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.
Delicious!! I doubled the recipe, used a can each of Romano and black beans, a mix of veggies: leeks, bell peppers, celeriac and sweet potatoes and threw in precooked brown basmati and tri-colour quinoa which was leftover from last night’s dinner, red kale went in for a few minutes just before serving. It looked and tasted gorgeous! Thanks for this recipe!
I love this soup! Never thought of adding quinoa to a soup but it was delicious! I didn’t have all the ingredients so replaced kale with spinach, butternut squash with carrots and Thyme with Italian seasoning. I used garbanzo beans . Also added fresh chopped parsley and Parmesan when serving. So delicious! Will definitely add butternut squash next time. Thank you!
I’m glad you love it, Sandra! Thank you for your review.
I’m a college student so I really rely on soups to keep for a while since I just don’t have time to cook every night. This recipe is so delicious and so easy!
HOLY COW!
This is insanely good and so easy to make! I put chopped jalapeños on top because I love a good kick!
Very healthy and satisfying after holiday indulging! :)
I reluctantly made this because I knew I needed a vegetable-laden meal after eating rather indulgently the last few days– but wow, I was surprised by how delicious this was! I did add twice the amount of kale and a bit more quinoa. YUM.
This was delicious! My daughter and I have been so bored with our normal vegetarian meal rotation. I am so glad I found your site in my search for new options. Can’t wait to make another one. Thank you!
Welcome, Shari! I can’t wait to hear what you try next. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
What a wonderful, flavorful vegetable soup! It does turn out more like a stew with the quinoa, and it takes so good. Very hearty and so good for you. I made it like the recipe with butternut squash, sweet potatoes, red pepper, carrots and zuccini. My son will enjoy this next week! Thank you for your tasty recipes. Kate you are my go to for such easy and good recipes!!
Thank you, Mary!
Long time fan, first time commenter – absolutely love this recipe! Am on WW and modified to exclude quinoa (but I usually include it) this time and it was incredible. I constantly impress myself with recipes that are not mine. Love the cookbook, too – the Tuscan Kale Soup recipe there is my ultimate favorite. Thank you for provide the world with wonderful, healthy, delicious food!
You’re welcome, Deepa! Thank you for your review.
I love this soup! Perfect on a cool rainy day. I modified by adding dried green peas at the same time as the quinoa and it worked well. I also used parsnips instead of carrots. I’m so excited to learn the trick of adding quinoa to soups! Delicious and such a big batch I’m packing some up to take to my mom who will love me for it!
Another terrific recipe! I used what I had around, threw in some leftover roasted sweet potatoes at the end. Also used some garbanzo beans I had cooked and then frozen. Didn’t have kale, so I used spinach. Instead of cooking the spinach, I just put it in the bowls and then put the soup steaming hot on it. Two minutes and it’s perfect.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Spike.
I haven’t been a big quinoa fan nor do I eat as many veggies as I should, especially in the winter but this soup was absolutely the best. I froze couple containers and can’t wait to get it out and heat it up on these cold, cloudy day in January. Also will try the lentil soup as well. Thanks so much and my body thanks you to.
This is one of my go to soup recipes. I usually make it monthly. I’s hearty and delicious. After Thanksgiving, I cooked the Turkey carcass (I’m not totally vegetarian) and used the broth and turkey in this soup. It was great!
I love that, Ann! Thank you for your review.
I made this soup today. It is a cold,wet, and windy day in the Central Sierras. Delicious! I did not have any kale so I used spinach. I did not add in any additional salt.
I used sweet potato, red bell pepper and yellow squash as my extra veggies and since I’m cutting back on salt for health reasons I didn’t add salt and used salt-free canned tomatoes. I added some “Dash”, a salt-free seasoning, to my bowl after serving. It was so good. Even my husband who usually turns up his nose at “healthy food” liked it!!
I made this soup while it was snowing outside, which made it all the more magical. After the first few spoonfuls it was deemed the best vegetable soup we’ve had, and we make a lot of vegetable soup in this house! It was extremely warming and hearty with added sweet potato. I highly recommend topping it with Parmesan, it was delightful! I fell in love with quinoa in soup and will surely be making this recipe again and again. Many thanks Kate!
That does sound perfect! Thank you for sharing, Ashely.
Absolutely love this soup! Getting ready to make it a second time
I love that, Cara! Thank you for your review.
This is yummy! I added a chopped jalapeño to my veggie mixture because I like spice and it was perfect!!! Yummmm
I made this soup yesterday for dinner. It tasted good last night. Had it for lunch today and it was absolutely delicious. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Matt!
