Vegetable Soup

6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Vegetable Soup is hearty and full of nourishing veggies like tomatoes, corn, green beans, celery, and potatoes, ready in under 45 minutes!

When it’s cold outside, warm up in the kitchen with all of your favorites like Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Classic Beef Chili and Ultimate Sloppy Joes! These are some of the heartiest and easiest Main Courses you can make at home. 

Easy Vegetable Soup in pot

Vegetable Soup is the PERFECT healthy dish for a cold day, made with fresh vegetables like hearty potatoes and corn, green beans, celery, carrots, and onions in a seasoned chicken broth. Once you try this it will become one of your favorite soup recipes of all time. Serve this with toasted Garlic Bread, a side salad, and some cheddar or parmesan cheese on top.

This recipe is one of the oldest recipes in the world! From the dawning of fireproof and waterproof cooking vessels (probably made of thick earthenware), humankind has gathered the vegetables and herbs and put them into a liquid dish to cook. There’s a billion different ways to combine food for a nutritious and flavorful soup. This recipe is just one of the most common in the world!

You can make this on the stovetop because it’s pretty quick to throw together, but it does really well in both the slow cooker and the instant pot as well. Once you try this soup recipe, you will never look at the store-bought stuff the same way again.

Vegetable Soup Cooking Collage

How to Make Vegetable Soup

This vegetable soup recipe is really versatile. You can use whatever veggies that are in season, or this is a great recipe to use up leftover veggies from the night before. You could also make this using Italian seasoning blend, or oregano, parsley, and thyme with various different types of broths for variety and flavor. Check out our recipe here: 

  1. Prepare – Gather, wash, and chop all the vegetables. 
  2. Saute – In the pot or Dutch Oven, cook the celery, garlic, and onions together which helps add a wonderful earthy flavor to the soup. 
  3. Combine – Once that’s ready, add the rest of the vegetables and seasonings to the pot. 
  4. Liquidate – Add in the liquid (we’re using chicken broth and V8 juice in this recipe.) Note: For a thicker soup base, add 4-5 tablespoons of tomato puree.
  5. Simmer – Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer. Keep the lid on so all the liquid doesn’t evaporate. Then enjoy! 

More Soup Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

How big should I cut the vegetables?

Vegetables should be chopped to about an inch long so they can easily fit onto a spoon. Smaller cuts also prevent choking hazards, especially for young children.

Can I use canned or frozen veggies?

Yes. To save time, you can substitute a drained can of diced tomatoes for hand-diced tomatoes in this homemade vegetable soup recipe. Or if you prefer to use all canned vegetables or frozen veggies, like frozen corn, that makes for a super easy weeknight meal. You can add the water from the cans directly into the bowl, no need to drain. 

What else can you add to Vegetable Soup?

Add any combination of your favorite vegetables including bell peppers, mixed frozen veggies, parsnips, chickpeas, kidney beans, zucchini, kale, spinach or shredded cabbage.

What can I serve with Vegetable Soup?

Crusty bread served with a healthy soup made with fresh herbs is one of the best comfort foods in the world. Skillet Cornbread is a great option to make!

What makes Vegetable Soup taste better?

If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, try adding a bit of salt and a scoop of real butter. If the soup is cooked with an unctuous piece of roast beef, it will lend a mouthwatering and rich flavor to your soup. Up the amount of garlic as well when cooking. 

What are the best herbs to add to Vegetable Soup?

Adding and mixing herbs is almost a precision science. Fresh herbs add a lot of good flavor, while dried herbs are deeper in flavor which means you can add less. Italian herb blends will be perfect for this recipe. Additionally, add two or three dried Bay leaves to the soup to really give it that boost of flavor. Some say this is the secret ingredient, or at least the most important ingredient in their soup! 

Vegetable Soup from above

Key Ingredients for Vegetable Soup

  • Vegetables – This recipe uses a large variety of vegetables. When selecting vegetables, choose the freshest you can find in the market. Watch out for mold, decay, and other things you wouldn’t want to purposefully ingest. 
  • Soup Base – We’re using V8 juice and chicken broth as the soup base. V8 juice is packed with flavor and vitamins and adds character. Chicken broth adds an almost buttery addition without dairy. You can also change which broth you’re using depending on your flavor preference.

