Seriously Good Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup recipe is seriously so good! It's easy to make, and full of healthy vegetables and fresh flavor. There's nothing "blah" about it!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
You know how most vegetable soups are pretty tired and “blah”? Not this one! This hearty homemade vegetable soup is full of fresh, wholesome flavors.
I’m excited to share this vegetable soup recipe with you. It’s honestly the best I’ve ever had, and I hope you’ll agree. You just might have all the ingredients you’ll need to make this easy soup on hand already.
I can think of so many reasons to make this soup. Warm up with a big bowl of veggie soup on a cold day. Make it for someone who’s under the weather. My husband has a cold and it’s snowing outside as I type, so this soup is just what we need right now.
Prepare a batch and you’ll have a healthy side dish ready to go for the rest of the week. This soup is a great way to lighten up heavier meals, especially as we get into the holidays. Did I mention that it’s vegetarian, vegan and gluten free for all to enjoy?
Vegetable Options for Vegetable Soup
This homemade vegetable soup is versatile by design, so you can enjoy it from fall through winter. We’ll use onion, carrots and celery as a base.
We’ll also add two cups of seasonal vegetables to make this soup more hearty and interesting. Choose from veggies you have on hand, or grab your favorites at the store. Any of these will work:
- Sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- Butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- Green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch long segments
- Bell pepper, chopped
- Cauliflower, cut into very small bite-sized pieces
- Zucchini or yellow squash, chopped
- Fresh greens: Kale, collard greens, chard, or spinach
How to Make the Best Vegetable Soup
We’ll use several simple techniques to build flavor as we cook this soup. Here’s how:
1) Start with the veggies.
We’ll sauté chopped onion, celery, carrots and seasonal vegetables in olive oil, with some salt. This softens them up and enhances their flavors. Adding salt during different stages of the cooking process builds more flavor than simply adding it all at the end.
2) Add fresh minced garlic, curry powder, and dried thyme.
Sautéing these ingredients for about 1 minute wakes up their flavors, but isn’t long enough to risk burning the garlic (burnt garlic tastes awful).
Curry powder is the secret to making this soup so delicious. We aren’t adding much. You probably won’t be able to pinpoint the flavor, but it adds some subtle intrigue and warmth to this soup. I’ve also used curry powder in my lentil soup and chickpea noodle soup as well, and it always works like a charm.
3) Add canned diced tomatoes with their juices.
We’ll cook them all together for a couple of minutes to reduce any tinny flavors. I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes for these photos, but regular diced tomatoes were just as good. I always recommend using Muir Glen brand of tomatoes because they taste the best and come in BPA-free cans.
4) Almost done—add some vegetable broth, water, and more flavorings.
Vegetable broth keeps this soup vegetarian/vegan. We’ll also add bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and a little more salt. If you’re sensitive to spice, you can reduce or omit the red pepper flakes. If you love spice like me, you might even want to double the amount at the end (add to taste). Regardless, we’ll let the soup gently simmer for 25 minutes so the flavors can meld together.
5) Add chopped fresh greens and finally, some fresh lemon juice.
Lastly, we’ll add chopped greens for health bonus points, and simmer for 5 minutes to soften them up. Before serving, we’ll brighten up the soup with a big squeeze of lemon juice (one of my other go-to soup tricks) and add another splash of olive oil for rich flavor. Taste the soup before and after these additions, and you’ll notice a big difference! Finally, season to taste with salt and pepper, as necessary.
Watch How to Make Vegetable Soup
Please let me know how this soup turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you, and your feedback encourages other readers to try the recipe.
Craving more hearty, healthy, meatless soups this season? Me, too. Here are a few more great options:
- Classic Minestrone Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Chickpea Noodle Soup
- Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Beans Soup)
- Quinoa Vegetable Soup with Kale
- Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
Don’t miss the hearty soups in my cookbook, Love Real Food. They’re some of my favorites!
Seriously Good Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup recipe is seriously so good! It’s easy to make, and full of veggies and fresh flavor. If you’re feeing under the weather or just wanting to lighten up your meals, this soup is the answer. Recipe yields 6 bowls of soup.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, green beans, butternut squash, potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini or yellow squash
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, to taste
- 6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, reduce or omit if sensitive to spice
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups chopped kale or collard greens or chard (thick ribs removed), or spinach
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Warm 3 tablespoons of 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 ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic, curry powder 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 broth and water. Add ½ teaspoon more salt, 2 bay leaves and the red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper. Raise the 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 chopped greens. Continue simmering for 5 minutes or more, until the greens have softened to your liking.
- Remove the pot from heat and remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes. (You might need up to ½ teaspoon more salt, depending on your vegetable broth and your personal preferences.) Divide into bowls and enjoy.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my quinoa vegetable soup and lentil soup.
