This easy vegetable soup recipe is a healthy, warming meal for cold days. It's flavorful and flexible—make it with whatever veggies you have on hand!
This vegetable soup recipe is nourishing, warming, and flavorful. It’s a perfect cozy meal for cold nights, days when you’re craving a healthy reset, or any time you’re feeling 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 this recipe again and again, each time with a different mix of veggies. I add sturdier vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes near the start of the cooking process and tender green veggies near the end. Using this simple formula, this easy vegetable soup always comes out delicious.
How to Make Vegetable Soup
This recipe comes together in 4 simple steps:
- Sauté an onion to create the soup’s flavorful base.
- Simmer the tough veggies and seasonings. Add sturdy veggies like sweet potato and carrot to the pot with the onion, along with the broth, canned tomatoes, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the tender veggies and continue simmering. After 20 minutes, I toss in tender veggies like zucchini and green beans and cook until they soften, about another 10 minutes. I add chickpeas for protein at this point too.
- Stir in the leafy greens and vinegar. I finish the soup with white wine vinegar for bright flavor and a big handful of kale. Just cook until it wilts, season to taste, and serve!
Even if you use slightly different vegetables than the recipe calls for, this simple 4-step method will work!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Vegetable Soup Recipe Variations
I call for specific vegetables in the recipe below, but I’m serious when I tell you that it’s flexible! Please use whatever you have on hand. 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.
- Replace the vinegar with fresh lemon juice.
- Omit the chickpeas, or replace them with white beans or cooked 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!
Can you freeze vegetable soup?
Yes! This vegetable soup recipe freezes well. Allow the soup to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to airtight containers or jars. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tip: When freezing soup, leave an inch of empty space at the top of each container. The soup will expand when it freezes!
More Easy Soup Recipes
If you love this easy vegetable soup, try one of these veggie 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, plus 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 olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until softened. Add the carrot and sweet potato, stir, and cook for 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, and chickpeas. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 more minutes, or until the green beans are tender.
- Stir in the vinegar and the kale and cook for 5 minutes, or until the kale is wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
I must have been making vegetable all wrong, because following your recipe made the best veg soup I’ve ever made. Thank you
I’m so glad you loved it, Tom!
Please provide nutritional data! Calories, et al
Sounds delicious. Going to make it. Can I use can cut green beans?
How much is per serving? How many cups/ ounces/ grams is this? What does 6 servings even mean?
Hi Dex, the serving size is just an estimate, and it’ll vary based on individual appetites, etc. I would say that a serving is roughly two cups, but again, just an estimate!
Overall, it is tasty and a change up from my other vegetarian soups. As a rule of my own, calling at least double the seasonings. I source my spices to be grade A, but I would at least triple it next time. I also recommend adding a lot more vinegar to neutralize the sweet. The recipe called for and I did use sweet potatoes, so I didn’t go in completely unaware it would be sweet, but it’s a little too sweet and drowns out the flavors.
How. Much water do I put in to make the vegetable soup online?
Four cups of vegetable broth. It’s in the recipe. No water.
Hello. I really like this soup overall, but unfortunately though I followed the instructions to add two tablespoons of white wine vinegar, the flavor overwhelmed the taste of the soup. I’ve been adding a little honey and water in small amounts, hoping to neutralize it. It’s not working and I wonder if you have any suggestions how to adjust the potency of the vinegar. Thank you very much.
I don’t care for as much vinegar in soups as most recipes call for. I start with 1 tsp at a time and taste after each addition. It definitely improves the flavor of soup, but we all have a different idea of just how much to add. Hope this helps.
I love making this for Sunday dinner and having leftovers for the week. It’s such a healthy recipe that I felt good just preparing it. The whole process was enjoyable, and it feels like a great way to start the week on a positive, nourishing note.
First time I have made it and its definatley a keeper!!! You can make so many variations of what you have on hand
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Patty!
So good! I can’t eat store bought broths so I made it with my homemade veggie broth I keep on hand. I was also able to use a handful of the veggies straight from my garden. It’s soo yummy! Great with fresh rolls! I will be using this recipe a lot this fall and winter!
I’m so glad you loved it, Rachel!
Best vegetable soup I have made, thank you!
So yum!! I get lots of kale from my csa and this was a great different way to use it. Will make this one again and all winter!!!
Can the white wine vinegar be omitted? Would it drastically change the flavor? Are there any substitutions for it?
Hi Kela, I would add some lemon at the end instead – it just brightens it up.
This soup is one of my favorites!
Are yellow onions the ones with the brown skins?
yep!
Easy, flavorful, versatile. I add a spoonful of dried mushroom powder to amp up the umami, and increase the garlic and red pepper flakes. You can throw in a small handful of lentils when you add the tomatoes, and they’ll cook so soft you barely notice them, but it ups the fiber and protein content too.
Full flavoured wholesome soup, making again after many times before
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe was amazing! The only change I made was using minced garlic that was jarred instead of fresh garlic cloves. My boyfriend and I devoured almost all of it with a loaf of Italian bread. I bookmarked it and will definitely make again!
So glad you loved it, Julie!
I love this recipe! You can get really creative with it and it’s really hard to mess up. My usual additions are chopped celery (toss the celery top in with the bay leaves for extra flavor!), mini meatballs, and a big splash of low sodium vegetable juice.
I love this soup! I make a version of it every week for my suppers on work nights. It’s super easy and fun to make and it’s easy to adjust as needed. Currently I make it with chicken broth, add wild rice, swap all the tomatoes for a bit of tomato paste, and add shredded chicken to make it more of a hearty dish. It’s so good and keeps for a few days so it’s easy to reheat in a pot for supper!
Hi Mindy, I’m so glad you love the recipe!