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.
Thank you for your reply. I’m getting better by the day.
Had to soup last evening for dinner and it was fabulous! Tasty, full of flavours… yum x
I made this veggie soup yesterday in the crock pot. I never liked veggie soup…THIS VEGGIE SOUP CHANGED MY MIND, The BEST is right on. My husband and I wanted to get more veggies and eat healthier. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Thank you!!!!
Hooray! I love that and so happy this was a game changer for you. Thank you for sharing, Cindy.
Did you sauté onions before crock potting the soup? Or did you just throw it all in? And how long did you cook this for !?
6 hours on low yes sautéed before crockpot
How long did you cook it in the crock pot?
6 hours on low in crockpot
I’ve made this 3 times and it’s wonderful! I agree that the curry powder adds a new layer of flavor that doesn’t taste like curry but makes it taste better. I use Penzey’s Sweet Curry powder. And the thyme as well. This soup freezes beautifully so I made a triple batch last time. Thanks!
Being married to a plant based vegetarian, it’s challenging to find a good versatile soup recipe. I have made this several times with using whatever vegetables are on hand (it’s super tasty with cauliflower- who knew?) and it is always delicious. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this great recipe. My husband is also oil free, so I just add a little water when I saute the veggies so they don’t brown, still tastes great!
Hooray! Thank you for sharing, Colleen.
Seriously delicious, not to mention healthy!!! For my seasonal vegetables I included one sweet potato, a container of shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and I used spinach for the greens. I also added a can of chickpeas for protein. YUMMY!!!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for your review, Jessie.
Love this soup. Made with potatoes snd spinach. Also added the pepper flakes and it was not too spicy. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Sounds delicious, Marie!
Seriously good indeed. My daughter and I like to have a cup of this soup as a snack, when dinner is not on the table yet but hunger is!
I loved this soup! Being Indian, I had to totally wonder what you were referring to as curry powder! I mean, ahem! We have a lot of powders with a lot of flavours. But my friend told me that it’s sambar powder – which I usually cook with lentils. And I would’ve never put this in a non-indian cuisine – leave alone soup! The whole family loved it. Even my toddler chose soup over her main meal! I will soon be making this again!
Hi Deepthi! Thank you for taking the time to review. I’m delighted you tried it and loved it.
This IS seriously good vegetable soup! Easy, yummy, and filling. The lemon really does add a little “zing”. I love your recipes!
JTW
Thank you, Juanell! I’m happy you agree.
Absolutely delicious, delicate flavors, rich, works with beef stock or purely vegetarian…both are great. I used a very strong olive Oil, very peppery (Gundry, M.D. brand) the first time and a whole 16 of bone broth….strong flavors but preferred my third batch with one tbsp of the Guidry olive oil and 3 tbsp avocado oil. Also, I added only 8 Oz bone broth flavored with ginger and turmeric and that was more subtle. You really cannot mess up this recipe. I stuck with the recipe as recommended first,, only adding more veggies, and then branched out with more confidence.. Thank you!! Just wonderful and a fun, quick activity, too.
This is was awesome and easy to make ! I added some rose harissa and used sieved tomatoes since I didn’t have diced on hand and it was perfect!
Thank you for sharing, Arshiya!
This was a great find. So good and a great flavor profile. Love the versatility based on what you have on hand or even using some combination of frozen vegetables as well. I used a tip I learned from you on another recipe and added a little quinoa as well for some whole grains as well.
Thank you for sharing, JB! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Just made this wonderful hearty soup. Love the flavours and will be my go to soup recipe. Love!
You’re welcome, Pamela! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I made your soup yesterday and it is wonderful. I was a little worried about the curry, but I gave in and I think it really did the trick. Thank you for the time you put in to make this!
I have thrown my own vegetable soup recipe together in the past, but have never cared for it. LOL This recipe is easy & delicious! This will now be my “Go To” recipe for a yummy & healthy soup! Thanks for sharing!
This is the heartiest and tastiest veg soup ever, the only thing I do differently is add some chilli oil right before the lemon juice. Yum! Thank you
You’re welcome, Bianca.
Never been a fan of veggie soup, but WOW! This recipe is versatile, hearty, and phenomenal! Will definitely be making again :)
Wonderful to hear, Sara!
Hi, have cooked a few of your soup recipes and want to try this next! Just wondering if a partial blend to lend some creaminess to the soup (like in your lentil and black bean soup recipes) would work well in this soup? As the veggies are probably more fibrous here than starchy like in the case of lentils and beans? Thanks!
Hi Su, I don’t think you will get the same creamy texture here since you don’t have beans.