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!
Recommended equipment: I’m convinced that everything I cook in my Dutch oven (affiliate link) comes out extra delicious.
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.
this is my favorite veggie soup recipe!
That’s great, Jen! Thank you for your review.
Had purchased a container of Trader Joe’s garden vegetable hash that had to be used and I wasn’t feeling the social-media inspired egg/hash combos so looked to see if you had a good veggie soup recipe it would work with. Nailed it. Added the whole container in with 2 carrots, 2 large sweet potatoes, and used fire roasted tomatoes. Added two cans of great northern beans for protein. It made a ton of soup and will be freezing extra! Thank you so much for the perfect fall recipe! So satisfying!
Hi everyone I’ve been making all of Cookie and Kates recipes from muffins to soups to wraps, you name it. We just love all the soup recipes and I make all of them every fall season. The vegetable soup is off the chart my husband raves about it. Anyway, keep up the excellent work Kate and love little inputs about Cookie.
Best regards, jeanie in Az
I love to hear that! Thank you so much, Jeanie.
This is on my stove cooking now. And smells and tastes delightful. But I have the urge to add a few chick peas. Do you think I will spoil it
I also add lemon zest as well as the juice and some white beans. The zest gives it an extra lift.
Wondering… has anyone ever tried making Seriously Good Vegetable Soup using frozen vegetables?
It IS the most delicious vegetable soup ever, when made following the recipe. But I have a freezer full of frozen vegetables I’d like to get rid of.
Think I should try?
Let me know if you try it! I think it may work ok.
I tried and it’s terrific. I used frozen broccoli and frozen spinach (instead of the kale at the end).
And I threw in a bunch of frozen corn at the very end and cooked 5 minutes more. It added a lovely crunch.
I will be sticking with fresh vegetables. But, in a pinch, this way is delicious. Thanks so much for your quick and encouraging response.
Great to hear! Thank you for reporting back, Ellen.
If I didn’t want to use canned tomatoes, what adjustments would I need to make if I had fresh tomatoes?
Hi, I prefer this as written. I’m not sure on using fresh without trying it. You will likely want to adjust the seasonings (more salt possibly) and use the same amount in ounces as listed in the recipe.
So delicious! I LOVE this vegetable soup recipe. It’s easy to make, and it’s great anytime. Thank you.
Love this soup so much!! It truly lives up to its name. I have a question for you – I am going to try my hand at pressure-canning some pasta sauce and soups. Would this be a recipe that was conducive to canning? Thank you so much!
Hi Kathy! I didn’t design this one for canning so I can’t speak to that. Sorry.
I love this soup! I’m trying to prepare for some company that will be staying for a month. Would this freeze well, if I want to make it ahead?
Hi Kathy! This should be ok to freeze. Let me know if you try it!
My family loves all of your soup recipes. I add 1/2 cup barley to this recipe sometimes.
I just made your “Seriously Good Vegetable Souo”for my husband and biys who are under the weather. I used sweet potatoes, parsnips and green beans as my vegetables.
What an amazing soup and perfect for the cool weather we’re having as well. Did a double recipe so I could freeze some.
Thank you,
Catherine from Kelowna
You’re welcome, Catherine! I appreciate your review.
Love your recipes so much! Have you ever tried making this into a version that is a creamy vegetable soup? Any suggestions on what to do to try that? Thanks!! Kate
Hi! I haven’t made this into a creamy soup, sorry.
This soup is outstanding. My husband, who prefers a meal with meat, even commented how good it is. You know all those fresh veggies went into it. I did cut down on the heat just to taste the veggies better. Thank you for this recipe.
You’re welcome, Julean! I appreciate your review.
I’ve made this soup many times. Everyone loves it. It is even more delicious reheated the next day. Can’t get enough of it!
Great to hear, Lenore! I appreciate your review.
I love this recipe. I added frozen corn and spinach, and frozen kale. added more onions a dash of cumin, and used coconut oil. Tripled the hot pepper. with crusty bread it is excellent.
Randy
I was hoping you could come up with a French onion soup recipe.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Thank you for sharing, Randy! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it.
this was sooo good i’m really happy to have found a vegan soup recipe :D
Great to hear, Anna! I appreciate your review.
Love this recipe! Used more than 2 cups of seasonal veggies since I love really thick soups. Making it again right now!
my favourite veggie soup
So yummy! Can i substitute thai green curry paste for the curry powder?
You could try it, but it would impact the flavor differently. If you do, let me know what you think!
Very nice recipe chef . I made it last night, simply delicious . Thank you for your effort .
