Make this easy vegetable soup recipe with whatever veggies you have on hand! Nourishing and light, it's perfect for warming up on cold nights.
This vegetable soup recipe is cozy, healing, and warming. It’s just the thing for cold nights, days when you’re craving a healthy reset, or any time you’re feeling a bit under the weather.
I first started making it years ago, when I was bouncing back from a cold and had a ton of random veggies in the fridge. Using the ingredients I had in my pantry—vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, dried herbs, and vinegar—I transformed this jumble of vegetables into an amazing soup! Since then, I’ve made it again and again, with a different mix of veggies every time. No matter what produce I have on hand, this easy vegetable soup always comes out delicious.
Vegetable Soup Recipe Variations
I call for a lot of vegetables in this soup, but use whatever you have on hand and/or skip what you don’t have. Here are a few easy ways to change it up:
- Use all carrot or all sweet potato instead of both, or add butternut squash instead.
- Toss in a few sliced cremini mushrooms when you add the carrot.
- Swap bell pepper for the cherry tomatoes, zucchini, or green beans.
- Use another leafy green, like spinach or chard, in place of the kale.
- Garnish bowls with chopped fresh parsley or basil, a scoop of pesto, or sprinkle of Parmesan cheese!
The veggies aren’t the only flexible part of this recipe! Feel free to vary the other ingredients as well. Here are a few ideas:
- Add a tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning in place of the oregano.
- Skip the vinegar, and add a big squeeze of lemon juice in its place.
- Omit the chickpeas, or replace them with white beans or cooked French green lentils.
Let me know what variations you try!
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy the soup on its own, or pair it with a salad and crusty bread for a heartier meal. It also goes nicely with a grilled cheese sandwich.
How to Store Vegetable Soup
I like to make a big pot of this vegetable soup and eat it the next day and the day after that. It keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days—the flavor improves as it sits in the fridge!
For longer storage, freeze the soup for up to 3 months.
More Easy Soup Recipes
If you love this easy veggie soup, try one of these vegetarian soup recipes next:
- Best Lentil Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Tortellini Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Or any of these 35 Best Soup Recipes!
Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- Le Creuset Dutch Oven (I use my Staub Dutch oven for soup)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 small sweet potato, diced
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano, or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1½ cups chopped kale
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Add the carrot and sweet potato, stir and cook 2 more minutes.
- Add the canned tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, chickpeas, and cover and cook 10 to 15 more minutes, until the green beans are tender.
- Stir in the vinegar and the kale and cook for 5 minutes, until the kale is wilted. Season to taste and serve.
5 star of course
Just wanted to say Thank You! for sharing your recipe with the world. I made it last night for our local night shelter for homeless and both volunteers and guests loved it.
Hi Anna, I’m so glad to hear the recipe was helpful and that so many people enjoyed it!
So delicious!!! I added some edamame and quinoa, as well as using lemon instead of vinegar as suggested. My vegetarian son said it was “the bomb”.
So glad you loved the soup!
Delicious! I didn’t have the green beans and used spinach instead of kale.
So glad you loved it!
Is there a video how to make it?
Hi, we don’t have a video for this recipe yet, but we hope to soon!
Would adding celery to this soup recipe throw off the flavor?
Rain and 44 today. Perfect day for a perfect soup!
So glad you love it!
This is a perfect vegetable soup. I’ve made it at least 50 times and is our go to for chilly weather or following up a weekend of excess. The only modifications I made are to skip the wine and almost double the broth. I guess we like soup more brothy than most! Thanks for another great recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe! My family and I enjoyed it very much.
Not sure if someone else asked or not, but could quinoa be added to this receipt and, if so, how much would you recommend?
Hi Annamaria, yes, you could add quinoa. I would add about 1/2 cup dry (rinsed) quinoa at the time you add the broth.
Such a delicious and flavorful soup!
It is very easy to make and freezes nicely.
Thank you so much for the fantastic recipes!
I’m so glad you loved it! A favorite of mine 🙂
Absolutely LOVED this recipe! Shared it with friends and they raved about it. The only change I made was adding some heavy cream at the end. Will definitely make this again.
Instead of heavy cream, I use a can of full fat coconut milk to make soups creamy and it works beautifully. My daughter is vegan and I discovered this substitute works in lots of ways. Just sharing ?
Hi! How many ounces of soup does this make? (I have a hard time telling with the “serves six” because sometimes four servings is enough for all my family and other times it isn’t, depending on the recipe!) Thank you!
Amazing! Loved it! Went with the lemon squeeze in lieu of white wine vinegar this time, but I will try the alternate next time. Added chopped red bell pepper to standard recipe. Absolutely delicious and I never leave reviews, so this is a first. Highly recommend!
I never comment on these things, but I made this soup today and it is fantastic. The broth has so much flavor.
I made a few personal modifications. I doubled the recipe. I don’t like tomato chunks so I went with tomato paste. Instead of chickpeas and zucchini I went with red beans and hominy that I picked up from the farmers market last weekend. I used the Italian seasoning instead of oregano and also added in some rosemary. And then I let it sit on a low flame for about an hour longer just to deepen that flavor.
Bravo on this, though. Just purely delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is the best soup I have ever made in my life! As suggested, I used lemon juice instead of vinegar, baby spinach instead of kale, and I added an extra 2 cups of broth. This is now printed out and in my binder of favorites.
I’m so glad you loved it so much!
m making soup for 2nd time. It was the best homemade vegetable soup I’ve ever had first time so hoping to repeat that result.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I make veggie soup often, but this one had some nice bite with the vinegar and red pepper flakes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m not sure why but nobody here liked it initially… I think the vinegar had too much bite? Before I tossed the whole pot, I tried adding a can of tomato sauce and some maple syrup for sweetness, and it was much better but still not going over well with the fam. Then I had an idea… I stirred in some heavy cream and *chefs kiss* — it was perfection! Five stars after that!
Whenever I add tomato sauce, paste or even canned tomato soup… to the soup I am making, or fresh tomatoes, I always add a few teaspoons of brown sugar or stevia (to taste) as it reduces the acidity brought on by the tomatoes. Works great for spaghetti sauce as well.
Just what the dr ordered! Delicious! I added the half lemon instead of the vinegar as suggested and about 2 more cups of broth. Very flavorful!
Will definitely freeze some for another day!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is sooooooo good, I can’t stop eating it. I used Salsa instead of fire roasted tomatoes and whatever vegetables I had on hand (had lots). Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad you loved it!