I LOVE this soup!
I have been on an organic low sodium plant based diet and preparing most of my meals. Delish!
Thank you.
Hi,
I’d like to ask you all what vegetable broth you recommend. The ones I have bought do not taste good. I also prefer organic because due to a health condition, I’m in a limited sodium diet, and organic ones have much less sodium than regular ones.
Thanks!
Hi Eliana! I don’t have a go-to brand but buy organic when I can as well. I’ve bought Whole Food 365 recently and didn’t mind it. Sometimes you can substitute water instead of vegetable broth, but may need to adjust your seasonings.
Hi Eliana,
Try using mushroom broth-vegetarian and delicious.
I do not care for vegetable broth either and love mushroom
Absolutely DE licious! Thank you :-) I omitted the oil at the end, did I miss out on extra flavor? I used so many veggies so there was only a little liquid. Wondering if I should add some more veggie broth?
Such a delicious soup! A family favorite for sure!
This was SOOO good! Thank you! I used green beans, zucchini and yellow squash for my 2 cups of vegetables.
Made this for our seniors church luncheon, left out the curry powder, canned tomatoes and water & added a little leek, only because I had some that needed using. It was loved by all- thanks
Another winner! Thank you always for the inspiration!!!
Thanks for the delicious recipe. I made this last night and it tastes even better today! I doubled the recipe and used my 8 quart Dutch oven. I went extra heavy on vegetables and added 4 cups diced potatoes and 2 cups of chopped red and orange bell pepper as well as 4 12 oz bags of frozen soup vegetables. At the end I added spinach. One lesson I learned is to fish out the bay leaves before adding the spinach. I also bumped up the heat and used 2 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes. OMG! I planned on freezing serving size Pyrex bowls for later but now it looks like there won’t be much left to freeze.
Yes! This makes great leftovers. Thank you for sharing, Mark. I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I’m guessing you mean two cups of each veg? Or would be Tony amount!
Hi Al, that is a total number of vegetables.
Just made your soup. Delicious! Great flavor! Will definitely make again. Thank you.
Generally I hate soup, but I made this for the old lady I look after and there’s was loads so I thought I’d try some and my God, probably one of the best soups I’ve ever tried, used Broccoli instead of Cauliflower and I didn’t use any butternut or squash but used just about every ingredient and left out celery. It turned out so good might make it again for my S/O
Absolutely best soup ever! After making it several times, I doubled the recipe (to share some and freeze some and, of course, eat some) and, though I didn’t adjust any measurements, this big batch is a bit too hot. (I love heat, but this will be too much for some people.)
Can you suggest a quick remedy?
Thank you – for this reply and for all of your generosity!!!
Warm regards…E
Hi! Sorry for my delay. I’m happy you love the soup and make it often. I’m sorry this one is a bit spicy this time. You can try to add some creamy contrast when you serve it, if that works for who you are serving it to (cheese, etc)
No problem. I appreciate how quickly you sid reply!
Dairy is not a problem. And I think a dollop of sour cream in each bowl would be delicious.
I was thinking to add stock or tomatoes, but felt it would be too watery.
Sour cream (or yog) it is.
And thank you again for your enormous generosity! So many wonderful recipes, so many tips, so much advice. As someone who has been cooking for over 50 years, I am astonished and thrilled by the amount I have learned from you!
You have a friend in Toronto!
Warm regards…Ellen
Add more lemon to remove heat.
I used golden potatoes, zucchini squash, and green beans in my veg mix. Also I used spinach as my greens. I didn’t have any diced tomatoes, so I used crushed and added some extra fresh tomatoes so I could have that chunky tomato texture in the soup. Doubled the spices and added about a teaspoon of coconut sugar to help meld the flavor together. A delicious, filling, and fairly simple soup! Thank you for the awesome recipe.
I’m happy you were able to make it work with what you had, Ashlee. I appreciate your review!
OMG ! I am ALWAYS craving vegies, my husband doesn’t like very many, so I am always left wanting more. I saw this recipe and literally started drooling ! It is SO GOOD ! I have eaten over half the recipe in two days. And I feel better ! Not that I felt sick, but man ! My energy level is way up now ! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. I am not a vegetarian, but I do love vegies. I have tried a number of your recipes and they are all good, but I really love this one ! “Seriously good vegetable soup” is a very accurate name.
Thank you! I’m happy this one is a hit for you, Nancy.
Absolutely the best veggie recipe ever! Loved it!
That’s great! I’m happy you loved it.
WOW! Where has this recipe been my entire life! This is not your Grandma’s vegetable soup, this is scrumptious and so flavourful! I added some chilli pepper infused olive oil in place of some of the olive oil because we like things spicy. If you are contemplating this recipe, JUST MAKE IT!!
