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.
Yum! Love seasonal healthy recipes like this. I admit, my girlfriend and I are addicted to cookbook magazines. The ones near the registers; why do they have to put them right there where you checkout?! However, you can never have too many recipe inspirations or ideas.
Oh I love quinoa in soup! Lately I’ve been adding it to minestrone soup and it adds such a lovely heartiness.
That’s a great idea! This soup’s flavor reminds me of minestrone.
Quinoa in soup?! How delicious! And all these vegetables sound good too. Yum!
I always forget quinoa in soup, it’s a great way to bulk up and add protein!
Hi Kate,
I am looking for recipes to cook and freeze as I am due to give birth any day now and would like some healthy food options for the first few weeks when baby is home. Would this soup be okay to freeze do you think?
Hi Naomi, that is a great question! I think it would freeze well. I actually froze some of my leftovers so I will try to defrost it tomorrow and get back to you. Congratulations, I bet you are excited to meet your baby!
Hi Naomi, just wanted to confirm that yes, this soup freezes and defrosts well!
Thanks for getting back to me Kate, it’s great to have a healthy, vegetarian option to freeze. Love your work by the way.
Naomi.
This soup is so colorful! I can’t wait to make it! And I NEED that spice drawer liner in my life :)
Oh. My. Goodness. I’m purchasing those liners right now! I never found a way to organize my spices where I could find them, but still fit them in my drawer, so this is a life saver! Also, this soup=spring heaven!
I’m obsessed with those liners. Hope you love them! No more spice jars rolling around.
This looks truly wonderful, Kate! Thank you for the recipe. I will cook this for my UK guests over the weekend, along with the green goddess hummus, too. Your no. 1 fan., PL
Thank you, PL! I hope you all love it. :D
Kale and quinoa are my favorite “go to” ingredients any time of year. Gorgeous soup! Keep the Cookie photos coming!
I’m with you on kale and quinoa! Cookie says hi!
This looks delicious and will help to use up the gigantic bag of organic quinoa I bought at Costco! FYI – the quinoa is pre-washed and the bag says “No need to pre-soak or rinse,” which saves a step.
Well, that’s handy! I’ll have to check my bags. I’d hate for someone’s soup to taste like bitter quinoa!
Agree! I read about pre-rinsed quinoa in an article and specifically looked for it. Otherwise, yes, bitter!
Quinoa and kale! Talk about two superfoods in one dish!
Wow, Kate! This one looks like a winner. I’ve used all manner of grains in my soups but never quinoa. Going to have to make this one! Thanks!
Yummy looking soup! Those pics of Cookie remind me of how much my dag used to love snacking on broccoli :)
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Hi…wonderful pictures of the soup and of your adorable dog! I make a very similar soup and it is good, esp. with grated parmesan cheese on top. FYI, I was able to locate vegetarian parmesan cheese at Whole Foods! Kate, do you ever cook with Broccoleaf? I am replacing the kale in my recipes with this new superfood…I find it less bitter than kale, and the stems are like sugar, esp. good as the dippers to your hummus recipes! :) Foxy Organics is one of two companies that I know of that are supplying broccoleaf to my local Coop in So. CA.
Hi Jerilyn, thank you! I love that Parmesan cheese at Whole Foods. I have not cooked with broccoleaf yet, but I think I saw some the other day! I’ll give it a try! Glad to know the stems are tasty, too.
quinoa in a soup!! That’s all I need yuum
Hooray for all the veg! And plenty of quinoa too. :) This sounds so delicious — a perfect way to eat fresh spring vegetables.
I love quinoa in soup! This looks so hearty but still light, perfect!
This is the perfect dish for all the rainy cold Philly weather we have been having! This looks great! Super yummy! Thanks
Never had quinoa in soup, and I should!
Kate, you’re no one hit wonder! Yet again, you’ve come up with an amazing recipe. I just made it and dear oh dear, it’s delicious! I used edemame in place of the beans and they worked beautifully. I thought of a tip to pass along: I work in an italian grocery store and I buy a big glass BOTTLE of organic volcano lemon juice from Italy. (Please, no plastic lemon-shaped containers of that vile stuff they claim to be lemon juice!) I then freeze it in mini ice cube trays, pop them out and put them in a freezer bag. This way I always have lemon juice on hand when I need it. Thanks Kate for being such a wonderful inspiration and give that little Cookie a scratch behind the ears for me!
Rose, thank you! So pleased to hear you’re enjoying my recipes! Thank you for the tip on the lemon juice. I gave up on store-bought lemon juice after I tried the lemon-shaped container years ago! Cookie says hello.
