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.
Hi There, the recipe sounds great. Would Cilantro work at the end or would it take over. Love the combo with curry, but not sure in this recipe. Thanks
You could try it, but I didn’t try it with this recipe. I like basil with it when I tested it one time!
This really is the best vegetable soup! For those concerned about the curry, its actually what makes the soup so good! Made this with my 8 year old daughter and it was amazing. For the “seasonal vegetables” we used green beans, corn, parsnips, potatoes, and butternut squash. Skipped the greens at her request. Highly customizable recipe, love it.
Thank you, Hannah! I’m happy you loved it.
Kate, I have tried so many of your recipes. Tonight we are having the roasted cauliflower soup for the third time. I made your pumpkin muffins over the weekend–so wonderful! We also loved the West African Peanut Soup and the Soba noodle dish. Your vegetarian chili was amazing. I’m cooking every night with Cookie and Kate. I’m ordering your book so that I may have all of your recipes at hand.
I’m so glad you are enjoying so many recipes!
Add a bay leaf.
Hi Nancy! I actually call for 2 bay leaves. :)
I made this for myself & in 3 days it was gone – yes, it is THAT good. I used Ditalini pasta. I cannot believe the flavor! I’m craving it after only one day so I’m making it again. Thank you Kate, this is fantastic!
I make soup every week so I am a big fan of a bowl of warm pottage.
Soup and the Pacific NW go hand in hand. I’ll put it on the list to try.
Looks scrumptious!
This IS seriously good soup! And, you were right, I had almost everything I needed on hand to make it as soon as I saw the post. The only thing I didn’t have was the greens. I used zucchini as my seasonal vegetable. Other than omitting the greens, I followed the recipe as written. One thing though; the ingredients list calls for 4 tablespoons of olive oil divided. You use the first 3 to cook the veggies but I cannot find the remaining tablespoon in the instructions so I omitted that as well. Thanks again for another great recipe!
Hooray! Thanks for trying it, Heather.
The 4th tablespoon of oil is in step 5. :-)
I check your website constantly looking for recipes for dinner, lunch, breakfast and tonight right at the first page this delicious soup comes up. I added butter beans and it was so good !!! I have tried many of your recipes and they are all fantastic! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Claudia!
Just made it! Very delicious and perfect for this below freezing Oklahoma weather today! Used butternut squash, green beans, red bell pepper and kale!
Love the combination! Thanks for sharing, Gayla.
Parsnips! How can you have a great vegie soup with out Parsnips!
I love so many of your recipes but believe me parsnips make a great addition to vegie soup in my kitchen. Thanks so much!
Cid…
Feel free to add them!
I can’t wait to try this! I make Gypsy soup that is similar, and that we love, but this will be nice to add to our favorite soups. Thanks for your inspirationAnd I agree, there are no better tomatoes than Muir Glen. I always keep lots of cans in my pantry.
Let me know what you think when you try it, Nancy!
Hi Kate, made this soup today (despite being spring here in Melbourne, Australia, it was really chilly today) and it was absolutely delicious – so full of flavour. I love all your soup recipes, especially your lentil soup, and now this one is a new favorite.
Just a question for you: it says 4 tablespoons of olive oil, divided, then mentions 3 tablespoons in the first step of the method, but I couldn’t see what the remaining tablespoon was used for?
Hi Nicole, I think the remaining 1Tbs of Olive Oil is added with the lemon juice after removing the pot from the heat.
Soooooo yummy! I used cauliflower, corn, green beans. as seasonal vegs. Also added two Tablespoons mushroom powder, 2 cups mushroom broth, 1/3 cup pearled barley, 1can drained cannellini beans. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written. Thank you for a great recipe.
Thank you for sharing!
Whoops, also, I didn’t use any oil. I’ve made this soup a second time & used zucchini & green cabbage too. So good for the soul!
This is the very best Vegetable soup recipe, vegan, or not its the BEST
Thank you, Sue!!
Cookie and Kate recipes never disappoint, and this soup was true to form. The flavor is fantastic, and it came together for the summer in about 30 minutes! I will certainly make this again. Thank you!!!!!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved it, Flo.
I’m just making this right now, and realize you have 4T olive oil, divided, but the 4th T then never appears…
Any thoughts?
Hi Donna, great catch! It’s a great finisher with the lemon juice. Add in step 5 with the lemon juice.
Thanks for the info re adding the last Tbsp of oil, along with the lemon juice; will do next time. Even without it, the soup was great and zippy too. Another “make often” from you!!!
This soup is delicious and I think the curry powder really adds a special hint of flavor. I added a can of kidney beans and a quarter cup of acini di pepe pasta (tiny tiny pasta) to make it a bit more robust and served it as a main part of our family dinner tonight. 4 generations loved it- well the 93 year old liked it better than the 2 year old but she was already keen for pasta that was coming next.
