Quinoa Vegetable Soup with Kale
This healthy homemade vegetable soup recipe is full of veggies, kale and quinoa. It's easy to make and good for you, too! Vegan, vegetarian and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
We’ve been living in a winter wonderland lately. We’ve gotten so much snow that my dog, Cookie, can barely keep her head above it when we go outside (she’s smaller than you think). I’m thankful to have electricity and gearing up for more winter weather this weekend.
This hearty soup is exactly what I need. It’s brimming with fresh veggies and warms me right up. Soup to the rescue!
This homemade vegetable soup with quinoa is light but filling and packs great for lunch. Like most soups, it tastes even better the next day. Bonus? It freezes well, too. I love keeping my freezer stocked with hearty soups and defrosting one whenever I need a quick but nutritious meal.
This soup is vegan unless you want to top it with Parmesan cheese, which isn’t a bad idea if you ask me. The ingredients list, while a little on the long side, includes mostly pantry items. Every single one of them is nutritious!
Quinoa Vegetable Soup Recipe Development
Confession: the idea for this soup recipe came from Trader Joe’s. (You know what they say about grocery shopping while hungry.) A few years ago, their “vegetable soup with quinoa and kale” caught my eye in the refrigerated section right as my stomach grumbled.
I was initially skeptical about quinoa in soup (will it get mushy? does the flavor play nicely with the other ingredients?), but now I’m only wondering what took me so long to try it.
Quinoa was meant for soup. It lends some extra protein and hearty texture. Unlike most other vegetable soups, which are too light to count as a full meal, this is a true meal-in-a-bowl if you eat enough of it.
I adapted this recipe from my lentil soup, which has gotten quite a few raving reviews. I hope you enjoy this one just as much.
Recipe Notes & Tips
I wrote the recipe so it’s easily adapted to seasons. Winter squash would be lovely in place of the zucchini that I used.
This soup straddles the line between soup and stew, but whatever you call it, it’s delicious.
If you want more of a soup, use 3/4 cup quinoa and 1 cup seasonal veggies. If you want more of a stew, use a full cup of quinoa, two cups of seasonal vegetables and throw in some extra greens.
Watch How to Make Quinoa Soup
Please let me know how you like this soup in the comments! I love hearing from you.
If you enjoy this soup, be sure to check out my minestrone, lentil soup, Megan’s quinoa stew, and the hearty soup recipes in my cookbook.
Quinoa Vegetable Soup
This healthy homemade vegetable soup recipe is full of veggies, kale and quinoa. It’s easy to make and good for you, too! This soup makes great leftovers. It’s gluten free and vegan, as long as you don’t top it with optional Parmesan cheese. Recipe yields 4 to 6 servings of soup.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 to 2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables, like zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper, sweet potatoes or butternut squash
- 6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- Scant 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well in a fine mesh colander (use less for a lighter, more broth-y soup)
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 can (15 ounces) great northern beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup or more chopped fresh kale or collard greens, tough ribs removed
- 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste
- Optional garnish: freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, seasonal vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme. Cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Pour in the diced tomatoes with their juices and cook for a few more minutes, stirring often.
- Pour in the quinoa, broth and the water. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 2 bay leaves and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper. Raise heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Cook for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and add the beans and the chopped greens. Continue simmering for 5 minutes or more, until the greens have softened to your liking.
- Remove the pot from heat, then remove the bay leaves. Stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice until the flavors really sing. (You might need up to ½ teaspoon more salt, depending on your vegetable broth and your personal preferences.) Divide into bowls and top with grated Parmesan if you’d like.
Notes
Recipe inspired by Trader Joe’s organic vegetable soup with quinoa and kale. Recipe adapted from my lentil soup recipe.
Seasonal vegetable preparation tips: If you’re using dense vegetables like butternut or sweet potato for your seasonal vegetables, be sure to chop them as small as you’re chopping your carrots so they cook in the same amount of time.
Slow cooker option: I haven’t tried, but Sarah reports that her soup turned out well after 8 hours on low heat.
Storage suggestions: This soup keeps well in the refrigerator for about 4 days. It freezes and defrosts well if you want to freeze extra portions for later!
Make it dairy free/vegan: Don’t garnish with Parmesan.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I made this! Realized I didn’t have enough quinoa, so made it with lentils! Added a little tomato paste and a whole lemon (juiced). For greens I did spinach and cilantro.. love eating this with some fresh chopped up avocado in it!!!! SOOOO GOOD!
I was looking for a soup recipe using quinoa and only what I had on hand. I had everything except celery. It was quick, easy and really good!
Thanks!
I made this soup last week and it was soooooooooo good. I didn’t expect it to be so tasty because that was the first time I ever made soup.
I added some cooked red lentils with the chickpeas, corn towards the end, and spiced it up with some of my favorite seasonings. This was so delicious and I cannot wait to make it again! Thank you for sharing your recipe with us!
I’m glad you were surprised! I appreciate your review, Krayy.