Thank you Rose for giving a review after you tried the recipe. The other comments though friendly are just not helpful.
Kate, you are such a beautiful writer. I would just love to see a cookbook from you! And this looks like another delicious recipe, I’ll be making a big batch of this as dinner prep for another week at uni, I think :) I love your blog and recipes, thank you for sharing your gift with us! x
Thank you, Hannah! I hope to have good news for you soon on that front!
I’m with you: quinoa in soup is a total winner!
Gorgeous soup, Kate! Hearty but still so fresh for spring! We’ve been having a few rainy days here too and this looks like the perfect bowl to keep warm! Have a great weekend xo
I have been wanting to use quinoa in soup and this looks amazing :)
This soup was delicious! I was short on time, so I used leftover cooked quinoa I had from the night before. Still came great–the broth is really flavorful.
Thank you, Meg! So glad you enjoyed it!
I looove quinoa in soup and I can’t wait for that deep spring-y rainy weather that’s imminent around these parts. We’re still on the tippy tail end of winter, but my pup is still managing to get her paws in all the muddy spots on our walks :) Aaaaaand I just added those spice organizers to my next Amazon order. xo
A big bowl of this healthy goodness is exactly what my spring needs! Other than it actually feeling like spring, of course. NYC needs to get with the program!
This was lovely! My husband and I had this for dinner tonight and really enjoyed it. Very filling and loved all the veggies. I added one cup of water instead of two and added a full cup of quinoa because I wanted more of a stew and it was perfect. I am looking forward to making this in the summer when zucchini’s go crazy!
Thank you, Sarah! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it. Your stew version sounds fantastic!
I just made this with broccoli rabe instead of kale because I love the flavor and black beans instead of white because I had white sweet potatoes on hand. Amazingly delicious.
Kate- your recipes are fab and I must make at least one per week. I would love to see you add calories/serving size. I know there are 4-6 servings in this recipe and could figure it out myself, but… think it may be easy for you to add it along with caloric content. I think a lot of people would appreciate it.
Thank you!!
Your soup sounds fantastic, Joyce! So glad to hear you’re enjoying my recipes. I have some serious hesitations with including nutrition information with my recipes, principally because it’s downright impossible to provide accurate counts when they are so many variables involved.
Delicious soup! Thank you (& Traders for the inspiration to make it) Coworkers want to have a soup potluck so I can make/bring this one. I am making it again soon.
Thanks, Dennis! So glad you like it and hope your coworkers did, too.
We really enjoyed this soup. Used red bell pepper and yellow squash which due to a warm and sadly, dry winter (california) are already popping up at farmers markets.
Thank you, Mayra! I’m so glad to hear it. I bet a bell pepper version would be delicious. So crazy that they’re already available at your markets!
Hi,
I was so happy seeing your recipe.
it looked so yummy that i tried it right away after seeing it.
Thanks a lot for sharing such a superb.. healthy… awesome dish..
i havent finished the soup yet, but wanted to tell you right away. thats why commented.
thanks again :)
Do share more recipes like this.
VIDYA
Vidya, I’m so glad you enjoyed this soup! Thank you for letting me know!
I don’t eat nightshades What can I substitute for the tomatoes?
Hi Eileen, I suspect you could just leave them out for a more classic vegetable soup. You might need to add some extra broth to make up for the moisture they add.
I made this today and I absolutely love it!! I’m so glad I’ve found this recipe!
Hooray! Thanks, Maggie!
Made this soup tonight and it was amazing! Husband loved it, and I shared with my mother-in-law as well! We had it with pan fried summer squash cakes. Thanks for another great recipe!
That’s terrific news! Thank you, Abby!
I made this today and it’s SO delicious!! I will definitely be making this many more times in the future. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us. Xx
That is great to hear! Thank you, Al!
I don’t suppose you have the nutritional breakdown for this???
Never understood, I just read your response to a similar post above. Thank you, delicious recipe!!!
Yesterday I woke up with one of those colds that stops you in your tracks. (I think my immune system is down from trying to coordinate a cross-country move from CA to Boston for grad school. So much stress!!) Anyway, I had a hankering for soup, so I finally made this recipe. Oh my, it was delicious! And I feel SO MUCH better after having real sustenance. This wasn’t the first recipe of your’s that I’ve made, and it most certainly won’t be the last. Thank you!
Shannon, I hope you’re feeling better now! I woke up with a crazy one-day flu on Tuesday myself. I wish I’d mustered up the strength to make this soup! I survived on homemade granola bars that day. Oops.
