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 SoupÂ
- 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.
Excellent! I thought this was a great base recipe that you can easily change up to make it your own.
I used fresh thyme and added the chickpeas earlier. I also doubled the onion and garlic, added some fresh ginger, used chili paste for heat, added zest of a lemon and its juice, and used about 1/2 tbsp of rice vinegar (ran out), and subbed zucchini with summer squash.
I thought the broth came out naturally sweet with a mild tang. I purred an onion and I think it added a slight thickness to the broth which I enjoyed.
I’ll definitely come to this recipe again and will try in with white beans.
The hubby was sick today and I happen to come across this recipe. I didn’t have all the veggies at hand so just put chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and carrots in the blend. I added extra red pepper flakes, thyme, ginger and oregano and my hubby felt better within minutes of eating it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
The hubby was sick today and I happen to come across this recipe. I didn’t have all the veggies at hand so just put chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and carrots in the blend. I added extra red pepper flakes, thyme, ginger and oregano and my hubby felt better within minutes of eating it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Hi Khad, great to hear! I’m glad your husband enjoyed it!
Can this soup be frozen
Hi Rachel, yep! It freezes really well.
Delicious veggie soup recipe! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I added the zest of one lemon when I added the green beans, chickpeas, etc. and had to add more salt/seasonings. Soup was very tasty.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
The timing was off. The chickpeas were al dente, as were the green beans. The seasoning was light, even though I added much more than the recipe cake for. I couldn’t find “fire roasted canned tomatoes” so I used diced Italian blend.
This was the best vegetable soup I’ve ever had! Great recipe! I’m not much of a soup fan, but this was delicious! My family loved it too! I made some substitutions as I can’t do tomatoes, but it was so yummy!!
Great recipe. I didn’t have on hand your exact ingredients. Subbed & added others but…Yours is the best using my fresh from garden turnip & mustard greens. I can’t get enough of it. This isn’t my first rodeo with Love & Lemons and shan’t be me last. I really like how you list and emphasize order of ingredients, etc. It makes a huge difference in the finale. Yum Thank you!
Hi Cheryl, I’m so glad you loved the soup! It would be so delicious with turnip and mustard greens. Yum!
This is a great tasty soup 🙂 I wondered how I could get the nutritional info (calories etc) for this recipe?
Hi Anna, I’m so glad you love the soup! Unfortunately, we don’t calculate nutrition info for our recipes, so the best way to get an estimate is to use an online nutrition calculator.
I think I was a titch heavy handed with the red pepper flakes (it had a kick!) and I did not have any white wine vinegar so I used a good squeeze of lemon as suggested in the blog. This soup is AMAZING! I will absolutely make this recipe again!
Do you think there’s a safe way to make this in a croc-pot?
Love this soup! It’s a really great one…I originally made it because I had all the ingredients listed and needed to use some of them up! The only differences are that I deglazed the pan with a little white wine before adding the broth, and eliminated the vinegar at the end. Delicious!
Hi Julie, I’m so glad you loved it!
I am making my second double batch now. Used your recipe exactly as is the first time and today. It’s the best vegetable soup I remember having. As another reviewer said, it’s not your typical bland veggie soup. Company loved my first batch the day after Christmas. I froze leftovers that day and took it to a New Year’s Day gathering. Everyone loves it. Thank you!
Hi Cynthia, I’m so glad it’s been a hit!
i make this soup REGULARLY – my husband loves it. I use whatever veggies I need to “use up” before they spoil. I also vary the beans based on what I have, works out just fine. Thanks!
This soup is really good, thank you for posting this recipe! I even got positive feedback from my two sons who never get excited about a soup. Recipe says that cook time is 30 minutes, however, if you add up the minutes in each step, you get 45-50 min. It took 50 min for me, so everybody was really hungry when soup was finally done. But I guess that’s a good thing ; )
I made this vegetable soup. Fairly simple to make. I added the 2 T white wine vinegar. There is a definite vinegar taste in the soup. Next time I won’t add 2 T.
Omg this soup was so yummy! Perfect for the cold weather.
Omg this was so yummy! Perfect for the cold weather.
Hey Ashley! I know right my kids love it so much.
Wow this soup is amazing. I’ve made it 3 times now. This will become a regular in my household from now on. Thank you for sharing . I love it