Alternative Cooking Methods

  • Slow Cooker – Vegetable soup is REALLY easy to make in the slow cooker. Just put everything in, stir to mix together, and cook on low for eight hours or on high for four hours. You can refer to this Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup for a similar version (but with beef – which you can definitely leave out if you want).
  • Instant Pot – This is the perfect recipe to use with your Instant Pot! Just place all of your ingredients in the instant pot. Lock the lid and seal the pressure valve. On manual mode, set the instant pot for 10 minutes on high. Let it release naturally.

Variations on Vegetable Soup

  • Meat Lovers – Add browned beef, turkey, sausage, or cubed extra firm tofu to this recipe for a higher protein option. You can also use leftover Rotisserie Chicken.
  • Tex-Mex – Make your own Homemade Taco Seasoning and cook with ground beef for a Tex-Mex veggie soup. Serve your soup with sour cream and crunchy tortilla chips.
  • Pure Vegan Soup – Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this soup vegan friendly. If you’re going to add leafy greens to the soup, like kale or spinach, add them about 20 minutes before you’re ready to serve.
  • Vegetarian Soup – This recipe is dairy free as-is, but you can change the chicken broth to veggie broth, add ¾ cup of half and half just before serving to make this soup vegetarian friendly. 
  • Noodle Soup – Add a half cup of al dente pasta right before serving to add some filling carbs to this vegetable soup recipe. 
  • Spicy Soup – Add a dash of cayenne pepper, diced jalapeño, or red pepper flakes to add some spicy seasoning to this soup. 
  • Winter Soup – For a fun winter soup, you can add sweet potatoes and canned white beans to the recipe for a hearty soup. If the beans are dry, let the soak overnight or get boiled for 15 mins before being added to the soup base. For every half cup of par-cooked beans, add a cup of broth or water.

More Yummy Vegetable Recipes

How to Store Vegetable Soup

  • Serve: Vegetable Soup can be left at room temperature for up to two hours, or kept warm in a crock pot for up to 4 hours once it’s finished cooking.
  • Store: Vegetable soup will last wrapped tightly in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Reheat your soup over medium-low heat on the stove, stirring occasionally until warm.
  • Freeze: Vegetable soup is perfect for making ahead and freezing. Let the soup cool down completely, then seal it in an airtight container and freeze for up to 5-6 months. If you make a double batch when you make this, you can freeze some for a quick dinner another night.
Vegetable Soup with bite

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Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup is hearty and full of nourishing veggies like tomatoes, corn, green beans, celery, and potatoes, ready in under 45 minutes!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner, Soup
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 2 stalks celery , diced
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 large potato , peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots , sliced
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup peas
  • 1 cup green beans , chopped
  • 2 vine tomatoes , diced
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups V-8 juice

Instructions

  • In a large stock pot add the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions, celery and garlic for 4-5 minutes until translucent.
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients and bringing to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.

Video

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1389mg | Potassium: 775mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 4355IU | Vitamin C: 42.4mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 2.4mg
Keyword: vegetable soup
Bowl of Vegetable Soup

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Hearty Vegetable Soup
Easy Vegetable Soup
Vegetable Soup Collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I made this soup last week and enjoyed it very much. I am an 85 yr old and haven’t cooked in two years.When I saw your recipe, I worked up enough courage to get to the kitchen and make your soup. I had a rough time but it turned out delicious! I shared it with my daughter and she too thought it was great. I love looking at your recipes. And, wish I could make them all. Keep up your GREAT recipes. Thanks for sharing them with us Sabrina!

  2. Delicious and simple. I added mushrooms, a handful of barley and a couple shakes Italian seasoning. Instead of fresh tomatoes I added a can of fire roasted for convenience. Hearty and healthy.

  3. Delicious!!! I love this soup. I like to add cabbage instead of the potato to change it up.
    Sometimes I add a can of rotel instead of the fresh tomato.. thanks for this recipe.

  4. Out of potato’s and tomatoes so I substituted a can of diced tomatoes and a can of white cannellini beans. Turned out fantastic.

  5. This is my new go-to for vegetable soup! I usually double the recipe and cook it in my big crockpot. I add whatever I have in the fridge that needs using: zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms … The wind chills are below zero here today and I can’t wait to sit down with a big bowl of hot soup!

    1. Brrr. Definitely soup weather and so glad you are making Vegetable Soup…Perfect! Stay warm and thanks for the 5 star review Vicki!

  6. The soup was delicious. I added a tiny sprig of Parmesan cheese on top, and I threw him a couple of good spoonfuls of barley, and it was just delicious

  7. Love this soup… best Vegetable one I’ve made. No fresh tomatoes, but I added an extra cup of V8 juice, , 1/4 pearl barley and 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce. Delicious

  8. The V-8 juice gives the soup a lot of very good flavor!!! This is my go to vegetable soup recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!!! It’s a winner!!!

