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Vegetable Soup

A classic vegetable soup recipe, to carry you through fall and keep you cozy, healthy and warm well into the chill of winter.

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vegetable soup topped with fresh basil and shaved parmesan

Your New Go-To Vegetable Soup Recipe

In the cooler months, if we’ve got a huge batch of homemade vegetable soup in the fridge, we’re pretty much guaranteed to feel better about life. Eating a bowl for lunch most days, or serving it as a simple, healthy dinner when the day gets away from us—just pair this vegetarian vegetable soup with some good bread or toast and you’re good to go—is a way to ensure that we’re getting our veggies. And that’s a really good thing this time of year when it’s both more important than ever to eat well and also far too easy to eat nothing but comforting carbs or heavy, meaty stews and miss out on the essential nutrients that we get from vegetables. To make sure we’re getting all of the same healthy vitamins and minerals we get without even thinking about it in summer—all those salads, tomato-y things and fresh berries make it easy!—we make a big batch of this savory, soothing, easy vegetable soup at least once every couple of weeks.

vegetable soup in a bowl in fresh basil and shave parmesan with crusty bread
ingredients for vegetable soup in ceramic bowls including whole canned tomatoes, onions, celery, spices and green beans

What Can I Add to My Vegetable Soup for Tons of Flavor?

Healthy and delicious, this easy homemade vegetable soup is all about the soothing simplicity of classic flavors. That doesn’t mean it’s bland! There are a few different ways that we build the hearty, savory flavors of this tomato vegetable soup:

  • Olive oil
  • Celery and onion. We read once a long time ago that if you want to make the best soup ever, you always should start with a generous amount of sautéed onion and celery. So! That’s exactly what we’ve done. Give them at least the full five minutes on the heat at the beginning—that’s your first layer of flavor and it’s essential for making a really flavorful vegetable soup.
  • Vegetables! Of course. We use green beans and zucchini—a classic Italian vegetable soup comob. However, once you get the hang of this soup, you can feel free to play around with the veggies and try swapping in other favorites.
  • Herbs and spices: garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, basil
  • Stock—vegetable stock, or chicken stock if you don’t need the soup to be vegetarian.
  • Canned tomatoes x2: a can of whole tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce. Remember, tomatoes are a source of umami, and umami = big big vegetable soup flavor!
  • Salt. Of course! Salt the finished soup to taste, and if you choose to garnish the soup with Parmigiano cheese—something we highly recommend—that’s even more salty goodness.
onions, celery and garlic in a large pot
zucchini, green beans and onions in a large pot for vegetable soup
ingredients for vegetable soup in a large pot
vegetable soup in a large pot

How Do You Make Vegetable Soup From Scratch?

Homemade vegetable soup is really an easy thing to accomplish, and once you’ve got the idea of how to build a great soup from scratch, you’ll be dreaming up your own vegetable soup recipes in no time. And that’s great! Use our recipe as a vegetable soup recipe template, a jumping off point. You’ve got all winter to experiment with your favorite veggies to include in your vegetable soup! Here’s how to make the best vegetable soup ever—we’ll walk you through the process, then you can get into the kitchen and make it your own!

  1. Sauté onions and celery until fragrant and translucent. Take your time—remember, this is where your real flavor begins.
  2. Add the garlic, zucchini and green beans and give them a little sauté, too. This step will deepen their flavor a bit before the soup gets all liquidy. A layer of flavor.
  3. Pour in everything else and bring the pot of soup to a boil.
  4. Turn it to a low simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for about half an hour, until the vegetables are super tender and it looks like vegetable soup you’d like to eat!
  5. Eat! We like to serve it topped with lots of freshly grated Parmigiano and fresh basil.
vegetable soup topped with fresh basil and shaved parmesan

Can I Freeze Vegetable Soup?

Yep! Vegetable soup is ideal for freezing. You may even want to double this recipe and plan to freeze some for later. It’s so nice to have on hand for quick, warming, nutritious lunches and light dinners. Cool the soup and then store it in freezer safe containers for up to three months. It’s also a great one for meal trains—people get tired of an endless train of heavy food, and something light but comforting is often welcome.

ceramic bowl with vegetable soup topped with fresh basil and parmesan cheese next to fresh bread

Tools You’ll Need:

More Vegetarian Soup Recipes To Try

Warming, densely nutritious and so satisfying, these healthy soup recipes keep us honest all season long. Give them a try!

vegetable soup with crusty bread topped with basil and parmesan cheese

Homemade Vegetable Soup, On Repeat

We really do make this vegetable soup over and over again, from the first fallen leaf and well into spring. If you make it, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

vegetable soup in a large pot with a ladle topped with fresh basil and shaved parmesan cheese

Vegetable Soup

  • Serves: 6
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  37 min
  • Calories: 119

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 4 celery ribs, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups diced zucchini
  • 1 cup green beans, fresh and frozen cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 2 tsp chili powder or 1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar, optional
  • 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained and crushed with hands
  • 1 14 oz can tomato sauce
  • fresh basil, for garnish, optional
  • parmesan cheese, grated, optional

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot, set over medium-high heat.
  2. Sauté onions and celery for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent.
  3. Add garlic, zucchini and green beans; sauté for 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients, making sure you crush the tomatoes with your hands and pour in all the juices left in the can; Bring the soup to a boil.
  5. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes until the zucchini and green beans are tender.
  6. Serve with extra basil and parmesan if desired.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories119
  • Protein3 g
  • Carbohydrates15 g
  • Total Fat6 g
  • Dietary Fiber4 g
  • Cholesterol0 mg
  • sodium324 mg
  • Total Sugars8 g

Vegetable Soup

Questions & Reviews

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  • Milca Leblanc

    DELICIOUS!!!

    Thank you Milca!

  • Alicia L. Zander

    I loved the crushed tomatos and sauce. It made a tasty bass. This recipe had too much thyme for my liking. 1/4tsp would have been perfect. But if they say it’s a matter of taste.

  • Latosha I Collins

    Can we put sweep potatoes in this dish?

    You sure could try it! Sounds delicious.

  • Amar Patel

    I made this soup with little expectations, OMG this was amazing.... Very Flavorful and Amazing aroma.... The only thing I did different was added less whole tomatoes and did not add any extra water and I will be definitely be making more of this soup with other vegies...

    Wonderful Recipe...

    Thanks Amar! So happy you loved it!

  • Shari

    Made the soup as written and thought it was very good, a little heavy on the tomato flavor, but very good. Makes a lovely meal with a salad. My husband added brown rice to his bowl, which made the soup more substantial. I froze a batch for my daughter to have for lunches at work. I will keep this soup in the rotation.

    Thank you Shari! We are so glad you hear you like and love to hear when a recipe makes rotation! YAY!

  • Kathy Marvelle

    Make this soup. It’s delicious. Great for a cold day. I added 1/2 t dried red pepper, one potato, and fresh baby spinach. I chose regular paprika, alittle nervous about the other choices. Makes loads to freeze. The consistency is not watery - a true comfort food.

    Thanks so much Kathy, we are so glad you love this soup!

  • Barb McDonald

    Delicious! The flavor was amazing. I added some red lentils. Will omit green beans and use corn and cabbage along with zucchini and yellow squash next time. As noted in the instructions, any vegetable combination would work. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.

    You're so welcome! Thanks for trying it Barb. Glad you liked it!

  • Elizabeth Leighton

    Delicious soup! Super easy to make & big flavor. I will definitely make this again. I added carrots as well. I would only add 1 tsp of smoked paprika, but that's just my preference.

    Thank you, so glad you loved it!