Thank you for your review and excitement about this recipe, Stacey! I’m delighted you loved it.
Oh my God, this is the best vegan soup ever,and I’m not vegan! Make this for my daughter and you have the spices nailed down perfectly.
I really want to try some of your other recipes. ❤️❤️
Kate, I made this soup yesterday for dinner after 3 days of eating too much dairy/wheat. Just what I needed. Fantastic recipe, I will absolutely use this recipe again plus share with my loved ones. Thank you.
Ps. Cookie is beyond cute.
Ainslie
I’m glad it was just what you were needing, Ainslie. Thank you for your review!
I started getting a cold and decided to make this delicious soup to soothe my throat. Made it exactly by the recipe and it’s perfect! Kate is right the lemon and curry really kick this veggie soup up a notch. I’m definitely making this again!
I’m glad it was just what you needed to help you feel better. I appreciate your review, Krystal.
A good ‘clean out the fridge’ recipe for when the veges are starting to look a bit sad. I added zucchini and red capsicum, and frozen beans at the end.
I made as per the recipe except I used a fresh red chili that was lying around, and fresh thyme from my potted garden.
As I was making to take for work lunches I threw in a quarter cup of quinoa to give it a bit more body.
What stage did you add the quinoa?
Delicious!! The combo of curry powder, herbs and lemon juice makes for a such a wonderful, fresh taste. I will definitely make it again…and again. I’m excited to share it with my friends, family and clients. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Tannika! I’m glad you enjoyed it to much.
This is a great recipe! Made with potato, green beans, kale, and yellow squash (along with the carrot and celery, of course). I also threw in a handful of lentils and orzo pasta each for texture and to make it a more filling lunch.
Healthy and easy soup recipe, perfect for cold winter evenings! Thanks for sharing!
Made this again and I have to tell you this is some seriously excellent soup!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Monique!
I LOVE this soup recipe and make it often. Would like to use up some beans in my pantry..has anyone added beans to this?
That could work for some added protein, if you like.
Seriously delicious. I, like a lot of other reviewers, added shirataki mushrooms, kidney beans, sweet corn and sweet potatoes. I also added a little soy sauce, red wine and. a 1/4 teaspoon of garam
Marsala. This is a meal within itself.
Almost a cross between Vegetable and minestrone. Absolutely delicious! Can definitely see it becoming a regular soup in our household.
That’s great, Emily! Thank you for your review.
Gotta say I’ve been returning to this page for more than a year now. Figured it was time to show some appreciation :)
This recipe is the perfect base for my soups, I just change some of the ingredients from pot to pot.
Thanks for sharing, my family really loves it.
I’m happy to hear that, Con! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Hi Kate.
Back again to say that I’m still cooking up this recipe on a regular basis and loving it every time. I grew up with a mild dislike for soup and, after trying this on a whim, it has changed my outlook on soups in a big way. Great for the week, for cold weather and freezes well for those times when only a soup will do.
I also want to commend you on the write up. I appreciate the lack of egregious filler and the way you have presented this recipe with the choices laid out and the way it encourages experimentation and variation. Like I said, base for soups because it’s great to throwing in different veggies and seeing how they inform the end product.
I’ve made this for friends, family and even my now wife who absolutely loves it. It’s been a great journey over the years Thank you.
With love and appreciation.
Con
I love it! Thank you for coming back to review, Con.
Wow! This is the BEST Vegetable soup I ever tasted. I cut back a little on the red pepper flakes because I don’t like things real spicy and it was perfect how I did it for my palate. The directions are so easy and the final product is just amazing. I’m new to Cookie and Kate and I am excited to try more recipes. Thank you
I’m happy you loved it, Lynda! I appreciate your review.
So tasty !! Thank you from a university student in New Zealand winter – this is affordable and so warmly spiced. I also blitzed it lightly with a stick blender and added peanut butter for extra nuttiness – yum
Great! Thank you, Marie.
It was PERFECT
Thank you, Jo!
I made this soup for my father in law when he was poorly and he absolutely loved it. I love how simple the ingredients and the method is. I can see myself making this time and time again, thank you
You’re welcome, Fathima!
I have made this soup three times so far, once with turnip greens, once with kale and once with spinach. The kale was a bit tough so I don’t think I’ll use that again unless I puree the soup. I also add a packet of red pepper flakes from the pizza place (about a quarter teaspoon) and it does turn out a bit spicy but not too much. My family loves this recipe and eat seconds and all the leftovers! This recipe is gold!!!!