Quinoa Vegetable Soup
Kate,
Thanks for a great recipe. Loved it!
I used sweet potato for the seasonal vegetable, and used spinach, as I didn’t have any kale on hand.
I love quinoa and is really good in this dish.
Thanks again!
Larry
You’re welcome, Larry! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I love all of the recipes you post and have made many. Always with rave reviews. Thanks!
If freezing portions for later, would you exclude the kale / beans until before you were ready to serve?
Also – any thoughts on using an Instant Pot for this recipe?
Hi! I believe others haven’t minded this frozen with everything. I hope that helps! I don’t have an instant pot recipe for this, sorry.
I was looking for an instant pot version too! I found a similar soup online where you set the IP for 4min (+ it will take ~15min to get up to pressure) so I’m going to try that!
I’ve made this today, and it was exceptional. I doubled the recipe as your soups always make great leftovers, used frozen green beans as the seasonal vegetable, and fresh spinach as the greens. My family is usually skeptical of quinoa, but they all had seconds of this soup. The only change I’ve made was substituting the thyme with a Mediterranean oregano-rosemary mixture I had at hand, and it worked just fine. Next time I’ll try using a different seasonal vegetable, using curry powder, or making another hearty version of your vegetable soup by replacing the quinoa with whole wheat orzo.
Thank you for all that you do.
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, Hana. I’m happy to hear that it was a hit, even with the quinoa.
You’re a soup god and this is another great one. The quinoa is so good in this!!
I love this recipe! It is so versatile and adaptable! I leave the oil out and simmer the veggies in broth, but leave the rest of the recipe as written. I’ve used a variety of veggies – in fact, I just made a batch for lunch but due to another 5″ snowfall overnight I couldn’t get to the store for squash or sweet potatoes. I used the only thing I had – gold potatoes. Still delicious! Thank you!
I was looking for a light vegetable forward soup on a dreary day and this fit the bill! Love the addition of the lemon. I used frozen kale and about 3/4 cup of quinoa since that’s what I had. Worked out really well!
Amazing recipe. Thanks so much! I used crushed fire roasted tomatoes, can of original rotel, doubled the beans, added 2 sweet potatoes, with a red bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash. Used tri-colored quinoa on hand. The use of lemon was perfect!
After C+K blew my anti-vegetable soup mind with The Best Lentil Soup, I decided to give this a try too! I used zucchini & sweet potato for the seasonal vegetables and kale (not collard greens). I really liked this — it didn’t overtake the lentil soup in my ranking but it is a solid second place soup! I’ve added this to my frozen soup collection for when I need a fast meal (but I was impressed with how fast I can throw together all of the C+K soups I’ve tried).
Hooray for another winning soup! Thank you for your review, Karla.
I love this soup, i would love to try it out in the slow cooker, would i put every ingredient in at the beginning for 8 hours low or add some near the end?
Love this, K8!! Only had freshly blackened red peppers the first time and subsequent soup was over the top with zucchini, yellow squash and cauliflower. I still add red peppers and am sure to add them to while sautéing. Made it Cajun by adding green pepper and frozen okra and some spices — wish I’d had some black eyed peas! I add soft veggies after quinoa has cooked a bit so they won’t turn to mush. Cauliflower is a must! I ever get a tattoo, this recipe will be it!
This recipe looks and sounds delicious. Due to reflux tomatoes are off my food list. Could I just stick with broth or do you have a better suggestion? Thanks
Hi Peggy! You can omit, but they are apart of the overall flavor. I would be interested to hear what you think without them!
Delicious and simple!
I couldn’t believe how tasty this was!!! I make it once a week now ❤️
That’s great, Blanca! I appreciate your review.
This soup is absolutely delicious and freezes beautifully. I like hot and spicy food so I add a lot of red pepper flakes to it. What a treat!
I’m glad you loved it!
This was such a filling & flavorful soup! I was worried it would be bland because I can’t have garlic, but I just upped the onion a bit. I went full on the quinoa & a little extra kale. I almost skipped the lemon juice – but, that made a big difference in flavor. Delicious! Really looking forward to leftovers tonight!
Yes I found the same thing with the lemon juice!
Excellent recipe!!! Super delicious Thank you Kate for yet another beautiful recipe!
Excellent!! I used freshly cooked chickpeas, increased the hot pepper for heat, added kale, spinach and a lone bok choy that was wilting in the fridge for the greens. My kid had the leftover for lunch today and he is very difficult to satisfy. Your blog is my go to site for vegetarian recipes and have sent many a friends your way when they wanted a recipe. Thank you Kate!!