I made this soup over the weekend and LOVE it! I like the little kick from the curry and red pepper flakes. It is such a good base for adding other things. I wanted some protein in it, so added a can of black beans and a box of chickpea pasta. Very hearty and filling. Definitely a keeper!
Great to hear, Janet! Thank you for your review.
Kate, you struck another one out of the park with this beautifully tasty soup. I feel like good plin-old eggie soup is so often overlooked for the other more attractive or ‘comfy’ or just more ‘cool’ soups like lentil or minestrone or even mushroom-barley soup: in fact, that’ so common it reminds me (doggy reference coming at ya)of when, in a multiple-dog home, the ‘problem’ dog who needs extra supervising to keep out of ‘trouble’, causes the owner to unwittingly give less attention to the more senior dog with her picture perfect manners and sweet nature…O.K. you get the point. This soup is just delicious and easy to cook and yep ‘picture perfect’. I confess that while I took most of the recipe as written, I’d originally begun prepping the also terrific Veggie soup from Mollie Katzen’s Enchanted Broccoli Forest – (1st variation, the Multi-Veg) so the final result ended up being a ‘hybrid’ version; very-similitude here just the seasonings were varied. I used her more ‘conventional’ seasonings (thyme, dill, a little tarragon) but added the extra flavor layer idea NOT with curry powder (loved that twist!) but from the ‘new kid’ in my drawer, Baharat seasoning! Also had cremini mushrooms, butternut squash, extra water & frozen peas (added late). I love greens but didn’t have any in the bin yesterday so no spinach. Sorry to run on here just wanted to say how much I loved this soup – and also many other soup and main dish recipes I’ve made from your website over the years! Thank you for all of it! This one’s a total keeper.
Thank you for sharing, Nina! I’m delighted you are excited about this soup.
Very good! Will make again.
Great to hear, Debbie!
I have made this soup many many times and it is always delicious and amazing. I use butternut squash instead of sweet potatoes. And the seasonal veggies are zucchini, yellow squash, a red bell pepper, some cauliflower pieces, celery, carrots, and green beans. Sometimes Lima beans too.
My family loves it.
I make it vegetarian for my spouse and I will make a chuck roast in the instant pot and put it in my soup bowl. That way the vegetarian can have some and the carnivors can have a delicious beef and vegetables soup too.
Sometimes I will sauté ground chicken to go with it. It’s an all around fantastic soup! Your title says it all! Seriously good veggie soup. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you for sharing what vegetables you use, Jaci! It sounds delicious.
I made this for my book club group and they all raved about it! I used a lot more than two cups of seasonal vegetables, maybe 4 or more. I used butternut squash, red potatoes, french green beans, and zucchini. I also added a little more broth and water toward the end and threw in about a cup of red lentils and omitted the crushed red pepper. The greens I used were a mixture of baby kale, baby spinach, and baby Swiss chard. I also used my immersion blender just a bit to thicken it a little. I served it with crusty bread, we sprinkled a little pecorino Romano cheese on top and it was delicious!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Jess. I appreciate your review.
Hi. My daughter is allergic to tomatoes. Would this recipe work without the tomatoes? Is there anything you can recommend as a substitute?
Hi Diana, You can try it without tomatoes and increase the other vegetables. You may need to adjust the spices. Let me know if you try it!
could you also add cabbage?
Sure! Let me know what you think, Denise.
This is by far my favourite vegetable soup (& my meat eating family’s). It’s so flexible. You can throw in any vegetable so it’s great for cleaning out your vegetable drawer. Just made it again tonight because it’s raining & really cold in December in Sydney Australia – normally bloody hot! And you can make it with chicken stock as well as vegetable stock. Either way it’s super delicious & super healthy. Thanks for the recipe
I’m happy to hear that, Linda! Thank you for your review. I’m excited you loved it.
I love this soup! And I am not a vegetarian either so I use chicken broth or bone broth or whatever I have on hand! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I make it often to have something healthy on hand! I have told others about it and they love it too!
That’s great to hear, Amy! Thank you for your review.
Oh YUM!
Just finished making this soup and Im blown away!
I almost omitted the curry powder – but So glad I put it in. What a flavor boost!
I also added fresh italian parsley and origanum.
Absolutely delicious, thank you Katie!
You’re welcome, Sam! I appreciate your review.
SO good! I used zucchini & green beans as my seasonal veggies, but I think any of your suggestions would be delicious. I’ll be making this again for sure!
Best veggie soup! Just made it for a quick dinner with company over and everybody loved it. The curry powder my husband was eh about hearing it but even he said it was delicious. Will be my go to soup.
That’s great to hear, Nicole! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I’ve been making this vegetable soup for years, never fails to please a crowd and even the kids! It’s a go to for the colder winter months. Really easy to throw together and so versatile, as you can switch up the veg so many different ways.
