Vegetable Soup | Diethood

Lately, it’s been full-blown soup weather, and I love it. Around this time every year, I have about twenty soups and stews on my to-make list, from creamy crab soup to savory mushroom soup and slow cooker beef stew. For a vegetarian option, mind you, nothing beats a good old-fashioned bowl of stovetop vegetable soup! Which brings us to today’s recipe.

My favorite vegetable soup is extra flavorful and wholesome, bulked up with chickpeas. You could also use lentils, pasta, or rice. This is one of those homemade soup recipes where anything goes, where all the ingredients get simmered in a savory, tomato-based broth. It’s the best. Happy slurping!

Why I Can’t Get Enough of This Vegetable Soup Recipe

• Use up leftover veggies. This vegetable soup is my clean-out-the-fridge-and-pantry soup. I make it whenever I have an overflow of veggies in the crisper drawer, and it’s very versatile. Just about any fresh or canned vegetables, beans, etc. work well in this recipe.
• Quick and easy. You’ll sauté the vegetables and simmer the soup all in the same pot. This soup is ready in about 30 minutes. Get those dinner rolls ready for dunking!
• Great for leftovers. I’m convinced that this vegetable soup tastes even better in the days after it’s made! Refrigerate or freeze the leftovers to reheat for lunches and dinners throughout the week. The flavors have even more time to mingle.

Soup Ingredients

This hearty vegetable soup with chickpeas is the kind of recipe that you make on chilly days when a movie marathon on the couch is in order. Cozy soup + cozy PJs? Heaven. It starts with just a few basic ingredients and you can easily improvise depending on what’s in your fridge and pantry. 

I’ve included some notes on what I use here, and you’ll find the printable ingredients list with the full recipe details in the recipe card below the post.

• Butter and Olive Oil – You can use one or the other, but I like both. Butter adds flavor, while olive oil is best for sautéeing.
• Onion, Carrots, and Celery – Our little aromatic trifecta. This combination of diced yellow onion, sliced carrots, and chopped celery creates the flavor base for many soup recipes.
• Garlic and Bay Leaf – To build on the flavors in the veggies. I recommend fresh garlic. You can adapt the number of cloves to taste.
• Chickpeas – I have a ton of canned chickpeas left over after splurging for all the chickpea salads I made this summer, so that’s what I use. Be sure to drain and rinse them first. If you don’t have chickpeas, you can replace them with more veggies or another legume, like white beans.
• Diced Tomatoes – Also canned. Unlike the chickpeas, you can leave the tomatoes undrained. I think fire-roasted tomatoes would be a great way to add another layer of flavor to this soup.
• Turmeric – A small amount of ground turmeric goes a long way. It adds a nice earthy flavor and bright color to the soup. If you don’t have any, however, it’s fine to skip it.
• Broth – This can be vegetable broth (if you’re keeping this soup vegetarian) or low-sodium chicken broth. If you have homemade stock on hand, go ahead and use it!
• Garnishes – Freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley, for serving.

How to Make Vegetable Soup

This satisfying vegetable soup recipe comes together in 35 minutes from start to finish, and I make it in one pot, so clean up is nice and easy afterward. The steps are short and sweet:

• Sauté the veggies. Begin by adding the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a bay leaf to a large soup pot with oil. Season with salt and pepper, and then stir every so often over medium heat while the veggies sauté and soften.
• Put it together. Now, stir in the drained chickpeas and (undrained) tomatoes. Sprinkle in a little turmeric, then add the chicken broth and water. 
• Simmer. Bring the pot to a boil, then a low simmer. Leave the soup to cook for 10 minutes.
• Serve. Lastly, take the pot off the heat and adjust the seasonings to taste. Ladle the vegetable soup into bowls and sprinkle over freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley for serving. 

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• Refrigerate. Store your cooled vegetable soup airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Reheat. Warm the soup in the microwave or a saucepan on the stovetop.
• Freeze. Allow the soup to cool completely, then transfer it to a freezer-safe container to freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the soup in the fridge before reheating.

More Vegetarian Soup Recipes