This recipe is a keeper!
Thank you for sharing! :)
This was dinner tonight for me in Brooklyn, where it now feels like 17 degrees outside! Such a warming, nourishing and flavorful soup. I had a surplus of carrots and celery so I made my own veggie broth beforehand in my Instant Pot. Loved the combination of curry powder, red pepper flakes and lemon juice to enhance the broth. I added extra red pepper flakes at the end and my lips are tingling in a good way! Excited to eat the leftovers for lunch this week.
I’m glad you made it already! Thanks for sharing, Amy.
Made this soup last night for dinner and it was delicious. I used potatoes and zucchini for the veggies and it was so good. This will be on my rotation of soups this fall/winter :)
Wonderful, Nicole!
I made this soup tonight and it was fantastic! I followed the instructions to a T as they were very easy to understand. I really like the flavouring of the soup and my girlfriend also loves it! I wish I could give 10 stars lol :)
Hooray! Thanks for the review, Brittany.
Kate – I just LOVE your recipes. You did not exaggerate about this soup – it is extraordinarily delicious. I made it in the Instant Pot and made a few very minor changes. For the IP, I followed your steps 1 and 2, sauteing in olive oil. I did add a lot more veggies than you indicated. Since I added more veggies, I added slightly more amounts of seasonings than you suggested. I used a can of fire tomatoes and one regular diced, only because I didn’t have two fire tomatoes. I also added one can of chickpeas to add protein. I used only broth and a little less. After sauteing (which with the IP I believe could be omitted but I feel it adds depth and I had the time) I cooked on Manual for 10 min. I did a natural release of about 5-10 minutes, but it would have been fine with a quick release. Then I added the lemon and the chopped greens. I think the recipe is very forgiving with the IP and it could be Manual for less time and quick release depending on the type of veggies. I used a lot of carrots and sweet potatoes and so added some time. It was simply out of this world.
I’m happy you loved it, Ellen! Thanks for sharing what you did.
Ellen I also used the insta pot. I sautéed them did used the slow cooker function. Big hit!!! Thanks kate!
This should be coined as a “Souperfood” makes you feel like all warm and cozy but without all the guilt. A little Lemon tea, a blanket, this soup,and a great read is a definite on a brisk day inside.
I’m happy you love it, Melissa!
Absolutely scrumptious – I used green beans, zucchini and sweet potato. I had way more than 2c seasonal veggies so I added an additional 15 oz can tomatoes, 2 extra cloves of garlic, doubled the curry and thyme and adjusted the liquid up. I served over lentil pasta for some protein. I think the lentil soup linked in the article will always be my favorite C+K soup but this is a close second!
Thanks for sharing your vegetable choice, Staci! Thanks for shring. I’m happy you loved it.
this is without a doubt the BEST vegetable soup I’ve ever had. Ever. It’s insanely delicious and was very easy to make. The leftovers seem to get better and better. I added some already cooked quinoa today for lunch and it’s SO good. Thank you!
I’m so happy you tried it already and loved it! Thanks for your review.
I’ve been following your posts for a while now but never got to actually make anything. Well, this time I did and you’re right, this is seriously good veg soup! It’s the curry that makes it. This is now my go to recipe for veg soup. Thank you.
I’m glad you love it!
Oops. I see that now! My apologies.
No worries! :)
Can this be made without curry (sadly I missed purchasing it)…I love each and every recipe you post and in your cookbook!
It can, but curry really does help make this soup seriously good. Maybe try turmeric if you have some!
I love your blog and the soups are always my favorite! Do you have a favorite brand of vegetable broth? That’s the piece I haven’t been able to get right…
We are not vegetarians. Hubby does not like vegetable soup but guess what? He really liked this soup! I made it exactly as described using sweet potatoes and green beans for the veggies of choice. The red pepper flakes give it perfect heat and I loved the subtle curry flavor. I have tried so many recipes from you that hubby now asks if this is a Kate recipe! Your cookbook is my go to gift for friends!
That’s fantastic, Linda! I’m happy he loved it, too. Thanks for your review!
This soup looks fantastic! Question – is there a substitution you can recommend for the diced tomatoes – one that is not tomato-based? One of my kids has a strong aversion to anything tomato, but everything else about this soup is calling to us to make! Thanks for your help!
Hi Emily! Tomatoes really help round out this soup. I suppose you could leave them out and add more of your favorite vegetable.
I made this delicious soup today and shared with my neighbour. I added a tablespoon of sugar to take away acidity of tomato.
Thank you
Thanks for sharing!
the last tablespoon of olive oil is added in step 5, when adding the lemon juice.
Yes! I have updated it.
This looks delicious—I was wondering what kind of curry powder you use? thanks!
