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This easy vegetable soup recipe is a comforting, wholesome bowlful packed with hearty chickpeas, loads of flavor, and plenty of veggies in a rich, tomato-y broth. Add everything to a soup pot and simmer!
If anyone needs me, I’ll be keeping snug and warm this season with easy recipes like this minestrone soup, cozy lentil soup, and my slow cooker vegetable soup which is similar to this one, made in the crock pot.
Lately, it’s been full-blown soup weather, and I love it. Around this time every year, I have about twenty soups and stews on my to-make list, from creamy crab soup to savory mushroom soup and slow cooker beef stew. For a vegetarian option, mind you, nothing beats a good old-fashioned bowl of stovetop vegetable soup! Which brings us to today’s recipe.
My favorite vegetable soup is extra flavorful and wholesome, bulked up with chickpeas. You could also use lentils, pasta, or rice. This is one of those homemade soup recipes where anything goes, where all the ingredients get simmered in a savory, tomato-based broth. It’s the best. Happy slurping!
Why I Can’t Get Enough of This Vegetable Soup Recipe
- Use up leftover veggies. This vegetable soup is my clean-out-the-fridge-and-pantry soup. I make it whenever I have an overflow of veggies in the crisper drawer, and it’s very versatile. Just about any fresh or canned vegetables, beans, etc. work well in this recipe.
- Quick and easy. You’ll sauté the vegetables and simmer the soup all in the same pot. This soup is ready in about 30 minutes. Get those dinner rolls ready for dunking!
- Great for leftovers. I’m convinced that this vegetable soup tastes even better in the days after it’s made! Refrigerate or freeze the leftovers to reheat for lunches and dinners throughout the week. The flavors have even more time to mingle.
Soup Ingredients
This hearty vegetable soup with chickpeas is the kind of recipe that you make on chilly days when a movie marathon on the couch is in order. Cozy soup + cozy PJs? Heaven. It starts with just a few basic ingredients and you can easily improvise depending on what’s in your fridge and pantry.
I’ve included some notes on what I use here, and you’ll find the printable ingredients list with the full recipe details in the recipe card below the post.
- Butter and Olive Oil – You can use one or the other, but I like both. Butter adds flavor, while olive oil is best for sautéeing.
- Onion, Carrots, and Celery – Our little aromatic trifecta. This combination of diced yellow onion, sliced carrots, and chopped celery creates the flavor base for many soup recipes.
- Garlic and Bay Leaf – To build on the flavors in the veggies. I recommend fresh garlic. You can adapt the number of cloves to taste.
- Chickpeas – I have a ton of canned chickpeas left over after splurging for all the chickpea salads I made this summer, so that’s what I use. Be sure to drain and rinse them first. If you don’t have chickpeas, you can replace them with more veggies or another legume, like white beans.
- Diced Tomatoes – Also canned. Unlike the chickpeas, you can leave the tomatoes undrained. I think fire-roasted tomatoes would be a great way to add another layer of flavor to this soup.
- Turmeric – A small amount of ground turmeric goes a long way. It adds a nice earthy flavor and bright color to the soup. If you don’t have any, however, it’s fine to skip it.
- Broth – This can be vegetable broth (if you’re keeping this soup vegetarian) or low-sodium chicken broth. If you have homemade stock on hand, go ahead and use it!
- Garnishes – Freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley, for serving.
How to Make Vegetable Soup
This satisfying vegetable soup recipe comes together in 35 minutes from start to finish, and I make it in one pot, so clean up is nice and easy afterward. The steps are short and sweet:
- Sauté the veggies. Begin by adding the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a bay leaf to a large soup pot with oil. Season with salt and pepper, and then stir every so often over medium heat while the veggies sauté and soften.
- Put it together. Now, stir in the drained chickpeas and (undrained) tomatoes. Sprinkle in a little turmeric, then add the chicken broth and water.
- Simmer. Bring the pot to a boil, then a low simmer. Leave the soup to cook for 10 minutes.
- Serve. Lastly, take the pot off the heat and adjust the seasonings to taste. Ladle the vegetable soup into bowls and sprinkle over freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley for serving.
Easy Recipe Variations
Remember when I said this homemade soup is the best way to clear out the fridge? Here are more delicious ingredient ideas that you can add:
- Greens. Wilt in baby spinach, chopped kale, cabbage, or bok choy.
- More veggies. Add diced bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, potatoes, or sweet potatoes. You can pre-cook or sauté the veggies alongside the onions, carrots, and celery. Another option is to use a frozen vegetable medley.
- Herbs. Stir in fresh or dried herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, or rosemary. You can also boost the flavors with a blend like Italian seasoning.
- Canned ingredients. Stir in sweet corn, cannellini beans, white beans, or lentils. Remember to drain and rinse any canned ingredients before adding them to the soup.
- Grains. If I have leftover cooked rice, bulgur wheat, barley, or quinoa in the fridge, I’ll chuck it into my veggie soup! In this case, I usually add a little extra broth.
- Pasta. Make vegetable noodle soup and add your favorite cooked egg noodles. Good kinds of pasta for soups are smaller shapes like ditalini, orzo, macaroni, or mini shells.
- Protein. Shred up leftover roast chicken to stir into the soup, or add cooked cubed steak bites for easy beef and vegetable soup. You could also add a plant-based protein, like cubed tofu.
What to Serve With Vegetable Soup
I love serving bowls of steamy vegetable soup with fluffy focaccia or garlic breadsticks for dunking. This hearty soup is great as-is, or it makes a cozy starter with a Mediterranean salad or kale Caesar salad on the side. For a light meal or lunch, serve this soup with these easy pinwheel sandwiches and a fudgy chocolate brownie for dessert.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate. Store your cooled vegetable soup airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat. Warm the soup in the microwave or a saucepan on the stovetop.
- Freeze. Allow the soup to cool completely, then transfer it to a freezer-safe container to freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the soup in the fridge before reheating.
More Vegetarian Soup Recipes
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Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed well
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 4 to 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth, or chicken broth
- shredded Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
- chopped fresh parsley, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté the veggies. Heat butter and oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
- Put it all together. Stir in chickpeas and tomatoes; season with turmeric. Add the broth and mix until well combined, then turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Simmer. Lower heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 10 more minutes.
- Season and serve. Remove from heat, taste for seasonings, and adjust accordingly. Garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Directions state to mix in broth and water; however, water amount is not listed in ingredients.
Thank you so much for catching that! You’re absolutely right—there seems to have been a mix-up in the directions. The recipe should say to mix in the broth, and there’s no additional water needed. I’ve updated the recipe to clarify that.
Made it for those orthodox fasting days, no meat or dairy. Tasty!
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thank YOU!
I made this for my lunches next week. It is really tasty. I didn’t have any turmeric so I used some curry powder and some cumin. I also pulsates some of the soup in my magic bullet and then added it back into the pot (right at the very end) to thicken it up a bit.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I made the soup and added fresh kale and it was fabulous! It was even better the next day!
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
So, DOES it freeze well?? Thanks.
Hi!
Yes, it does. Let it cool thoroughly and freeze in covered airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags.
Also, if I can just suggest one thing; what works best for freezing veggie soups is if you undercook the vegetables just a bit, they’ll have better texture when defrosted.
It’s definitely soup weather here, and I could happily eat a big bowl of this gorgeous soup every single night.