Are you looking for a delicious healthy vegetable soup recipe? Well, look no further. This delicious homemade plant-based vegetable soup is packed full of 9 different vegetables and a flavorful broth using fresh herbs. It's nutritious, low calorie, low carb, gluten-free, and vegan - with no sugar added.
You'll Love This Recipe for Healthy Vegetable Soup!
Delicious Herb Broth. I love that this soup is made using fresh herbs. The oils from the fresh herbs release a much more potent flavor than dried herbs. The addition of the freshly squeezed lemon adds acid to the sweet and savory flavor of the vegetables for the perfect balance of flavors.
Leftover Heaven! Soup recipes are my favorite to make early in the week so that I can pack leftovers to take to work. This recipe usually yields a large amount, so there should be plenty of leftovers. It can also be frozen!
Healthy. Plant-based, low-calorie, gluten-free, sugar-free, low-carb, and keto vegetable soup. Keep it healthy by pairing it with a side salad or one of my favorites is adding oyster crackers on top.
Vegetable Soup Healthy Recipe Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this vegetable soup:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: substitute with your preferred cooking oil if you have one.
- Onion: use any onion variety that is your favorite. You could use white, yellow, sweet onion--red onion would work ok but may discolor other items in your soup.
- Celery
- Carrots: peel and slice whole carrots or use prepared baby carrots and cut them into slices.
- Garlic: mince your own or use store-bought pre-minced garlic.
- Green Cabbage: thinly shred a small head of cabbage or if you have shredded cabbage already prepared at your grocery store you can use that.
- Zucchini
- Baby Spinach: use all baby spinach or a spinach and kale mix if you want to add extra antioxidants and texture to your soup.
- Fresh Broccoli Florets: buy broccoli that is already prepared into florets or buy crowns and prepare into bite-size florets.
- Fresh Cauliflower Florets: cut a head of cauliflower into bite-size florets or purchase already prepared cauliflower florets.
- Red & Yellow Bell Peppers: red and yellow peppers add a nice variety of colors and a slight sweetness. You can use any color bell pepper you would like to!
- Fresh Thyme or Dill: you can use one or the other, or use a combination of both!
- Bay Leaves: leave whole and add to your soup. Remember to remove these before serving.
- Salt: kosher salt or sea salt both work great in this recipe! Add a little and add more to taste.
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Vegetable Broth: use regular or low sodium broth.
- Freshly Chopped Parsley
- Green Onions: chopped green onions or chopped chives may be used in the recipe.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: one lemon yields about 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
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Variations and Substitutions
- Add a can of diced tomatoes and omit the lemon juice if desired.
- Kick up the spice by adding some red pepper flakes.
- Mix and match your favorite vegetables in this recipe. Omit ones you don't care for and add others such as mushrooms, frozen peas, or green beans.
- To add in protein you could add some canned drained and rinsed beans of any variety.
- To add in protein (that won't be plant-based) add shredded rotisserie chicken or you can add in raw or frozen diced or cubed chicken breasts or thighs. Make sure to cook your chicken until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- Substitute fresh herbs for dried if you prefer.
- Use frozen vegetables in place of fresh ones. You will get more water from frozen so reduce your broth amount by about a half cup to accommodate for the liquid.
How To Make This Healthy Vegetable Soup Recipe
1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Saute until tender then add the garlic.
2. Add all remaining ingredients (except the herbs, green onion, and lemon juice.
3. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Remove bay leaves, add parsley, green onions, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste.
How To Serve It
Adjust any seasoning to taste and then garnish with extra fresh chopped herbs if desired.
Serve with crackers, oyster crackers, warm crusty bread, or breadsticks.
Pair with a small simple side salad with croutons and your favorite salad dressing.
Make a small sandwich with a cup of soup for a delicious combination.
Best Vegetable Soup Tips
- To save time, you can skip sauteeing the vegetables--just add the ingredients(except the last three) and bring to a boil. You may lose some flavor but will save time!
- Make this soup in a slow cooker! Add all ingredients except the last three to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours(until the veggies are tender). Add the last 3 ingredients adjust seasoning to taste and serve.
- Make it quicker in an instant pot--follow the instructions based on your instant pot for timing.
FAQs
Some of the healthiest vegetables to add to soup are cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts. Other great vegetables are onions, carrots, celery, spinach, kale, bell peppers, zucchini, and other hearty low-calorie, and low-carb vegetables.
The important thing to remember is when you make a vegetable soup that you do not drain the liquid from the soup or replace it at any time. The broth of this soup should also be consumed to benefit from the nutrients as that is where the nutrients escape to.
Using a complimentary blend of vegetables is a good start to a delicious soup! I like to use hearty vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, onion, carrots, celery, and more to get the most flavor as well. Add-ins such as fresh herbs, and lemon juice, and toppings such as fresh green onions, croutons, hot sauce, or even plain yogurt elevate a soup.
Once cooled, transfer your soup to an air-tight container and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Transfer the portion that you want to reheat into a microwave-safe dish. Cover and microwave for one minute. Stir and repeat until your desired temperature is met. You can also reheat in a pot on the stove over medium heat until heated through.
I do not recommend freezing this soup. The majority are liquid and vegetables. When frozen and then thawed the soup will become more watery, and the vegetables lose all texture.
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📖 The recipe.
Cabbage Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups onion (chopped)
- 2 medium stalks of celery (sliced)
- 2 carrots (peeled and sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 cups green cabbage (thinly shredded)
- 2 cups diced zucchini (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups baby spinach (a baby spinach kale mix may be used)
- 2 cups small fresh broccoli florets
- 2 cups small fresh cauliflower florets
- 2 cups diced red and yellow bell peppers
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or dill (use more if desired; a combination of both may be used)
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt (adjust to taste before serving)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (adjust to taste before serving)
- 48 to 64 ounces vegetable broth (use enough to just cover the vegetables)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons green onions (chopped; chives may be used)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until tender, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add all remaining ingredients (except parsley, green onions, and lemon juice) to a large soup pot.
- Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove bay leaves. Add parsley, green onion,s and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Kori's Tips
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- VARIATIONS:
- Add a can of diced tomatoes and omit lemon juice if desired.
- Give this soup some kick with red pepper flakes.
- Mix and match your favorite vegetables - mushrooms are wonderful in this too!
- To make this a plant-based full meal add drained canned beans. Or cooked rotisserie or frozen (thawed) grilled chicken, raw chicken breasts or thighs cut into small pieces, may be added. Cook chicken until done.
- TIPS: To save some time, you can skip sauteeing the vegetables - just add all the ingredients (except the last three) and bring to a boil. You will lose some flavor but gain some time.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Adjust seasoning to taste and garnish with extra fresh herbs if desired.
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
Jan
Great recipe! Very versatile. Next time we are going to make enough to can. It would be great with beans, potatoes, rice, or pasta. We only had kale but I bet it would be good with collards, spinach, etc. Mushrooms were a great addition. So many options. Thank you!