning – Uncover the pot and stir in the curry powder, bay leaves and Italian seasoning. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Add in the tomatoes, broth, potatoes, zucchini, green beans and corn.
Simmer – Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Final touches – Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaves and stir in the lemon juice. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
How to Serve Vegetable Soup
Vegetable soup can totally be a light meal on its own, but I love serving it with a salad and some crusty bread (like sourdough) or crackers. Here are some ideas:
For the crackers, you can make my almond flour crackers or use your favorite store-bought cracker. I’ve been hooked on Simple Mills crackers because they have minimal, clean ingredients and taste delicious!
How to Store Vegetable Soup
In general, soup is amazing for meal prep because of how well it stores! I love making one big batch and eating leftovers throughout the week. It tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a day or two!
For storage, let the soup cool before placing in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week or store in the freezer for up to one month. I recommend reheating on the stovetop rather than the microwave so you get an even heat without microwave splatters and hot/cold spots!
Be sure to check out my full collection of soup recipes here on EBF!
Vegetable Soup
4 from 148 votes
This is the best vegetable soup! It’s loaded with fresh veggies and seasoned with plenty of spices and herbs for amazing flavor. Plus, it’s dairy-free and vegetarian.
Heat a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop. Add oil. Once warm, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and fragrant, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and stir in curry powder, Italian seasoning and lay leaves. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in tomatoes, broth, potatoes, zucchini, green beans and corn. No need to defrost the corn, just throw it in frozen.
Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.
Remove bay leaves and stir in lemon juice. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed
Serve warm with fresh thyme and parsley for topping. Serve with crusty bread and crackers.
Optional add-ins or toppings: grated Parmesan, chopped kale or spinach (see note above), 15 oz can of chickpeas or white beans, crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper.
I honestly don’t know why this soup was so good but it really was. I used better than bullion and instead of corn did two squash and even though it seems similar to soups I’ve made in the past that I was just super unimpressed with I really enjoyed this one.
My husband and I come from “meat and potato families” so I was surprised when this was a hit for the whole house. Not too spicy for our littles. Everyone loved! Thanks for sharing!
I made this last night for dinner and it was amazing! I didn’t have any vegetable stock so I used chicken stock since it didn’t have to be vegetarian. I also didn’t have fresh/frozen green beans but did have a qt of home canned green beans and used them instead. It turned out amazing! The weather just cooled off and I was in the Fall spirit so this recipe fit the bill. I served your pumpkin cornbread along with it and it was a filling and satisfying meal. Thank you!
AH YUM! I am so happy that this recipe was a hit, Michelle. It sounds like all of your substitutions turned out amazing. Thank you for your review & star rating, I so appreciate you being here!
I have made this soup 100 times. So good. I added garbanzo beans and peas. Also a smidgen of crushed red pepper. Thank you for this awesome recipe. I serve it with crusty bread.
Leave a Comment
I honestly don’t know why this soup was so good but it really was. I used better than bullion and instead of corn did two squash and even though it seems similar to soups I’ve made in the past that I was just super unimpressed with I really enjoyed this one.
This makes me so happy to hear, Sarah. So glad you enjoyed it.
My husband and I come from “meat and potato families” so I was surprised when this was a hit for the whole house. Not too spicy for our littles. Everyone loved! Thanks for sharing!
Looks comforting! I grill so many veggies in the summer or add them to salads, but come winter, I’m all about soups.
This recipe will be a great one for you, Janet! Enjoy!
I made this last night for dinner and it was amazing! I didn’t have any vegetable stock so I used chicken stock since it didn’t have to be vegetarian. I also didn’t have fresh/frozen green beans but did have a qt of home canned green beans and used them instead. It turned out amazing! The weather just cooled off and I was in the Fall spirit so this recipe fit the bill. I served your pumpkin cornbread along with it and it was a filling and satisfying meal. Thank you!
AH YUM! I am so happy that this recipe was a hit, Michelle. It sounds like all of your substitutions turned out amazing. Thank you for your review & star rating, I so appreciate you being here!
I have made this soup 100 times. So good. I added garbanzo beans and peas. Also a smidgen of crushed red pepper. Thank you for this awesome recipe. I serve it with crusty bread.
Woo! So glad you’ve been loving this soup, Erma. Thanks for coming back to leave a review + star rating. I so appreciate it!