My husband and I made this last night. It truly is seriously good. Our changes: we didn’t have celery, but we did have 1/2 can of chick peas and 1/4 c of orzo so we tossed those in. I used spinach and parsley for the greens, plus yellow squash, carrots, and green bell pepper. The curry powder and red pepper flakes lift this soup above other vegetable soups. Also, I love the tomato flavor. The recipe makes quite a lot but I’m certain it is going to all be eaten up!
I’m glad you loved it, Julie! Thank you for sharing your variations.
This soup was delicious. The best vegetable soup I’ve had.
I’m happy to hear you loved it, Karin!
Hello. This is the first time I’ve ever commented on a recipe. I loved this soup! For the seasonal vegetables I used green beans, green bell pepper, yellow squash and what I thought was zucchini (the store checked it out as green squash, they were most likely right!). I used collard greens. It was delicious, thanks. Needed this today.
This was excellent! Terrific flavor with the garlic and curry! Definitely adding this to my rotation.
This is such a delicious vegetable sour recipe with so many options. I love it!! I add a Moroccan type spice and play with the herb and spice options.
I’m happy you loved it!
My husband absolutely loved this(sweet potato, corn, yellow bell pepper, red chard, zucchini was our combo)! He commented multiple times on how happy he was with his bowl of soup and how great the flavor was. I’m personally not the biggest fan of vegetable soup, but if I am going to make it, this is absolutely the recipe I will use. Thanks, Kate it’s a hit! :)
Love your combination, Paige! Thank you for sharing.
If I were to make this recipe again I would reduce liquid by 2 cups and add more veggies. As it was, I added a tin of kidney beans to thicken it up.
You might want to consider adding a note about that missing tablespoon of oil as I don’t generally read the comments before I make the recipe.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it! The additional tablespoon of oil has been edited, sorry about that.
Yes this is seriously good!! Another winner! I haven’t been disappointed by any of your soups and I love the way you can use the vegetables you love or have on hand!!
Thanks Kate.
Thank you, Marisa!! I appreciate your review.
This soup is great! Most vegetable soups all taste the same and I normally pass on them. This soup had different spices and a lot of garlic so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did. Thanks
I’m happy you found this one different, Sandy! Thanks for your review.
SOOOO DELICIOUS. THANKS FOR THIS AMAZING RECIPE, AND SO EASY. I USED JAPANESE SWEET POTATO, PARSNIP AND SPINACH ALONG WITH THE CARROTS, CELERY ONION AND GARLIC. WE LOVED IT! THANK YOU AGAIN, I ALWAYS COUNT ON YOUR TASTE BUDS.
I’m glad you loved it!
I love this soup! This will become my go-to recipe for vegetable soup this winter–and the “stock” will become the base for other soup concoctions, as well (like adding soy crumbles or pasta or whatever frozen vegetables I might have tumbling out of my freezer).
My tweaks:
I added a generous 1/4 tsp of turmeric and the same of smoked paprika, because I add those two ingredients to everything I cook.
I used fire-roasted tomatoes because, again, that’s virtually all I use. Yes, all my food tastes the same.
I made the mistake, however, of buying a bag of pre-cut kale from my local big-box grocery store. Bad idea. It was heavy on the woody stems, and I really should have known better than to throw any into the soup. Don’t do that. The woody stems made that bite bitter, so I had to sort of eat around them. It didn’t affect the soup itself, though, but next time I’ll cut up my own kale. (My favorite is lasinato aka dinosaur kale.)
So, this recipe is definitely a keeper, and I’ve passed it along to several friends! Thanks for posting it!
Thank you for your review and sharing your variation, Pam! I’m happy you loved it.
Excellent!! I added a little orzo, as well.
I like that touch! Thanks for sharing, Carol.
Thanks, Kate! I’m always stymied by my kid’s aversion to tomatoes – so many great recipes on your site have them. I’m determined to figure out a work-around! Thanks for your suggestion to do so.
Wow. We loved this soup. We added Christmas Lima beans because we had them. Also used butternut squash, some leftover raw sweet potato, summer squash, fresh green beans. I added a WHOLE bad of Trader Joe’s Southern green blend. To quote my husband, “That is so damn good!” Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for sharing your variation of this soup, Jen!
I just made a double batch of this soup using baby kale, potatoes, zucchini, and red bell pepper as my seasonal vegetable mixture. It turned out great! It’ll be a delicious and easy meal for my husband to heat up for himself after work. Thanks for all of your delicious and easy to follow recipes!
That sounds like a great mixture, Michele! Thank you for your review.
Hands down THE BEST VEGETABLE SOUP I’ve ever had ever. I made my own stock, which probably helped, but WOW. I had this for breakfast it was so good.
I’m glad you agree!
good
Really like this recipe! I often felt I had to entice vegetable soup with additions such as cheese, sour cream, crackers, etc. While one could, its so refreshing that it isn’t necessary. Delicious on its own!