This is a home run. I’ve made this recipe at least ten times. It is amazing, and makes me feel so good after I have it. I love the flexibility with the veggies. I tend to do sweet potato, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell pepper. But I’ve also done green beans, sweet peppers, and peas. I passed along the link to this recipe to a few friends after bringing your soup to a potluck. They were insisting I share where I found your soup recipe.
Wonderful to hear, Janette! Thank you for your review.
This was an excellent soup with a more stew like consistency which I prefer. It was an interesting and welcome change up to our regular lentil or chickpea soup/stew agenda. Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Dani! I’m glad you are trying so many recipes.
Made a few modifications with veg but this is a very tasty soup
This soup is delicious. I bet it would be great with some sugar pumpkin cut into 1″ cubes.
Let me know if you try it! Thank you for your review, Jaime.
This was hearty, filling, and very tasty. I have lots of leftovers to boot! Thank you :)
You’re welcome, Rachel! I appreciate your review.
Delicious! Love the flexibility of the recipe. Enjoying a bowl now and it will be a treat in my lunch during the week.
I love that, Rita! Thank you for your review.
This is delicious! It is so wholesome and comforting! It will definitely be in my regular rotation of soups. The lemon teally brightens the flavor. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
I usually love this recipe. Didn’t have celery so left it out — huge mistake! I make a voodoo variation with a Cajun flare — green pepper, okra, red beans and a few key spices. I’m usually not a celery fan but it really makes a difference in either rendition.
is this a good for someone with cholesterol and who is diabetic
Hi Sandra, I can’t speak to that. I would suggest seeking out a register dietitian to help you.
This looks awesome! Can it be made in my instant pot?
I haven’t tried it in an Instant Pot, sorry!
Made this tonight exactly as written and it was delicious! Wow. Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Sounds yummy but I’m on a diabetic low protein diet. Can you give me an idea how much soup is in a serving?
Hi! The nutritional information is below the notes section of the recipe.
Yes I saw that, thanks. It says 6 servings. What I was trying to find out is how much is in a serving? One cup? Half a cup? But I’ll figure it out after I make it. :)
Delicious!! I had some leftover quinoa I wanted to use up. Added zucchini, butternut squash, red bell pepper along with the onion, carrot, and celery. Went a little lighter on the garlic. Added baby spinach/arugula mix. New favorite soup!! Wonderful!
Sooooo good and sooooo filling! I used garbanzos, baby kale and butternut squash. The lemon gives such a perfect little kick.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I have made this twice in the last 2 weeks and I am getting ready to make it a third time. I love it! The first time I made it I didn’t have everything, so instead of using quinoa, I used wild rice. Because I was using wild rice I decided to use my instant pot to save time. I used the same amount of liquid as called for in the recipe and replaced the quinoa with 1 cup of wild rice and cooked on high pressure for 35 mins. It was so thick and good, like a chili almost! The second time I made it I did not have tomatoes so I used tomato paste and 28 ounces of water…still amazing! The flavors are great. I used vegan Parmesan on top. SO GOOD!
Thank you for sharing, Marie! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I love your soup recipes!
This was so good! Super hearty and filling. I used butternut squash and sweet potato for the seasonal ingredients.
Made this for the first time. So delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this today, and LOOOOOVE it!
I made a few modifications (for what I had on hand..)
No celery
A cup of pumpkin purée
Chick peas
4tbsp nutritional yeast
Holy smokes.
DELICIOUS!
Legitimately the first recipe I’ve ever printed off the internet!!
Gosh. This soup was perfection! Perfect example of how healthy food doesn’t always mean that you’ll have to compromise on taste. I added some fresh corn kernels because I love corn. Brought this to a potluck tonight and everyone asked the recipe. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Kelly! Thank you for your review.
In love with this soup! Quick, easy, delicious & adjustable to what I have in the fridge. Family loves it and we have leftovers that don’t last more than a day but still, less cooking for me!
In love with this soup! Quick, easy, delicious, & adjustable to what I have in the fridge. Family loves it and we have leftovers that don’t last more than a day but still, less cooking for me! Oh also, double the kale & sprinkle on some nooch. Perfection!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Hali!
Really great work on this soup; it’s amazing,
I doubled the carrots and celery. For my vegetables I used 1 medium zucchini and 1 medium yellow squash. Everything else was exactly as directed and it turned out amazingly well. Added to my regular rotation.
Thank you!
Thank you, Bret! I appreciate your review.
I have done this recipe numerous times. Currently I’m cleansing and this is a great vegan meal. The only thing I would change about this recipe is to put the collards in when you put in the booth and quinoa. The greens are much more tender.
I loved this! I don’t like the texture of diced tomatoes in soup, so I used a small can of tomato paste instead. Turned out amazing. I always struggle to get protein in, so the quinoa here really helps. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Kelly!
I LOVE this recipe. The only change I made was to cook the quinoa separately and blend the veggies at the end before adding the kale and cooked quinoa to make it child-friendly. I also skipped the beans, because IBS.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lujan! I appreciate your review.