Thank you for sharing, Vivian!
A wonderful tasty soup, even though I didn’t have a lot of the vegetables called for, I improvised. I also added lentils for some added protein so had to add more water than the recipe stated but that didn’t detract from the taste at all. Definitely a keeper!
Love this recipe used it several times and can’t beat it just what the doctor ordered on a freezing cold winter day with buttered crusty bread Thankyou.
Wow, this soup was great! Other than chopping the vegetables, it came together quickly. The curry powder adds such a nice, warm flavor. This is my family’s new go-to veggie soup recipe! Thank you for sharing it, Kate!
I’m glad you loved it, Marjey! I appreciate your review.
What went wrong with my soup? It was watery, not very tasty. I made a double batch using the doubling function here on the site.
I’m sorry to hear that, Lisa. Are you sure you added all the spices in?
Best soup recipe I have ever made, it was so fresh tasting and delicious. The instructions made it easy to follow and it was so quick to make.
This has to be the best soup I have ever made. I added quite a bit more curry and spice to knock your socks off a bit and it really hit the spot
I love to hear that, James!
The best vegetable soup ever! Added a can of white northern beans.
Hearty soup! Thank you, Kate!
This lives up to the name. It is seriously delicious, probably the best vegetable soup I’ve ever had. The curry powder, pepper flakes and lemon really give it something special.
I love your recipes because they’re not complicated but often have some technique or ingredient(s) that puts them over the top. This is one of those, and I love how adaptable it is. I think it would be great with some chickpeas or cannellini beans added, also with some grated Parmesan.
This was the perfect thing to make on a very rainy day in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks for another terrific recipe, Kate!
I’m excited you think so, Deborah!
Delicious! Best vegetable soup I’ve ever made. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome, Su! I appreciate your review.
Hi- I usually do not leave reviews but after making three of your soups, I felt it would be unfair not to leave a review. I have made the tomato soup, the lentil soup, and now this vegetable soup and each one is incredible. I love soup and seldom order it in restaurants because it is usually cream-based or has other unhealthy ingredients. This soup is delicious, as is the lentil and tomato soups. My entire extended family is in love with all of the soups I have made. Thank you so much for providing these healthy and delicious recipes to all of us. And I love reading the comments because they inspire me to try the recipes after hearing how much everyone’s picky eaters love them. What a way to get your family to eat more vegetables each day!!
That’s great to hear, Shari! I’m excited you enjoy these recipes.
I was looking for a vegetarian soup to add to a soup care package and decided to try this recipe. I followed it exactly, and my seasonal vegetables were potatoes, green bell pepper, and zucchini. I also added a bit of canned corn for color, and my greens were collards. The soup turned out great! It is so tasty that I am motivated to post a comment, and I don’t often do that. Even though I am not a huge fan of curry, I agree that the curry powder is probably what gives this soup the little something extra that makes it distinctive.
Thank you for sharing, Tricia! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Every time I make one of your recipes, I slow down and really savor the wholesome taste. Your soup recipes are on my repeat list, especially the lentil soup!
I made the vegetable soup for the first time this evening and it was wonderful!
I was able to use several frozen vegetables from my late summer garden for the vegetables soup.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe creations.
Tracy
Most things on the internet are false claims, but this recipe was so refreshing because it was actually what it claimed to be! This was seriously good vegetable soup. I loved the subtle spice from the curry powder and the red pepper flakes. Genius! I added in Tofurkey Italian sausage too. This soup was such a comfort on a chilly January evening. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
Wonderful to hear, Ami! Thank you for your review.
Spectacular soup and so tasty! My “food critic” hubby’s favorite by far!!! I’m making it again right now as I’m commenting…. ☆☆☆☆☆ from us!!
This.Is.Amazing. Not “amazing for vegetable soup”, but amazing for any kind of dinner food, full stop. It is so rich and filling and comforting and Delicious. The broth is silky and spicy. I used sweet potato and red bell pepper as the seasonal veg, and kale as the green. I made just a few tweaks for my preferences- doubled the curry and crushed red pepper, and added a can of chickpeas for some protein. I told my husband I was making vegetable soup for dinner and his answer was something between a groan and a sigh…he came home with a takeout sandwich from a local “house of pizza”, but threw out 3/4 of it after trying this soup. And having seconds.
YUMMY! I seldom leave a comment for a recipe but this soup is so delicious. The lemon really does make it shine. Used green beans, sweet potato, zucchini, and spinach. Added garbanzo beans as well just bc I like them. I’m needing to lower my cholesterol- this recipe will definitely be in my rotation!
I’m glad you did, Lori! Thank you for your review.