Mixed Vegetable Soup

By
Jen Hoy
Jen Hoy
Jenny Hoy is an author, chef, and holistic nutritionist, with more than two decades of experience in the fields of food and healing.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 01/19/23
Mixed Vegetable Soup

The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 29 mins
Total: 39 mins
Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Vegetable soup is a hearty, flexible, and healthy dish, and is also a great way to use leftover veggies or produce that only has a day or so of freshness remaining. Don't be afraid to experiment to tailor the recipe to your tastes—this is a very forgiving soup, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

This recipe for mixed vegetable soup calls for carrots, celery, broccoli or cauliflower, potato, leek, leafy greens, and other vegetables like green beans, corn, and tomato. Thyme and bay leaf add a wonderful earthy flavor, and pureeing half of the soup creates a nice, smooth texture. Serve for lunch or as a start to dinner with warm crusty bread.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 onion, chopped

  • 2 carrots, chopped

  • 1 stalk celery, chopped

  • 1 head broccoli or cauliflower, chopped

  • 1 potato or sweet potato, peeled and chopped

  • 1 leek, chopped, optional

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 sprig thyme

  • Kosher salt, to taste

  • 1 cup green beans, corn, chopped tomato, or other vegetables

  • 3 to 4 cups leafy greens, chopped, such as kale, collards, spinach, watercress, or broccoli rabe

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Mixed Vegetable Soup ingredients

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  2. Heat olive oil in a soup pot.

    Heat the olive oil in a soup pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  3. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 5 minutes.

    Onion, carrot, and celery in a pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  4. Add broccoli or cauliflower, potato, leek (if using), bay leaf, and thyme.

    Add the cauliflower, potato, leek, bay leaf, and thyme to the vegetables in the pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  5. Add enough water to cover vegetables, as well as a generous pinch of salt.

    add water to the vegetables in the pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  6. Bring soup to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer soup for about 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

    Vegetable soup cooking in a pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  7. Remove about half of the soup to a large measuring cup or another pot and puree using an immersion blender, or place in a blender or food processor and puree.

    Blend soup using immersion blender

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  8. Return pureed soup to pot. Add remaining vegetables of your choice and the leafy greens. Cook until greens are tender.

    Add vegetable to the pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

  9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

    Mixed Vegetable Soup in a pot

    The Spruce / Karen Hibbard

Use Caution When Blending Hot Ingredients

Steam expands quickly in a blender and can cause ingredients to splatter everywhere or cause burns. To prevent this, fill the blender only one-third of the way up, vent the top, and cover with a folded kitchen towel while blending.

Recipe Variations

  • Vegetable bouillon cubes (made from dried vegetables and herbs) make a nice flavor addition for vegetarians and can be found, additive free, in health food markets. Just make sure to adjust your spices accordingly—especially the salt—when using bouillon cubes.
  • Meat eaters can substitute some or all of the water in this recipe with chicken or beef broth.
  • If you don't have thyme, substitute rosemary or marjoram instead. 

Tips

  • Since this is a vegetable soup and doesn't contain any meat, this recipe does not have to cook that long. Simmer it for 20 minutes, or just enough to soften the vegetables to al dente.
  • The recipe calls for pureeing only half of the soup to create a smooth, thick base; If the entire pot of soup were pureed, it would be similar to baby food.

How to Store

  • Mixed vegetable soup (that has cooled completely) can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for three to four days.
  • This soup can be frozen for four to six months when placed in zip-top freezer bags or airtight containers.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
125 Calories
3g Fat
23g Carbs
4g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 125
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 4%
Saturated Fat 0g 2%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 106mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 23g 8%
Dietary Fiber 6g 21%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 51mg 256%
Calcium 69mg 5%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 702mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)