Absolutely delicious and hearty bowl of soup!! Everything healthy you could eat in a bowl, a one-dish meal. I added chopped parsnip (as I always like it in soup) lentils instead of beans, (I didn’t have it on hand) I used “quick cook quinoa in a boiling bag. Cooked it first and added it at the end with the Kale so it wouldn’t thicken the soup too much and I could judge how much to add. Served it with crusty bread and a salad. It was a hit on a chilly night!
Thanks for such a hearty flavorful recipe. Pleasantly surprised it is not one of those watery recipes. I usually cut the liquid but yours was spot on. I followed others and used my favs, yellow bell pepper and butternut squash plus about 3 cups of kale. Will be added to the rotation!
I’ve tried other recipes on your site so I figured this would be good. It was fantastic! I had to use lentils as I was out of quinoa. Definitely a make again! Thanks so much
Wonderful, Trish! Thank you for your review.
I tried this recipe as we were looking for something comforting and warm. We didn’t have quinoa so used bulgur. I have to admit I was sceptical at the beginning, but it turned out so delicious! The parmesan complements perfectly both taste-wise and texture wise! Will certainly make it again!!
I’m glad you loved it, Maria!
This was lovely! I usually don’t comment if I make significant changes to a recipe, but just had to this time as we enjoyed the soup so much. I didn’t have any quinoa, but had a bag of rice/quinoa/dried pea mix. Used a cup of that instead of the quinoa and beans and it turned out great. Definitely more stew than soup, but that was a good thing. Thanks for yet another great recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Mrs. Cee! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it.
So yummy!! Husband and daughter enjoyed it too! Adding it to the rotation!
Wonderful to hear, Amanda!
For this amount of veggies I actually needed 3 extra cups of water because it was so sick it resembled stew. And I didn’t even add the beans. So, I need bigger pot next time (I literally had to fill mine to the Top top). But it was Delicious, I’m sharing it with two friends for tomorrow’s lunch. Thank you for the recipe
We are having a snowstorm right now in Mi. Decided to try this recipe and it was AMAZING. Followed the recipe to a tee. So so good! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Nancy! I’m glad it was a great way to warm up during the storm.
Made it yesterday during our all day snow. It had great flavor. I love that it is a “healthy” soup and the thicker consistency of it made it more like a meal. I will certainly make again!
Is this a good make ahead recipe (earlier in the day)? Sometimes when I make soups earlier the beans soak up all the broth so just trying to plan ahead!
Hi Lauren, I find this soup is great leftover. You can add more broth as you warm up if you want more liquid.
I have an intolerances to tomatoes. Is there anything I can substitute for them in the quinoa vegetable soup?
Hi Tammy, you could try to omit them and additional vegetables to make up for them. You may need to add more salt, just adjust to taste. Let me know what you think!
Wow! I was not expecting that kind of taste! It was DELICIOUS! Definitely saved in my Recipes!
Great to hear! Thank you for your review, Hayley.
I enjoyed this soup. It was the closest recipe I found to a soup I had in Peru. I don’t know what magical seasonings The Peruvian soup had but I’ve been looking for a copy cat recipe since. Thanks for this recipe!!
You’re welcome, Nora! Thank you for your review.
This soup was absolutely fantastic. I looked for the recipe after becoming tired of buying Amy’s canned soup at a high price. This was affordable and so, so delicious. The only constructive comment I have is that the kale and veggies took much longer to soften on my stove, nearly 25 minutes of simmering after following all of the steps.
Great to hear, Cici! Thank for sharing your experience.
This fabulous recipe is on regular rotation during winter in my house. So flavoursome and the number of different veggies makes it very healthy too. Thank you so much for this recipe – love the flexibility too!
Easy, healthful and delicious!
Great to hear, Deborah!
It’s wonderful soup! But does anyone have any idea what constitutes a serving? A cup? Two cups? The nutritional information omits this information.
Hi! 1.5-2cups is typically a serving. I’m happy you enjoyed it, EDZ.
I made this tonight and it is fantastic. I followed the recipe pretty straight on, used some zucchini and all of the other vegetables listed. I put in some lime juice as I’m not a super fan of lemon juice, and used great northern beans. I will definitely be making this again!
Great to hear, Charlie! I appreciate your review.
This is an AMAZING tasting soup! I’m so happy I found it, am freezing some now for later which is a bonus. Cannot recommend it more, great way to use up what’s in your fridge.
I’m happy you found it too, Bal! I appreciate your review.
Hi,
I just bought all the ingredients and I’m very excited! Love soup and quinoa. But I do have a question. Should I first make the quinoa separately and then mix it in. Or should I pour it in uncooked and let it cook there? Thanks!
Hi! See the instructions. You will cook the quinoa in the soup. I hope that helps!
Does it freeze well?
Hi Judy! I believe this is a great one to freeze based on feedback from others.
I’ve stuck some in the freezer so fingers crossed such a yum recipe, thank you!