I made this soup and it was so delicious! I used black beans and didn’t have enough quinoa so used half brown rice. Topped the soup with parmesan and lots of squeezed lemon and cracked pepper! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Thank you, Amber! Delighted to hear it!
Hi Kate. Just made this soup and all I can say is omg yum! You know how some soups taste better the next day? Well to be honest after making it I expected it to be ok but not as good as it was right off the bat great flavor! I always follow recipes to the tee the first time and then decide what I might do different there really isn’t anything I would change. For the extra veggies I used zucchini sweet potato and red pepper, and I used just a little more kale than called for. Served toasted trader joes sourdough bread and well I am in love with this recipe. Thanks again for another amazing recipe!
Thank you, Christine! So glad you loved this soup! Hooray!
Kate,
I’m so confused about this soup. It has phenomenal reviews, and I’ve made several recipes on your site and I’ve loved every last one.
I made this soup two days ago and followed all of the instructions exactly – and, it is not good at all?! My boyfriend and I couldn’t even stomach it.
Mine also did not end up with the consistency of the soup pictured – mine was very thick? I followed the measurements exactly so I’m not sure how that happened (I used red bell peppers as that’s what I had on hand). I’m a bit of a soup fanatic (I eat soup almost daily and they’re all homemade), but this is my first time trying quinoa in a soup, so maybe that’s the culprit. Mine ended up thick, mushy and bland.
I’m hoping maybe you have some ideas on what could’ve went wrong? Or ideas on how to improve it? I don’t like wasting food so it’s still sitting in the fridge, but I just cannot bring myself to eat it.
Thanks,
Brookelynne
Hey Brookelynne, I was so bummed to read that this soup didn’t turn out well for you. It sounds like maybe your quinoa got overcooked and absorbed a ton of water in the process, which makes me think that maybe the soup was boiling for 30 minutes rather than gently simmering. Could that be it? And, did you rinse the quinoa before adding it to the pot? Most quinoas are pre-rinsed these days anyway, but if yours wasn’t and you didn’t rinse it, then it could have leached some bitter flavors into the soup.
I just made it and mine turned out exactly the same- bland and mushy. Actually I absolutely don’t like the combination of flavors, it tastes strange. Very upset :-(
If you can’t taste, season and adjust accordingly as you cook you may as well hit Applebee’s for your dinner soup. Free recipes online do not warrant disappointed reviews. Take responsibility for your own lackluster cooking skills.
Made this last night and it was divine! Mine was more thick than the picture posted and had to add extra water and vegetable stock. Nevertheless, it was delicious. I’m so grateful to have stumble across your website. Great work!
Hey Jason! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m glad this soup turned out well for you!
This recipe was great! I used sweet potatoes, extra kale, and some trumpet mushrooms. I also doubled the quinoa to make more of a stew. I drizzled pesto on top along with the freshly grated Parmesan. Satisfying, fresh and comforting.
Thank you, Shari! I’m so glad to hear it. Your version sounds awesome.
This soup was absolutely delicious! I made a vegetable soup from scratch a few weeks ago with recipe from FoodNetwork.com, but this one turned out so much more flavorful! I used corn instead of beans and added extra greens and bit of fresh bail. So good! This will be my new go-to recipe for vegetable soup. Thanks, Kate!
Thank you, Keshia! So glad you enjoyed it. :)
Made this tonight exactly as written and even my non veggie eatting husband enjoyed it . Def a keeper
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Brandy!
This was absolutely delish!! My whole family loved it. In the past it has been hard to get my daughter to eat certain veggies. But she loved this soup. I ended up adding chicken and extra black beans to it :)
Thanks, Niki! I’m glad your daughter enjoyed this veggie soup!
Look awesome! I’m really want to try. I have a question is how many degree we should warm the olive oil. just warm not boil it, right?
Hi Katthy, the oil should be warm enough that it has “legs” if you tilt the pan back and forth. Don’t wait too long, though. Oil won’t ever boil, but it will catch on fire!
Awesome. Superb. Clear instructions. Thanks for making our transition to vegan so fabulous!
Thank you, Vicky! :)
Made this soup with my mom over Christmas – we loved getting to eat it for several days afterwards! Back home and about to make it again. Always looking for inventive ways to use kale. Thanks!!
Thanks, Elizabeth! Happy to hear it!
This soup is delicious. It is a meal! So tasty. I love to eat veggies and healthy foods so it’s no surprise I love this BUT even my family likes it and they eat burgers and fries! It pleases everyone. I love when people with poor eating habits still enjoying my cooking! Thank you, Kate!
Thank you, Heather! So glad to hear that you all enjoyed the soup!!!