Thank you for another delicious and healthy recipe! I recommend your recipes all of the time!
I’ve made variations of this recipe at least five times, and every time it is delicious! It really does work with just about any combination of veggies. Definitely a keeper.
Unbelievably yummy!! I topped off the soup with fresh parm and homemade rosemary croutons. I love the versatility in the vegetables you can use.
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it, Alaina.
The soup is delicious. I love a thick, full of vegetables soupy stew. I’m a new comer to quinoa and found your recipe. Made it without kale, beans or lemon juice, none in the house.
Rates a 10 *
This soup is amazing. I used it as a way to use up leftover vegetables in my fridge from the week before. I will be using this recipe weekly.
Wonderful! Thank you for your review, Kelly.
This may be a silly question, but is the quinoa supposed to be cooked before it’s put in? I can’t tell from the video. Thank you for another great recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Great, The quinoa will cook in the soup. I hope you love it! Be sure to report back to tell me what you think.
I figured out by the amount of liquid that the quinoa should go in dry
The soup turned out great! I did a lottt of substitutions but the tomato-y base is delicious. Paired it with grilled cheese, and the buttery saltiness was perfect with it
Delicious – no surprise! But I made the “stew” (thick) version and wish to turn it into soup. How? Add more stock?
I’m a bit nervous about doing that, but I made it for a soup-loving friend who is just home from the hospital.
Thank you – for your response to this AND for every one of your recipes that I’ve made!
Best…Ellen
I absolutely LOVE this soup! I have made it now probably three times, doubling it everytime so there is enough to freeze for leftovers. It is filling and delicious. It is definitely my new go-to soup recipe. Even my ten-year old, who doesn’t like soups, eats it without complaining!
I find that it takes me awhile to cut all the vegetables for it though, so I either buy them frozen already, or cut them in advanced and freeze them until I am ready to make the soup. This works out well for me to save on time.
I love that this is a soup that your entire family loves, Samantha! I appreciate your review.
Hi! I’d like to bring this camping for a large group. I’m planning on cooking a big batch at home, freezing it, then reheating it at the campsite. That said, would you cook everything as stated in your recipe or would you add the beans and greens after it’s been defrosted and warmed? Thanks!
Hi, yes this one freezes well. Although, the quinoa does seem to soak up more of the liquid so it may be thicker when you reheat.
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I substituted sweet potato for russet and I also added some diced cabbage. It was surprisingly filling. I had never had quinoa in a soup before but I’m officially sold to the idea!
This is hands down my new favorite soup. It’s so hearty and filling. The herbs and lemon really make the flavors pop. The only difference was I added chopped chicken breast per cooked portion for extra protein for my diet. It’s perfect regardless with or without meat. THANK YOU for the Recipe. I will be making this soup frequently.
You’re welcome, Oscar! I’m glad you will make this one again.
My family and I absolutely love this recipe! Super simple to make. It has become part of our meal rotation. I am not a vegetarian but I feel that this soup is very filling. I do tend about 3 cups of seasonal veggies and use spinach instead of kale. It is fine to eat the first day but when eating for leftovers, I do need to add more vegetable broth. This is my 4th time making it and will continue! Thanks again!
Wonderful, Kirsten! Thank you for your review.
The quinoa vegetable soup is not worth the Time and Ingredients it takes. It made my colon ill and I tossed it after I tried some from 1 bowl. Recipe makes a huge amount, takes forever to make. It’s not worth it in the end. Save your time and ingredients. Not a good recipe. Less than 1 star
I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe, Elle.
I love it! I come back to this recipe time and time again.
I agree. Ive made this several time and it freezes well. For a gardener, these are the types of recipes i looks for. I can grow a majority of these ingredients. This recipe tastes just like my garden. So delicious.
Wonderful to hear, Alex! Thank you for sharing.
Perhaps the quinoa was not thoroughly rinsed?
The weather was all wrong for soup today but I made it anyway, as I’m on a limited diet for medical reasons and veggie soup sounded appealing and fit the bill. This was great! I eliminated the beans bc they just didn’t appeal to me today so I slightly increased the veggie amounts. I accidentally put in too much thyme but it still tasted good, so I’m calling it a win! I used yellow and green squash plus all the veggies listed in the recipe. Yum!
I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it, Shannon. Thank you for your review!
Very easy to make, delicious and very filling. I’m going to make this again and freeze in single servings to take to work for lunch.