This Hearty Vegetable Soup is quick and easy, full of flavor, and naturally low in fat and calories. Starting with a rich tomato base, this homemade vegetable soup is loaded with all of your favorite veggies making this skinny soup delicious and healthy too.
This hearty vegetable soup has become a very popular recipe, and it's no surprise. It's comforting, filling, satisfying, and packed full of healthy veggies. This skinny soup is perfect when you're trying to lighten things up or when you need a big bowl of comforting soup.
It's similar to my minestrone soup but will focus more on veggies and keeping it light. It's perfect for meal prep because it holds up in the freezer really well. It's the best veggie soup and I don't make that claim lightly. You can't go wrong with a big bowl of this hearty vegetable soup.
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Skinny Vegetable Soup Video Tutorial
Best Vegetable Soup Ever (No Kidding!)
If you are looking for a great vegetable soup, we’ve got you. This quick vegetable soup recipe is a five-star, all-time favorite. It’s brothy, loaded with vegetables, and can be easily customized to suit your family’s preferences.
We love serving this with a side of homemade bread, like this hearty Cheese Bread, Garlic Herb Bread, or our simply delicious Easy White Bread.
Ingredients in recipe for Vegetable Soup
- Olive Oil - this gives the soup of that deep, rich, Italian flavor.
- Onion - adding onion will give the soup a sweet flavor. We like to caramelize our onions before adding everything else. I promise this little bit of extra time is worth the hassle.
- Garlic - fresh is best, but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Carrots - the best carrots to use are fresh large carrots. They are sweeter than the baby ones and don’t have any preservatives in them.
- Cauliflower - so good in this soup!
- Zucchini - small zucchini are best. If you’re using small zucchini, there is no need to peel the skin - just wash and dice.
- Napa Cabbage - you can purchase pre-shredded cabbage or shred it yourself.
- Italian Stewed Tomatoes - San Marzano tomatoes work great. Just be sure they’re diced or crushed, or do it yourself in the blender before adding them.
- Chicken Broth - you can use the jarred chicken base to make your own, use a carton of broth, or even make your own homemade broth. They all work great. If you want to make this recipe vegan and vegetarian, just replace it with your favorite vegetable broth. If you really want to boost the umami richness, you can substitute beef broth.
- Parsley, Basil, and Oregano - you can use either dry or fresh. If you use fresh, you may want to up the quantities. Another great herb to use (fresh or dried) would be a few bay leaves. A little will go a long way.
- Salt and Pepper
How to Make Vegetable Soup
- In a large dutch oven or stockpot, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Once warm, add the onion and saute over medium heat until the onions are soft and lightly golden brown or about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower and saute for 2 minutes longer.
- Add the zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, broth, herbs, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cover with a lid. Let simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Once your soup is cooked completely, remove it from the heat and let it cool for at least 5 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper if desired before ladling into bowls and topping with Parmesan or mozzarella cheese and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice if desired. Enjoy!
How to Make Vegetable Soup in a Crockpot
This can easily be made in the slow cooker. It’s almost entirely a dump-and-go recipe, with one exception: it’s best if you caramelize the onions before adding to the crockpot. The onions are a key ingredient in this soup recipe and always taste so much better if they are caramelized!
- Chop up your onion and caramelize in a saute pan over medium heat with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
- Once caramelized, add the onions, the rest of the vegetables, the stock, and your herbs and spices into the crockpot.
- Cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for about 3 hours.
- Taste test and adjust the salt if needed. Enjoy!
Yup! Just cool completely and transfer to freezer bags. Lay the bags flat in the freezer and store for up to 5 months.
Once ready to use, you can thaw overnight in the fridge, or transfer directly into a pot on the stovetop and re-heat on medium-low, stirring often.
If you want to go the microwave route, just transfer into a microwave-safe container and reheat for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between.
Cabbage needs 8-10 minutes to simmer to become soft and tender.
The smell of cooked cabbage comes from its high sulfur compounds. The smell may be a turnoff as it's cooking but once it's cooked, the taste of cooked cabbage is very mild.
The best way to keep cabbage from smelling while it cooks is to add a few bay leaves. You can also add a tablespoon of white vinegar.
Variations
- Add some cooked, diced chicken to make this a complete meal.
- Add green beans, squash, or more of your favorite vegetables. If needed, just add a little more broth to get a vegetable to broth ratio you love.
- Add white beans, black beans, or any kind of bean to make it even more hearty.
- Top with parmesan cheese or cheese crusted toast for a fun variation.
- Add some red pepper flakes to make this a spicy vegetable soup.
Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Cups Onion chopped
- 2 tsp Garlic minced
- 2 Large Carrots sliced
- 1 Cup Broccoli chopped into bite-sized florets
- 1 Cup Cauliflower chopped into bite-sized florets
- 1 Medium Zucchini chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 Cups Napa Cabbage shredded
- 1 Can (28 oz) Italian Stewed Tomatoes crushed or diced
- 1 Quart Chicken Broth vegetable broth works great here too
- 1 tablespoon Parsley dried
- 2-3 large Bay Leaves
- 2 teaspoon Basil dried
- 1 teaspoon Oregano dried
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or stockpot, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Once warm, add the onion and saute over medium heat until the onions are soft and lightly golden brown, or about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower and saute for 2 minutes longer.
- Add the zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, broth, herbs, including bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cover with a lid. Let simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Once your soup is cooked completely, remove from the heat, pull out the bay leaves, and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper if desired before ladling into bowls and topping with Parmesan or mozzarella cheese if desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are some more homemade soup recipes that we love!
- Best Cauliflower Soup
- Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Broccoli Potato Cheesy Soup
- Southwest Black Bean Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Best Soup Recipes
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This healthy and hearty Vegetable Soup recipe is both delicious and good for you. It's quick and easy, full of flavor, loaded with your favorite veggies, and naturally low in fat and calories. It's the perfect skinny vegetable soup.
Sam
This soup was so good! Loved all the vegetables in there. Will make again!
The Carefree Kitchen
Hoora! So glad you loved it!
Sommer
This soup recipe is absolutely amazing and I recommend everyone try it, because you will fall in love with it!
The Carefree Kitchen
Thanks for your kind words! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!