Zucchini Soup is a simple, hearty, and flavorful dish that is easy to make with fresh veggies. Perfect to warm you up on a cold Autumn night!
Cozy Soup Recipes are a staple dish during the colder months at my house. For more comforting veggie soup recipes, try my Creamy Tomato Soup and Butternut Squash Soup.
Why You’ll Love This Soup?
- This soup is perfect to use when you have an abundance of zucchini to use from the garden.
- This creamy soup is made in under and hour but can also be made ahead of time for quick reheating.
Sabrina’s Zucchini Soup Recipe
Zucchini soup is mild and comforting with light, nutty, and sweet flavor notes. I love how the simple vegetables combine into the perfect warm and cozy blend. This recipe is perfect for lunch or enjoying on the side of your main dish for dinner.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 4 zucchini , diced
- 1 green bell pepper , diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons parsley , minced
Instructions
- Add butter to a large heavy dutch oven on medium heat.
- Add in onion, zucchini and green bell pepper, stir to coat and cook for 5-6 minutes until softened.
- Add in garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in chicken broth, salt, black pepper, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.
- Serve with an olive oil drizzle, minced parsley and a side of crusty bread.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
To make rich and flavorful Zucchini Soup, you’ll need flavorful and fresh zucchini for the recipe’s base. When picking fresh zucchini, look for solid green zucchini. The vegetable should be firm without soft spots or browned pieces. Opt for medium-sized zucchini (about 6 inches) instead of large zucchini. When zucchini grows too large, they tend to become more watery and less flavorful.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This easy and comforting soup recipe has whole, healthy ingredients like garden zucchini, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and chicken broth. After simmering until the vegetables are tender, all you have to do is blend the soup mixture into a pureed, creamy combination.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon Unsalted Butter: Using butter as your cooking oil is a great way to brown the vegetables and infuse the soup with a rich, nutty, creamy flavor.
- 1 Yellow Onion: Dice a yellow onion and cook until translucent for a fragrant, savory flavor base.
- 4 Zucchini: For amazing Zucchini Soup, use 4 fresh, medium zucchini. Zucchini’s have a naturally mild flavor that perfectly balances bitter and sweet. As the recipe cooks, they’ll become less bitter and more sweet.
- 1 green Bell Pepper: The green bell pepper adds to the soup’s green color and adds notes of crisp, slightly grassy flavor.
- 3 cloves Garlic: As the minced garlic cloves cook in the butter, they will become less pungent and release aromatic flavor into the other ingredients.
- 6 cups Chicken Broth: As the recipe cooks, the vegetables and broth will absorb flavor from each other, resulting in a savory and cozy blend.
- Seasonings: Flavor this recipe with 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, and 2 bay leaves.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Knife: Use a sturdy chef’s knife to dice the fresh vegetable ingredients before cooking.
- Cutting Board: Slice all the vegetables on a clean cutting board.
- Dutch Oven: This is an excellent one-pot recipe. Use a large Dutch oven or another large, heavy-bottomed pot to cook the vegetables and soup ingredients.
- Wooden Spoon: Stir the vegetable mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula as you cook.
- Immersion Blender: Use a handheld immersion blender to combine the cooked vegetables and broth into a smooth soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Let the soup cool for about 10 minutes before carefully pouring the mixture into your blender to avoid burning yourself.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes! Homemade soup is an excellent make-ahead lunch or dinner option. Cook this recipe ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days before reheating and serving.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Achieve a Flavorful Veggie Base: Heat your pan and let the butter melt before adding the diced vegetables to the pot. Stir so that the vegetables are coated in butter. As the veggies cook, they’ll start to brown in the butter, enhancing the natural flavor and reducing bitterness. Stir as you cook to prevent the vegetables from overcooking on one side.
- Puree for a Perfectly Creamy Soup: Using an immersion blender makes it easy to blend the soup until it has a velvety smooth consistency. If you prefer some vegetable chunks, you can stop blending sooner, but I find the flavor and texture come together best when this recipe is completely pureed.
Pairing Suggestions
Creamy Zucchini Soup is an excellent side dish that you can serve along with crispy bread like Garlic Bread or Italian Bread to dip in the soup as you enjoy it. For a filling main dish, try lunch favorites like a Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich, or Chicken Pita Wrap.
How to Store
- Store: If you have any leftovers, let the soup cool, then transfer it to an airtight container to keep fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days. You shouldn’t leave the soup sitting out for more than 2 hours before storing it in the fridge.
- Reheat: To reheat the soup, add it to a pot and place it on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring as needed, until warm.
- Freeze: You can also carefully package leftover soup in a freezer bag to keep frozen for up to 3 months.
Ideas to Serve
I added a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to garnish the soup and enrich the flavor. You can add the olive oil to the full soup pot or ladle the mixture into serving bowls and add a swirl of olive oil over each serving. Then, mince 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley leaves to sprinkle over the soup. You could also add oyster crackers, croutons, pumpkin seeds, shaved parmesan cheese, or cheddar cheese as more flavorful and delicious soup toppings.
Instant Pot Method
- Start by turning the cooker to the saute function and adding the butter and vegetables. Cook until tender.
- Then, add the chicken broth and other ingredients.
- Seal the Instant Pot and set it to high pressure with a 5-minute cooking time.
- When the timer goes off, do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes before opening the pot to puree the soup.
Frequent Questions
You do not have to peel the zucchini for this recipe. Zucchini has a thin and tender peel that will soften while cooked. The only time you’ll want to peel is if you’re using a particularly large zucchini, as the peel may be thick and bitter.
Using fresh, medium zucchini and cooking in butter should make the vegetable less bitter. However, if your soup tastes bitter, add salt to the vegetable mix to detract from the bitter flavor.
Variations
- Extra Creamy Soup: If you want to make your Zucchini Soup recipe richer, add heavy cream. Wait to mix in the heavy cream until after blending the other ingredients. Alternatively, you could add unsweetened Greek yogurt or sour cream to make the dish richer.
- White Beans: If you want to thicken the soup mixture, add a can of drained white beans. Puree the mild and hearty beans into the soup for a rich and thick consistency.
- Vegetables: You can make this recipe with vegetables like potatoes, yellow squash, carrots, and red bell peppers. Be sure to cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces and cook until they’re tender.
- Seasonings: You can flavor the soup recipe with bold herbs and spices like red pepper flakes, fresh basil, paprika, or onion powder.
- Vegetarian Zucchini Soup: To make vegetarian soup, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth or vegetable stock. If you want to make the soup vegan, you can also swap out the butter for another cooking oil like vegetable oil, olive oil, avocado oil, cashew butter, or coconut oil.
Related Recipes
More Creamy Veggie Soups
This zucchini soup is so silky, smooth, and refreshing! Searing the zucchini before blending builds such a lovely depth of flavor without needing heavy creams.
I never thought about searing the zucchini first, that’s a good idea! Thank you for the positive review.