  9. Great recipe, delicious soup! One question.. It says 6 servings, but I dont see the serving size listed. What is the serving size?

    1. That’s a bit tricky with soups, but I would say between 1 1/2 – 2 cups. The only way to be sure it to measure once it is done. With simmering and differences in heat and sizes of vegetables there are too many variables to give an accurate measurement.

  10. So easy. Delicious! Will add to my favorite soup list for the fall/winter. I love soup and this hits the spot. I am adding spinach to this pot of soup as I love lots of vegetables. This is great for the cold days with a grilled cheese sandwich. Thank you for sharing this recipe.????

  11. Perfect soup recipe! Love the flavor and simplicity. I added frozen Lima beans and a few tablespoons of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I used 1 can of petite diced tomatoes instead of cutting fresh tomatoes to save time. I also used frozen peas and green beans instead of fresh. It was perfect! I ate on this soup for multiple days and craved it so much! It is great with a hot grilled cheese sandwich.

  12. I made this soup and ate 3 big bowls! It’s absolutely to die for yummy!!! I can’t wait to make this soup twice a week for my family.

  13. Absolutely amazing soup. I did add rinsed black beans instead of potatoes plus had left over taco meat (ground venison) and added about 1 1/4 cups ended up delicious . This is my new go to soup ?

  14. I LOVE this soup! I make it at least three times a month. It’s my go-to meal because of all the veggies, and the broth is excellent! I leave out the potatoes, and I add beans, especially Lima beans. I add two small zucchini’s in the last 10 minutes of cooking, and I season with Thyme.

    Thanks so much for this recipe.

  15. I just made this soup for the first time tonight and WOW was it good! I live in Colorado and we are getting lots of snow tonight so I didn’t want to go out but everyone was hungry and looking at me with that, ‘what’s for dinner look’. I had everything in the recipe except for the V8 which would be the deal breaker BUT I did have some Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix (don’t judge me!) so I used that as a substitute. I also had to use mostly canned veggies but in a pinch, I figured that would be ok. I also had some rotisserie chicken left over that I threw in. Lastly, I doubled the recipe and if you were wondering if it would still fit in a 6.5 Quart Dutch Oven, I’m hear to tell you it won’t, no matter how hard you try, trust me!!! One last thing: I added a bottle of Chardonnay – ok, that was for me to drink because I nervous as everyone was hungry! No need as it turned out AMAZING! I am so grateful for this recipe. Thank you so much!!!

  16. It is snowing here in Colorado and I am definitely trying in. I so want to make this soup and I have everything except V8 juice. What can I use as a substitute? Would a Bloody Mary mix work? Help!

  17. My favorite go to soup during the winter months. I do add 4c instead of 2 of v8 and add some tomato paste. Overall delicious and healthy!

    1. I make with frozen peas and corn but use spicy, low-sodium, V-8 and add frozen baby lima beans-so VERY few changes. Amazing! Love this soup!
      My husband is a meat-eater and didn’t seem happy but finally admitted “it’s a good vegetable soup. I just want meat.” But now, after big weeks of eating out, or holidays, get-togethers, etc… he’ll actually request this to have a healthy but hearty meal.
      I usually serve with a crusty 3-cheese bread.

  18. Loved this! I added a little crushed red pepper and topped my bowl with a some parmesan cheese. I use v8 when making pasta fasioli and it makes a difference. I may add some macaroni next time or a little rice. What a great recipe! Thank you!

  19. I made this yesterday and it is delicious. My family doesn’t like like soups or stews with tomatoes, so I didn’t put them in, but added a can of kidney beans that I rinsed. I also used chicken broth and added 2 tsp. of Better Than Boullian Beef flavor.

    1. My family and I absolutely love this recipe! A must have for cold winter nights! Wondering if there’s any way this could be made in a slow cooker?

      1. I wanted a vegetable soup since I’m fasting (only veggies and fruit). This was very easy and delicious!! Thank you!

  20. Your recipes look so delicious, but are totally out of reach for many because of the high sodium. It would be wonderful if you could offer less sodium options.

    1. You could try and interchange the broth for low sodium broth? And cooking is experimentation so change out what ever makes it work for you. I hope you get to try it!

      1. I use low or no sodium broth, v8 juice, and no salt added canned tomatoes. It’s delicious as I no longer even like dishes that are too salty.

        The recipe is great!